"The traditional newsagent is a dinosaur. There's been a substantial decline in newspaper and magazine sales in the last three years and the transition to bring in additional value-added services to keep the business alive is a positive."

Early stage of the technology

The sale of the two major cryptocurrencies in these retailers is thanks to a partnership between Bitcoin Australia and iOS-based payments system Blueshyft, which has enabled the transaction to occur directly through the Blueshyft payments platform.

Chief executive of Bitcoin Australia, Rupert Hackett, said the move into newsagencies was about "democratising" the process so everyday people can participate in this new asset class.

But he said there was some way to go before cryptocurrencies would be widely accepted as payment for goods and services.

"It's something we're exploring, but it has to reflect the level or size of the network," Mr Hackett said.

"Estimates indicated 2-3 per cent of a country's population owns digital currency, so we're still at the early stage of the technology, but eventually we envision a world where you can buy or sell anything with cryptocurrency."

For the past 12 months people have been able to buy bitcoin from some newsagents via a more complicated process in which they first had to buy a barcode for the amount of bitcoin you wanted from bitcoin.com.au and then take that into a newsagent to purchase the currency. Under this system, more than 40,000 transactions were made.


Since December the cryptocurrency markets have been especially volatile following a year of high growth. It is currently trading around $14,000 to one bitcoin.

Chief executive of the Australian Lottery and Newsagent's Association, Adam Joy, warned newsagents against offering bitcoin purchasing services.

"Newsagents have many ways to innovate that are much less concerning and fall within regulations and safeguards. For example, embracing omni-shopping with mobile apps and an online presence that integrate with in-store shopping," he said.

"When looking at cryptocurrency in particular, businesses need to be aware of the level of illegal activity and lack of transparency attached to cryptocurrencies."

Regulators in Australia have turned their attention to cryptocurrencies within the last six months, with the Australian Taxation Office set to use anti-money laundering legislation coming in next month as the basis for targeted action on tax-dodging cryptocurrency holders.

Agencies such as Austrac and the Australian Investments and Securities Commission have also been engaging with Bitcoin Australia to understand digital currencies and how to regulate them.

According to The New York Times, the US the Securities and Exchange Commission has also been cracking down on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and has issued subpoenas to people and companies behind the rise of this fund raising method.

Mr Hackett said regulation was a good thing, particularly when designed for consumer protection.

"Regulation as a whole is positive. No one wants nefarious people to succeed. The future of the currency will be brighter when regulation is in, but that regulation needs to have a deep understanding of the implications of the technology," he said.

"One of the things we're really advocating for is an initiative toward consumer protection and security standards. There's a lot of focus on how to prevent money laundering, but there's no dialogue on theft or hacking and we see this as one of the biggest risks."