Bitcoin Acceptance

Coincheck Rolls Out Bitcoin (BTC) Payment for Gas

Osato Avan-Nomayo · @OsatoNomayo | Oct 05, 2019 | 09:40

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Tokyo-based crypto exchange Coincheck has launched a program that will allow users to pay for gas using bitcoin (BTC).

Coincheck Debuts Bitcoin Rebate Promo

The Japanese crypto trading giant announced the move in a press statement issued on Friday (October 4, 2019). The program is a result of a partnership between Coincheck and a couple of gas companies in Tokyo.

Dubbed “Coincheck Gas,” users of the platform can pay their domestic gas bills in bitcoin. According to the press release, BTC payments for gas under the program will attract a 3% discount.

Also, the company says it will gift users 3% of their monthly gas bills in bitcoin sent to their Coincheck wallets. Coincheck Gas is a follow-up to “Coincheck Electricity” which the company rolled out back in 2016.

These services are part of efforts by Monex — Coincheck’s parent company to boost mainstream BTC adoption. The company also has other programs that allow customers to swap loyalty points for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

Monex has also extended its bitcoin utilization drive to shareholders. As previously reported by Bitcoinist, the company says it will award BTC to its shareholders who own more than 100 shares and has a Coincheck wallet.

Monex acquired Coincheck back in 2017 after the exchange suffered a massive crypto heist. The hack saw the platform lose more than $500 million in NEM tokens.

Crypto Rebates Can Boost Adoption

Coincheck is the latest company to roll out a bitcoin rewards program as crypto rebates begin to gain in popularity.

Back in July, Bitcoinist reported that Lolli — a browser extension service, had inked a deal with Hotels.com to offer valuable BTC rebates to customers.

Crypto rebates likely form an avenue to encourage greater cryptocurrency adoption. The method arguably provides greater penetration for virtual currencies in the mainstream retail arena.

Non-crypto owners can easily acquire bitcoin and other digital currencies while shopping on their favorite merchant websites online. Crypto rebates also constitute one of the few cryptocurrency adoption avenues that target consumers instead of retailers.

The expectation is that these new BTC owners that emerge from crypto rebate promos will be incentivized to spend their earnings creating more utility for digital currencies.

Merchants will, in turn, look to accept crypto payments to the benefit of the emerging digital economy.

Should other crypto companies launch similar bitcoin rebate programs to boost overall cryptocurrency adoption? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Bitcoinist Image Library