App converts change into cryptocurrency

New app rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and automatically converts spare change in cryptocurrencies.

Coinflash is a new app that turns all your spare change from purchases into a digital currency that can then be used to invest into any cryptocurrency you choose. The app rounds up every one of your card purchases to the nearest dollar and then automatically invests it through a Coinbase account, which is an online platform for buying, selling and storing digital currency that is guaranteed to be 100 percent secure.

Although users give their card details to Coinflash, the app can only read transaction data and is not able to make purchases. To ease the worries of any potential investors, Coinflash reassure them that their transactional data is only stored on the system for two months. Users who sign up to the platform will then be charged USD 1 a month in Ethereum or Bitcoin to use the service, and the hope is that they will make considerably more than that through their investments. The value of many cryptocurrencies has increased dramatically over the last year or so – one Bitcoin is worth around four times what it was at the beginning of 2017 – but it is traditionally known as volatile market, which is why Coinflash is considered a viable risk, as the investment amounts are so small. App developer Louis Lapat explains why he thinks the app is secure in this video.

There are plenty of other ways to work with Bitcoin, though. A new app allows users to earn it by answering questions or performing simple tasks for people, and an online marketplace for freelancers manages all its payments through the digital currency. Will we see cryptocurrencies extended to many other sectors in the next few years?