Erik Voorhees launches ShapeShift, first iOS crypto converter

Erik Voorhees and his team just launched a new tool that might change the cryptocurrency game. Or, at least, make it a lot easier to play. The Bitcoin entrepreneur announced the release of the first iOS-friendly cryptocurrency trading app.

The application, developed by Voorhees’ startup ShapeShift, is the first iOS cryptocurrency converter currently available in the App Store. It allows the users to exchange BTC and 34 other digital currencies with a simple tap, eliminating the need to create an account on a Bitcoin exchange.

The Bitcoin entrepreneur announced the good news on Reddit and the reaction was amazing. Here are some of the replies from excited Bitcoiners:-

“Great Breadwallet integration!” Logical007

“Love Shapeshift! :)” connect_fist 

“This is amazing. Thank you Shapeshift team! You provide a service which I find invaluable. I’m not a crypto trader, so Shapeshift allows me to convert BTC into any other currency without having to sign up with exchanges. I just use Circle to get cash/BTC and then use Shapeshift for all my other needs.” f1shbone

“Very cool. Well done to Erik and the team.” Essexal 

“Great work! Can’t wait for Android, yo.” nigger_loaf

“Basically its claim to fame is that there’s no account or sign up at all. It’s sort of like a vending machine where you just visit the website, send one kind of digital currency, and we send you a different kind of digital currency,” Voorhees said.

“We don’t ever have to hold customer money like a normal exchange. It’s a definite advance for consumer protection because there’s no risk of hacking or of the operators running away with money.”

With the launching of this iOS app, the number of transactions managed by ShapeShift is likely to increase. Voorhees revealed that the site had around 13,000 orders in May, but that number has been growing 20% per month.

The users pay a small fee for each transaction. According to the Bitcoin entrepreneur, “the margins are really small,” which means the company needs to attract a lot more users to make sure its software has the necessary resources to operate. “Ultimately if we take any small piece of the global exchange market that will be plenty big for us to make money on.”