Enjoy 15% discount on Amazon products, Purse and Coinsecure join forces to make Bitcoin more widely used in India

Bitcoin startup Purse.io, an online marketplace that offers discounts on Amazon purchases using Bitcoin, has just announced a partnership with Coinsecure, a prominent Indian Bitcoin exchange.

The new partnership comes as India is seeing a surge in demand for bitcoin due to the demonetization drive in November, and marks Purse’s rapid expansion into the cash-strapped country. Prior to this, Purse had already partnered with Unocoin, another Indian bitcoin exchange.

Coinsecure’s official announcement stated:

“Purse.io enables discounted purchases from Amazon. Now through the Coinsecure/Purse.io partnership, our users will automatically receive a 15% discount on all Amazon purchases.”

Purse offers discounts to Amazon consumers by leveraging the liquidity of unused Amazon gift cards, matching shoppers with individuals who have illiquid gift card balances. Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT), an Amazon labor outsourcing platform, uses a network of people to perform tasks that are not suitable for computers. Because most of these workers are not in the United States, their payment options are limited, especially Amazon gift card balances or US dollar checks in the mail. Purse can help these individuals by converting gift card balances into local currency through Bitcoin.

Purse said:

“AMT workers also need to get rid of their excess Amazon Gift Cards. Over 500,000 people work through the AMT service, and Purse offers a great way for these people to convert their points into Bitcoin, which users can then exchange for Indian Rupees through exchanges like Coinsecure.

Amazon India has received $300 million in funding from its parent company, according to media reports today. The investment is the largest single funding received by Amazon's Indian unit, and the retail giant is moving ahead of its competitors in India, one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world.