A P2P service provider Purse allowing users to shop on Amazon with bitcoins has closed a second seed funding round this year. The start-up raised $1 mln from Barry Silbert's Digital Currency Group.

San-Francisco based service Purse helps customers to save money on any item from Amazon, buying it with bitcoin. The start-up connects users with unused gift cards, allowing to redeem them. Buyers get the opportunity to spend bitcoins online and enjoy discounts up to 50% on everything.

Purse also announced that it is going to introduce Tritium, a "secret bitcoin project" to bring “new value to consumers and partners.” No further details have been revealed. The title of the project derives from the Greek word tritos meaning “third” and refers to the name of a chemical element which occurs very rarely on Earth and is an important component of nuclear weapons.

Digital Currency Group founded by Barry Silbert has recently attracted 11 prominent investors, including MasterCard, Bain Capital Ventures and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Since its creation in 2015 DCG has made over 50 investments in 17 countries. In October 2015 Barry Silbert announced that in the following year DCG was going to invest in up to 20 new start-ups. The Group's recent investments include ShapeShift, while in August another bitcoin start-up SABR, reportedly connected to DCG, closed a seed funding round of $1 mln.

Sonya Belova