Two Australian startups, Blueshyft and Bitcoin.com.au, have joined their forces to allow fellow citizens buying bitcoins with cash in 1200 newspaper shops across the country.

The step is the first over-the-counter solution that grants Australians with a chance to buy the cryptocurrency as easily as they buy their morning newspapers.

A minimum transaction sum is set at $50, while an average bitcoin purchase is expected to equal $150-200, with a total of 15 mln transactions to take place during the first year, according to the team’s calculations.

Every newspaper retailer taking part in the programme will be supplied with an iPad running an application for buying bitcoins from different sources under a 4% transaction fee.

One of the project initiators, namely Blueshyft, is owned by Matt Handbury, a nephew of Rupert Murdoch and former head of Murdoch Books publishing house. The other partner, Bitcoin.com.au, is associated with Global Internet Ventures (GIV) owned by Domenic Carosa who also oversees a tech investment group Future Capital Development Fund.

According to Rupert Hackett, general manager at Bitcoin.com.au, the idea is to provide fellow citizens with a “tangible” bitcoin experience to help them overcome the opinion of bitcoin as of a “criminals’ currency.”

“It's techy and makes our business interesting, there are many people using it and we are expecting more foot traffic,” shared his expectations Manoj Shah, Kingsford's Bus Stop Newsagency owner.

“It allows online businesses and digital retailers to extend their existing products and services into a local retailer without the costs of setting one up,” added Blueshyft chief executive Kain Warwick.

Australia is one of the countries with a positive stance on bitcoin. The government promises to regulate cryptocurrency “in a graduated way” and to address the problem of double taxation by exempting bitcoin from GST.





Maria Rudina