The growing popularity of the Bitcoin has also fueled a surge in bitcoin software for smartphones that will enable consumers to utilize the digital money instead of cash, the South China Morning Post reported. According to the report, there are around 250 applications in the Google Play Store, which provides services like bitcoin money transfers and exchange tracking. Nearly 100 apps are also found on Apples iTunes whose offerings include bitcoin mobile courses and mining monitoring, the report said. One of these is Gliph, a Bitcoin-related program which has raised over $350,000 from venture capitalists. The app already has over 25,000 users.
The report said the apps are making it more convenient for customers to pay for food and undertake other quick transactions.
Payment research firm Crone Consulting Chief Executive Richard Crone told the SCMP, "Bitcoin's success hinges on how well it's adopted and configured for mobile. They are very dependent on mobile actually scaling."
The report stated that wireless devices provide an efficient mode of transfer for the digital currency inasmuch as bitcoins exist as software. The mobile bitcoin apps that have emerged today is designed to enable to programs to perform common, everyday tasks like paying individuals and stores for goods and services, storing the bitcoins in virtual wallets and exchanging the digital currency for traditional currencies, the report added.
The report quoted Gliph Chief Executive Officer Rob Banagale as saying about the Bitcoin, "It has to be there, in person, when you have to spend it."
However, challenges exist despite the growing use of the digital currency as promoted by the mobile apps. These include security, regulation and approvals from the app-store.
Recently, the value of bitcoins fell over 20% when China banned financial institutions from using bitcoins in transactions. The Chinese central bank said the Bitcoin was a currency that did not have "real meaning." It allowed the public to participate in Internet transactions using the currency for as long as they shouldered the risk on their own, the central bank of China has said in a statement.
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