Plutus, a London-based bitcoin start-up, is developing a mobile app empowered by Ethereum and NFC that will allow contactless payments with bitcoin regardless if the merchant accepts the digital currency or not.

To this end Plutus.it App converts buyer’s virtual currency to fiat currency that will be securely located on a virtual debit card (token) within the application and can be later used to make NFC payments.

“The intent of the app is to be practical. Plutus plugs into existing infrastructure to allow contactless payments which reward you on the blockchain. It's simply a stepping stone towards adoption and a practical use-case that many have been asking for,” says in the press-release Danial Daychopan, CEO & Co-Founder of Plutus.

Besides, the Plutus app also issues its proprietary virtual currency, which is a special form of digital tokens created on the Ethereum blockchain and called Plutons. They serve as a reward for the app users just as cashback or air miles – the principle used on traditional credit cards. Earned Plutons could also be spent at any NFC-enabled store with free conversion to fiat.

As the press-release states: “By connecting the blockchain technology to existing global NFC payment infrastructure, Plutus opens the doors to shopping with bitcoin at your local store anywhere in the world. Once Plutus launches in 2016, every NFC terminal will be, for all practical purposes, a bitcoin terminal.”

Anna Lavinskaya