Gulf geeks, get ready: Bitcoin just got a bit easier to use.
Or at least that is what BitOasis is hoping its new bitcoin-buying platform will achieve.
Revealed at TechCrunch Disrupt NY Startup Alley, the service allows users in the Middle East to easily buy and sell Bitcoin. Co-founder Ola Doudin explained that the goal of the service is to increase bitcoin liquidity in the Middle East.
In addition to the new brokerage service, BitOasis offers a three-key multisig wallet. The company estimates that it has served 15,000 users since its January launch, with users in the UAE, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as Indonesia and Malaysia.
Although the company did not win a vote to continue onto the final stage of TechCrunch Disrupt, it was proud to be at the conference, as one of the few bitcoin-based businesses in the Middle East.
The short-list includes Lebanon's Yellow Pay and Dubai-based iGot . Given the e-commerce boom in the region, and the lack of trusted online payment systems that exist in MENA, some see Bitcoin as the next big thing in payment for the Middle East.