15 Jan 2014 / Forbes – As bitcoin moves away from being known only to the tech cognoscenti and becomes a real viable currency that is adopted broadly, more organizations arise that look to leverage all this attention and add something of value to bitcoin holders. SnapCard is a San Mateo-based startup with the stated aim of making it possible to buy anything on the internet using virtual currency. The product works by way of a browser bookmarklet that integrates a bitcoin checkout process with ecommerce sites – want to use bitcoin to pay Zappos for shoes, Amazon for a book or eBay for some retro stuff? SnapCard allows you to do so.
The idea of paying for ecommerce goods via crypto currency, however, isn’t really super novel – it’s an obvious use case. Online shopping, online alternative currency- it goes together like… peanut butter and jelly. But what if someone told you that they enabled the payment of tax debt via bitcoin? Now that’s pretty unique. The last bastion of hyper-cautious Government agencies meets the very bleeding edge of economics. Especially ironic given the fact that bitcoin is seen by many as primarily a vehicle for transacting in illegal or non-declared income generating activities. The idea of paying tax via bitcoin is sure to have a few people chuckling and more than a few horrified…… Read more
