It’s been quite a busy week for BitQuick: Not only has their customer base expanded to 500 active users per month from 50 just earlier this year, but it has also announced that users on the security-oriented company Coinkite.com will be able to conveniently utilize the BitQuick platform directly from within Coinkite's wallet interface.

Privacy, Privacy, Privacy

The new BitQuick-Coinkite integration allows the latter’s users to acquire bitcoins in a peer-to-peer fashion without really exiting Coinkite’s user interface. Coinkite wallet users log-in to their wallet, click “buy bitcoin” and select BitQuick as their payment option.

“Our integration with Coinkite allows us to automatically pull the address from the Coinkite user, removing the necessity of comprehending Bitcoin addresses [for Bitcoin newbies],” said Jad Mubaslat, CEO and co-founder of BitQuick. “Before, users had to visit an external source to purchase Bitcoin and provide their Coinkite wallet address.”

To Mubaslat, simply explaining to novice users what a Bitcoin address is can be confusing enough. “We both feel this removes an important middle step,” he adds.

He added:

“This is great for newcomers because they truly have an all-in-one solution that is still decentralized. Coinkite.com is the hub that connects you to your multi-sig wallet, merchant services, and the best options to buy and sell bitcoin.”

In the constant struggle for privacy and security, hardcore Bitcoin enthusiasts have been trying to balance convenience and anonymity in trading Bitcoin. Coinkite, which currently sells everything from multi-sig vaults to Bitcoin Exchange Terminals, has recently announced a TOR-enabled ‘Bitcoin Pay Button’. This adds yet another privacy element, where users can purchase items or donate money without ever worrying about disclosing the sum except to the receiving entity.

Given how 40% of BitQuick’s traffic is mobile, the company has been toying with the idea of launching a BitQuick iOS app. “Even though our Coinkite integration is optimized for mobile, it's much easier to be able to pull up an app for our mobile users,” said Jad, adding that their “30 day trailing volume has also increased to around US$570,000 or a 5.7 times increase compared to US$100,000 when the year began”.

Fighting for the Backpage

Mubaslat equates the rise in sales to Bitcoin becoming the only payment method for Backpage earlier this month. Backpage has gained notoriety in the last few years ever since Craigslist removed their “Adult Services” section in 2010.

This agreement between Coinkite and BitQuick came naturally, according to Jad. He said:

“After noticing that we were each assisting several Backpage.com customers, it seemed natural to join forces and make the wallet and purchasing process accessible through one portal. Backpage.com support has been sending customers over to Coinkite.com and BitQuick.co, and the increase in customers has been overwhelming! At BitQuick.co we had a record 115 customers on 7/27 and are now doing about US$600,000 in volume every 30 days.”

Whether using Backpage is safer for prostitutes or not is up for debate. What’s not for up for debate though, is how this news introduced to Bitcoin yet another portion of mainstream users who may wish to remain “off the record.”

Since a sizeable portion of these users may not be tech-savvy, websites like BitQuick have been trying their best to attract new Bitcoin newbies looking to use services like Backpage. This has been done via their “easy-to-understand Backpage Bitcoin buying guide” presented in the video below: