6 Reasons Why Your Wallet Needs A Lock Button

One of Bitcoin’s greatest strengths is accessibility. Anyone, anywhere, can use the Bitcoin network, at any time, to send value.

The Bitcoin community has been asking itself how to reach new people. We think that the next hundred-million people will be more motivated by the usefulness of the Bitcoin payment network, rather than speculating on the price. Locks enables everyone to utilize the Bitcoin payment network without price volatility.

To help illustrate the point, we’ve put together our BuzzFeed-inspired list of why every wallet should have a Locks button.

Store of Value — Given that Bitcoin is so new and ground-breaking, it should be no surprise that its price seems bonkers. But now, users can sidestep price swings by locking their bitcoins. Would someone please tweet Mr. Krugman and let him know the problem is fixed now? Familiarity — Clams. Dough. Bucks. Quid. It’s the money everyone is used to. Cryptocurrency? Digital commodity? SHA two-fifty-what? Millions of new users will want a wallet they are comfortable with, and using USD or EUR balances for their Locks wallet will be much more intuitive and friendly than counting BTC decimal places. Access to Bitcoin services — Around 50% of the world’s population does not have a bank account. No bank account, no exchange account, no efficient way to manage price volatility. How can we expect millions of new users to take advantage of the Bitcoin network if they have no way to deal with its volatility? Locks means anyone with access to the Bitcoin network will have access to this essential Bitcoin service. Access to a global payment network — We’ve built Locks to complement the same open-access as the Bitcoin network. Since Locks can be used both through our site and API, this means any consumer, business, or wallet can access the Locks service just as they can access the Bitcoin network. Valuable infrastructure for the entire ecosystem — Inherently, all users of Bitcoin services, sites, games, etc, are exposed to Bitcoin price changes. Thanks to the Locks API, people can continue to use their favorite Bitcoin services without being forced to speculate on the price simultaneously. Income stream for open source projects — Many bitcoin sites and services are free, and open source. These community-supported projects are integral parts of the Bitcoin ecosystem. By becoming Locks partners, these otherwise free services can monetize their users and fund further development.

Over the next few weeks, Coinapult will be announcing new partnerships with popular Bitcoin wallets, offering Locks to their users from within their native interface. We can’t wait to bring the Locks button to services across the Bitcoin economy.