Wiper, a free messaging app based in New York, is the first one to incorporate a bitcoin wallet. The users will be able to send and receive bitcoin through the app, CEO Manlio Carrelli said.
"Payments make a lot of sense in a messenger", he said. "We're interested in the huge pool of users that traditionally don't have access to the payment systems".
The firm saw bitcoin as a natural add-on to the messaging service, enabling users to perform financial transactions swiftly, globally and economically. By turning on the bitcoin function in the app, users will have access to a secure bitcoin wallet.
"It is a simple, intuitive way to introduce better financial tools to the 2.5 billion folks who don't have access to traditional financial tools," Carrelli said. "The transaction is near instant, versus taking days to clear. And traditional fees - 10 percent in many cases for wiring international - are levelled to fractions of a penny. It's an incredibly compelling value proposition, and we're just getting start with the simplicity we can bring to the entire experience. The integrated wallet and send/receive are just the foundation."
