Two of Australia’s leading bitcoin exchanges, CoinTree and CoinLoft, have announced this week new services allowing users to purchase a variety of altcoins including ether, the cryptocurrency that powers the Ethereum network.

Alongside their established services which have primarily focused on making bitcoin accessible to the general public, they have now streamlined the process of acquiring ether.

As of Monday 13th of June, CoinTree users will be able to swap bitcoin for a variety of popular altcoins including ether, litecoin and DAO tokens; and CoinLoft users making deposits will now have the option of purchasing ether or bitcoin.

‘Ethereum is an exciting project with great potential in the area of smart contracts. ETH has been getting a lot of attention in recent months and we are proud to offer our customers this option.’

David Temple, Coin Loft Co-founder.

The move comes as welcome news for Australians interested in exploring altcoins and ushers in a new level of access to ether, a previously complex procedure requiring the use of multiple services.

‘While we continue to focus our efforts and support on bitcoin, we strive to lower entry barriers for all Australians interested in cryptocurrencies and are excited to announce this simplified service for buying altcoins.’

Shane Stevenson, CoinTree Co-founder.

This latest feature sees both Australian exchanges primed to capitalise on a growing interest in altcoins within Australia. Ethereum’s smart contract technology has seen a massive uptake in support and a corresponding price rise in the last 3 months. With the market cap currently almost double mid-April’s pricing at around $13million Australian dollars, the trend seems set to continue.

Visit www.cointree.com.au and www.coinloft.com.au for more info.