Purse.io is shutting down

[bbc.reporter]

How big is the possibility that much of purse.io's volume is for money laundering through hacked or stolen gift cards? Their team might have discovered that their success is based on criminal activities.

[malevolent]

They wouldn't have lasted this long (six years) if that had been the case. They were a legitimate company but they have faced many similar accusations from people unacquainted with their business model.

[Dalmar]

IMO, the pressure by governments has squeezed their business model, it is hard to survive nowadays. My another guess is: Big fish eats small fish, who knows? Yesterday the employee of the company announced this officially on Reddit:  

Closing Down
[ANNOUNCE]
We've made the very difficult decision to dissolve the company. We're grateful for the opportunity afforded by our supporters to build products and services for the cryptocurrency community.

To everyone who used our products, told their friends, or helped us in any way, thank you.

We will continue to offer support for ongoing orders and withdrawals until June 26, 2020 to ensure all transactions and accounts are settled.

As of today, April 16, 2020 new signups have been disabled.

“Shop” and “Earn” functionality will be disabled next week on April 23, 2020. Open orders that have not been matched will be canceled.

Purse.io will cease operations on June 26, 2020.

If you have a balance on Purse.io, please withdraw all funds as soon as possible.

It's been a privilege serving people all around the world. We're thankful for our customers who used purse.io increasing bitcoin's utility and distribution. We're also thankful to all the developers and companies who continue to support open source projects including Bcoin and HSD. Thank you for helping us make crypto useful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email our support team at Support@Purse.io

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/PurseIO/comments/g2l4hu/closing_down/

[LeGaulois]

IMO, the pressure by governments has squeezed their business model, it is hard to survive nowadays.

I don't know where you saw that or even how you came to that conclusion. It isn't 'hard to survive' like you say if your service is viable and relevant

My another guess is: Big fish eats small fish, who knows?

Purse.io is was one of the big fishes

Yesterday the employee of the company announced this officially on Reddit

I don't know why you repost this, it was already shared in the original post, we already knew this announcement

[figmentofmyass]

IMO, the pressure by governments has squeezed their business model, it is hard to survive nowadays.

I don't know where you saw that or even how you came to that conclusion. It isn't 'hard to survive' like you say if your service is viable and relevant

it is, if your service is not profitable. i'm not sure exactly what kind of volume they were doing at the end, but given the overall path of affiliate commissions, i'm gonna speculate they weren't making enough to last as an SF-based company.

My another guess is: Big fish eats small fish, who knows?

Purse.io is was one of the big fishes

purse.io was a big name in 2014, not so much in 2020. i think they've been quietly dying out for years.

[OgNasty]

Another Bitcoin use case gone. If it wasn’t for suckers trying to get rich buying worthless altcoins, I am beginning to wonder if anyone would be using Bitcoin at all. The strange thing is that it’s like nobody seems to notice that Bitcoin use cases have been dying for 5 years now. I really hope I’m not the last one out the door when the inevitable happens.

[gentlemand]

Another Bitcoin use case gone. If it wasn’t for suckers trying to get rich buying worthless altcoins, I am beginning to wonder if anyone would be using Bitcoin at all. The strange thing is that it’s like nobody seems to notice that Bitcoin use cases have been dying for 5 years now. I really hope I’m not the last one out the door when the inevitable happens.

I take the view that 'use cases' will be the last thing to be refined. We have to get through the speculative phase, then the store of value bit and then just maybe it'll be a currency once that's achieved. Finally the merchant stuff starts to kick in properly.

I certainly appreciate the ability to pay with it but I won't be at all surprised if many more options die off and don't come back until a long time later.

It's still being decided what it is. A small number are using it as a currency. Tales like this tell us not very many others feel the same way.

[bbc.reporter]

They wouldn't have lasted this long (six years) if that had been the case. They were a legitimate company but they have faced many similar accusations from people unacquainted with their business model.

I was not saying they were working with criminals. I was speculating that much of their volume might be from stolen gift cards. This might have attracted the attention of the government.

@OgNasty. However, it can also be argued that buying worthless altcoins is also a bitcoin use case hehehe.

[malevolent]

They wouldn't have lasted this long (six years) if that had been the case. They were a legitimate company but they have faced many similar accusations from people unacquainted with their business model.

I was not saying they were working with criminals. I was speculating that much of their volume might be from stolen gift cards. This might have attracted the attention of the government.

@OgNasty. However, it can also be argued that buying worthless altcoins is also a bitcoin use case hehehe.

I wasn't suggesting that this is what you were saying. I'm saying they would have been swamped with requests, investigations and accusations from the authorities about fraud or money laundering going on through their platform if these criminal acts were truly frequently occurring. They weren't some darknet fly-by-night operation so I have a hard time imagining that more than a small fraction of the volume was connected to hacked/stolen or otherwise fraudulently acquire GCs. Even developing countries go after GC scammers.

E.g.:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/32-arrested-at-indian-call-centre-that-targeted-canadians-1.4690651
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-fraud-usa/callers-for-dollars-inside-indias-scam-call-centers-idUSKBN13O2XZ

[OgNasty]

I certainly appreciate the ability to pay with it but I won't be at all surprised if many more options die off and don't come back until a long time later.

That’s just not how things work. Innovators move on. We’ve been seeing it and I fear we aren’t turning the ship in the right direction so new innovators are likely to pursue alternatives.

@OgNasty. However, it can also be argued that buying worthless altcoins is also a bitcoin use case hehehe.

My point was that is one of the only use cases left.

[mk4]

I certainly appreciate the ability to pay with it but I won't be at all surprised if many more options die off and don't come back until a long time later.

That’s just not how things work. Innovators move on. We’ve been seeing it and I fear we aren’t turning the ship in the right direction so new innovators are likely to pursue alternatives.

To be fair, some platforms die, and some platforms rise out of nowhere. Purse shutting down definitely isn't a good thing, but I don't think it's THAT big of a hit on one of Bitcoin's use cases. While not literally exactly the same with Purse(with slight overlaps), newer platforms like Fold[1] and Bitrefill[2] definitely have gained traction. Both even have lightning!

[1] https://foldapp.com/
[2] https://bitrefill.com/

[odolvlobo]

Roger Ver says he is working to keep Purse.io running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv6raXD3sXc&t=16s

[bbc.reporter]

@odolvlobo. What more can he do for Purse if the problem is financial? I reckon if the bitcoin economy, the largest in the cryptospace cannot support it, how can bitcoin cash save it?

Also, that video was a promotion for bitcoin cash if no one noticed heheheh.

[mk4]

@odolvlobo. What more can he do for Purse if the problem is financial? I reckon if the bitcoin economy, the largest in the cryptospace cannot support it, how can bitcoin cash save it?

Not bitcoin cash per se, but Roger might be able to save it. At least depending on how his finances are going, as Roger is known to be an angel investor. I really wouldn't be surprised if Roger straight off bought the Purse.io business.

[STT]

If theres some mutual benefit between the two enterprises then it becomes more likely to be a viable deal not just talk, he wants the revenue so I could imagine thats maybe a thing.   Its not going to be as big as bitpay or whoever as its just one website but its a dam big website all over the world.   Depends if they can make it work it on the hitches and details that have halted the original idea.
   Companies have come back before, its part of the cycle to discontinue what doesnt work;  people say any failure is a negative for BTC but I dont think its a simple binary outcome.

[bbc.reporter]

@mk4. It appears that he might save purse.io and use it as one of his services to promote his bitcoin cash scam, however hehehe.

[gentlemand]

@mk4. It appears that he might save purse.io and use it as one of his services to promote his bitcoin cash scam, however hehehe.

He'll need people to want BCH for their gift cards though. If he does go for it it'll be interesting to see the uptake. I really can't see him educating newcomers as to the difference so maybe it'll explode as they believe they're getting 'more' Bitcoin.

[figmentofmyass]

It appears that he might save purse.io and use it as one of his services to promote his bitcoin cash scam, however hehehe.

He'll need people to want BCH for their gift cards though. If he does go for it it'll be interesting to see the uptake. I really can't see him educating newcomers as to the difference so maybe it'll explode as they believe they're getting 'more' Bitcoin.

purse.io already supported BCH so there wouldn't need to be any real transition there. i don't think roger ver would be dumb enough to remove BTC from the site since it surely provides most of the liquidity. there is no doubt he will unsubtly use it to advertise BCH though. it will probably be the default currency.

he sounds pretty confident that purse.io will keep running.

[bbc.reporter]

It appears that he might save purse.io and use it as one of his services to promote his bitcoin cash scam, however hehehe.

He'll need people to want BCH for their gift cards though. If he does go for it it'll be interesting to see the uptake. I really can't see him educating newcomers as to the difference so maybe it'll explode as they believe they're getting 'more' Bitcoin.

purse.io already supported BCH so there wouldn't need to be any real transition there. i don't think roger ver would be dumb enough to remove BTC from the site since it surely provides most of the liquidity. there is no doubt he will unsubtly use it to advertise BCH though. it will probably be the default currency.

he sounds pretty confident that purse.io will keep running.

That, however, does not have answer to the argument that if purse.io's problem was financial and bitcoin's economy cannot support it, how can bitcoin cash save it?

[ChuckBuck]

  I know there are many people who use purse.io's service and their closure will be a loss for your purchase. Admittedly, their profits in this business model depend on the source of the gift card they are using, so there are some allegations regarding them. I don't know if they have any legal issues, but I believe that is why they stopped providing this service.
Well, by the way, it seems to be a great advantage for me to provide my check out service on this forum. At the moment, I can only supply those in the US (and a few popular countries, this can be considered). Anyone interested in my services, please visit my topic here for a discounted purchase