New Paris-based startup offers to purchase bitcoins by buying a prepaid digital gift card that can be instantly turned into bitcoins at any time.

To buy a Bitit gift card, or e-voucher, users need to set up an account with Bitit. The cards which cost from €25 to €250 can be purchased with any 3D secure plastic card including Visa and MasterCard, or through Sofort Banking payment system. The gift card with a Bitit code will be then sent by email. Users can buy a card for themselves or send a gift card to a friend. The gift vouchers only exist in digital form so far, but Bitit plans to create physical eGift cards as well.

With Bitit you do not need to store your funds in digital currency. Whenever you need to spend bitcoins you can paste the card's code on the Redeem page and enter the address of your bitcoin wallet. The bitcoins will appear in your wallet in 30-60 minutes. The conversion will be made at the exchange rate of the time of withdrawal.

Users can also earn reward points for using Bitit. Every €1 spent on gift cards earns 1 point, and every 100 points turn into the discount of €1 on the next purchase. Bitit charges a fee of 3.9% for every debit/credit card order of a gift certificate. Redeeming bitcoins is free of charge in the beta version.

Bitcoin is spreading in the industry of gifts and bonuses. Recently CardCash, an American company that sells gift cards from 519 brands, began accepting bitcoin. The “Bitcoins for Miles” project launched this February offers to buy bonus miles of all major airlines for bitcoins.

Aliona Chapel