Purse Raises $1 Million, Plans ‘Secret Bitcoin Project’

Bitcoin e-commerce startup Purse has raised $1m in seed funding in a round led by investor Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group.

The funding is the latest for Purse, which runs a two-sided e-commerce marketplace that offers both steep discounts to Amazon shoppers willing to pay in bitcoin and allows gift cards to be exchanged for digital currency.

The startup used the announcement to advertise what it called a forthcoming "secret bitcoin project" it calls Tritium, which it said would bring “new value to consumers and partners”.

Though Purse offered no additional details, the company has demonstrated it is perhaps seeking to expand on its e-commerce model. Purse added new merchants to its platform this November, meaning products including Trezor and Ledger hardware wallets are now for sale at a discount on its market.

The funding follows a $300,000 seed round finalized last November and comes amid a recent decline in consumer bitcoin spending. Data from CoinDesk's Q3 State of Bitcoin report, for example, found wallet growth and merchant adoption have slowed toward the end of 2015.

Investors in the company include Strong Ventures, Yang Ventures and Plug & Play startup accelerator, as well as individual investors including BTCC CEO Bobby Lee; Bitcoin.com owner Roger Ver; and FinalHash CEO Marshall Long.

Disclaimer: Digital Currency Group is an investor in CoinDesk.

Secret image via Shutterstock