Australian bitcoin startup Living Room of Satoshi, a payments company that enables users to pay their bills with bitcoin, has now processed $5 million in household bills with the cryptocurrency.
There is a remarkable rise in bill payments using bitcoin in Australia. The numbers are telling. Living Room of Satoshi, the company enabling bill payments in the country with bitcoin, launched in April 2014. By August that year, Australian residents had paid upwards of $150,000 toward bills with the world’s most prominent cryptocurrency.
“Bitcoin usage in Australia is growing rapidly, and our customers tell us they are looking for more ways to spent their bitcoin,” stated co-founder and chief executive Daniel Alexiuc at the time.
Toward the end of 2015, the company struck a significant milestone, processing over $1 million of bitcoin payments toward bills.
Now, the bitcoin company, which was awarded the ‘Best State Startup’ for Queensland and the ‘Best New Startup in Australia’ in 2015, has reached $5 million in processing bills paid with bitcoin.
Speaking to Business Insider AU, Daniel Alexiuc underlined the merits of using bitcoin as a currency:
As the first truly international, decentralized and peer to peer currency, Bitcoin is perfectly suited to bill payments in Australia. It also enables new possibilities, like parents in foreign countries being able to easily support their children studying in Australia by paying some of their bills.
The Brisbane-based bitcoin company allows Australian users to settle everyday bills for utilities, credit card payments, gas, water, telecom, school fees, home or property rent and even tax payments. Notably, customers are charged no fees for bills while using the service.
Speaking to CCN in an earlier interview, Alexiuc revealed:
We make a profit by selling bitcoin on multiple international exchanges, being able to achieve a better price than is possible locally in Australia.
Living Room of Satoshi enables anyone to make payments toward BPAY-enabled bills. Owned by the so-called ‘Big Four’ Australian banks, BPAY is an electronic bill-payment system that enables users to make bill payments for a number of services. Every major business in Australia is BPAY-enabled, as are the federal and state governments.
Recent figures over three months reveal a majority of bills paid by Australians using bitcoin are toward credit card payments. Telecommunications (phone/internet) come next, followed by gas and electricity, property or rent payments, online shopping, water bills, tax payments, loans, council fee payments and fines.
Parents are turning to bitcoin-based bill payments with school fees figuring as the highest average bill amount.
Commonly known as a bitcoin startup, the company also allows users to pay in other cryptocurrencies. While bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency of choice, users have also made payments with Dash, Ether, Litecoin and Monero.
The Brisbane bitcoin company has come a long way, particularly after shuttering its operations within its first 6 months in 2014, due to Australian Government’s bitcoin ‘double-tax’ ruling. Two months later, the company resumed operations. To this day, Australians continue to be taxed twice for bitcoin-related purchases. For its part, the Australian government has committed to put an end to the double taxation.
Charts via LivingRoomofSatoshi. Featured image from Shutterstock.
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