easyGroup Teams With Uphold to Launch Bitcoin App

U.K.-based conglomerate easyGroup says it is entering the cryptocurrency sector.

The company, owner of brands like easyJet.com and easyHotel.com, announced Tuesday (Sept. 9) that it had launched easyBitcoin.app, a mobile app designed to help users buy and earn bitcoin, powered by Uphold, an infrastructure provider for on-chain finance.

The company’s announcement points to growing confidence in bitcoin as an investment, as well as uncertainty among consumers in the best way to buy, sell or hold the popular cryptocurrency.

“For too long, investing in bitcoin has felt like an exclusive club, out of reach for the general public with very high transaction costs,” said Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyGroup’s founder. “With the easyBitcoin.app, we’re aiming to change that and provide simple access via your mobile phone, great value and a focus on earning bitcoin rewards whether you’re buying or simply holding bitcoin. This isn’t just about technology; it’s about financial empowerment and making bitcoin a practical investment option for all.”

According to the announcement, the app offers users three ways to earn additional bitcoin: a welcome bonus, rewards for customers who keep a recurring buy going for three months, and 4.5% APY on USD balances with interest to be paid out in bitcoin.

“Multiple ways to earn sets a new standard in crypto. Beyond appealing to the converted, receiving rewards in bitcoin on USD balances is the perfect draw for that huge segment of the population that has become aware of bitcoin, but has yet to take the plunge,” said Simon McLoughlin, CEO of Uphold.

In other crypto-related news, PYMNTS wrote recently about the resurgence of “zombie blockchains” such as Solana, Algorand, Cardano and BNB Chain.

While they once looked “destined for the graveyard,” they’ve now reemerged with renewed relevance as rails for tokenization, settlement and application development.

“And in an industry notorious for boom-and-bust cycles, the reanimation of these networks says less about crypto market price charts and more about how the role of blockchain networks themselves are evolving in the broader economy,” that report said.

The clearest sign of this resurgence, PYMNTS added, lies in who is using these blockchains. The U.S. government, once skeptical of crypto, “has increasingly turned to blockchain networks for pilots in asset tokenization and financial market modernization, citing tokens such as bitcoin, ethereum, the XRP token from Ripple Labs, the SOL token from the Solana blockchain and the ADA token from the Cardano blockchain.”