Stories about ordinary people using cryptocurrency in fascinating ways

Part 1 of 2

Most day jobs don’t pay in bitcoins.

Don’t let that stop you from getting a piece of 21 million.

One of the most interesting ways to use bitcoin is by pairing with a much larger digital currency — Amazon gift cards. While it may seem indirect, there are powerful reasons why it makes sense to earn bitcoin through gift cards.

1. Mechanical Turker in Hyderabad

Pratik started “turking” 7 years ago as a way to supplement his day job as a data entry specialist. In ’08, he was laid off after his company lost a major client, so he started turking more regularly.

Cashing out on Mechanical Turk was his main pain point. Initially, Pratik elected to receive a check, but it took 1-2 months to arrive. Then, he needed to use a local money changer to convert the USD check to Rupees. He got fed up when a check got lost in the mail and started electing instant Amazon gift card balances as a form of payment.

Because the gift card balances were tied to Amazon US, Pratik accumulated his balance to save up for items he could resell locally like iPads. He paid $80–150 shipping fees per order and waited a month to clear customs for delivery. Yet, this was his best option for liquidity.

Pratik found a post on Turker Nation about a startup that could help convert Amazon gift cards to Rupees in 4 days. He couldn’t believe it. He signed up for Purse, learned more about Bitcoin, and setup an account on Unocoin. Nowadays, he cashes out whenever he wants instantly to gift cards, converts to bitcoins through Purse, and gets to Rupees — all in 4 days. Pratik is now turking full-time.

2. IRS Refund in bitcoins?

Jane is an accountant in New York. Like most Americans, she’s looking forward to her tax refund. She’s interested in diversifying her portfolio which mostly consists of US equities, commodities, and bonds. This year, she turned her federal tax refund into a bitcoin investment.

Like last year, she filed through Turbo Tax to get an extra 10% by electing to receive Amazon gift cards. She converted her gift cards into bitcoins through Purse patiently and averaged 7% premiums.

While the average premium on Purse for bitcoins is ~20%, there are often orders with lower premiums available for VIP buyers. Jane got verified, accepted Amazon gift cards for her refund, and converted it to bitcoin for 3% below market price.

3. Free time -> bitcoin (not mining!)

How much time have you spent crushing candy and browsing Reddit?

The bitcoins you could have earned…

Jason is a student who is saving up for his first car. Recently, he discovered Junowallet and Swagbucks and began earning points from his smartphone.

During his free time, he answered surveys, shopped online, and used search engines to earn points that he used to redeem gift cards. While he was stacking up Starbucks gift cards, he wasn’t making any progress on his dream to own a car.

When he found out about Purse, he had a lightbulb moment. He could redeem points for Amazon gift cards that he could then convert to bitcoins. Combined with the cash he’s been saving from his part-time job, he now has a path to car ownership.

4. Digital Marketer in Bali

Allison is a digital marketer in Indonesia who helps clients promote content through social media, SEO, and blogs. In her free time, she runs a network of blogs that advertises Amazon products and earns affiliate revenue.

Because Allison used to live in the US, she still had a bank account where Amazon deposits her earnings. However, both her US and Indonesian banks charged her fees to send and receive. Fed up with bank fees and delays, she started moving her her businesses to bitcoin.

To convert her affiliate revenue, she’s accepting Amazon gift cards as payment and purchasing items on Purse. She’s now living in paradise happily earning bitcoins.

5. Loose change

Coinstar converts coins to Amazon gift cards!

Loose change is annoying, and you’re more likely to lose that coin jar than actually use it. What do you actually intend on doing with it anyway? Haul it to the bank, wait in line for 10 min, force the teller to add it all up, and then take home a measly $20 bill?

Jessica decided she’d take her jar to Coinstar, but she was disappointed to discover a 9% fee. Then, she realized there were no fees if she took Amazon gift cards. So she took the Amazon gift card and turned it into bitcoins through Purse.

Bonus: Share your stories!

Do you know anyone who shops on Amazon? If so, please tell them about Purse to earn bitcoins.

Click “Invite” for your referral code

We’ll send 10 mBTC (10,000 bits or 0.01 BTC) for every user you refer who completes $50 in transactions.

Tweet @PurseIO — we’d love to hear and share your Bitcoin story!

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