“We believe automated token conversions are the first step toward a future in which digital wallets can convert between any virtual currency on the fly to facilitate payments in retail environments and simple navigation for users between decentralized apps and their respective tokens. The real innovation behind digital wallets isn’t mobility; it is the progression toward a world where millions of virtual assets are instantly interchangeable. Imagine, for instance, if your coffee shop loyalty points were accepted at any cash register in the world, or your airline miles could buy cellular minutes with the click of a button.”

The Bancor network is an open source platform for cryptocurrency conversion. The main website is a hub for trends and market information and provides an easy method for converting values between cryptocurrencies at live trading rates. Their latest venture integrates this conversion system into a cryptocurrency wallet, that offers users instant coin conversion. The wallet, called Bancor Wallet, already has the capacity for conversion between 70 tokens, with more being added to the wallet daily. The Bancor Wallet takes the form of a mobile phone wallet. The advantages of this are clear, by offering instant conversion the need to do further research on market trends is somewhat eliminated. By trading within the Bancor Wallet, you can see first hand how much profit you might be able to make from converting your cryptocurrencies. Moreover, you’ll also be able to see how to turn that profit into another profit by making multiple conversions much more efficiently than you would do if you have to make conversion calculations manually. The wallet also supports the purchasing of cryptocurrencies through debit cards and traditional bank payments meaning that if a user wants to buy X currency, but realises that through Bancor, they can turn their money into Y currency, then into X currency in order to enhance their profit, they can do so with ease. There are of course many critics who reject the idea of mobile phone wallets, stating that they are less safe than traditional hardware wallets, Bancor however have developed a system which means only the owner of the wallet has access to their funds that are stored there, meaning that the currency is only stored locally and is not held by Bancor on behalf of the user. Moreover, according to Venture Beat, Galia Benartzi the head of Business Development at Bancor has said that Bancor have undergone rigorous security testing with third party companies and have even carried out a hack challenge in order to test the integrity of the security protocols that run alongside the Bancor Wallet . These tests should inject some confidence back into users of Bancor. The only security concern they need to worry about is remembering their password – Bancor are currently working on improving this system as well with a plan to integrate guardian and friend features into the wallet so if a user does forget their password, other people may be able to help them re-gain access to their wallet. Benartzi has said:By providing a platform for instant cryptocurrency purchasing and conversion, the Bancor Wallet could provide a solution to the problem of which currency to choose, should mainstream vendors start accepting cryptocurrency payments. In the eyes of Bancor, customers should be able to make live, tactical conversions in order to ensure they are spending safely and wisely. This is a very noble concept and I think that overall if the Bancor Wallet takes off, it could become a very powerful tool. By receiving real time conversion information, cryptocurrency users have a lot of power in deciding how they spend their coins, if they wish to make a purchase and realise they can retain more assets by converting some of their funds into another currency in order to facilitate their purchase, then two things will happen, wise people will save money and, most importantly, more people will want in and will start to use this technology for themselves.