20Mission, a co-working space dedicated to art and technology creators, announced the launch of Nakamoto's electronics, the first Bitcoin retail store in San Francisco.
Located in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District, 20Mission is a co-working and co-living space, former home to several Bitcoin startups, including Blockchain.info, 37Coins, Tradehill, Piper Wallet, and Bitcoin marketplace, Purse.io.
Nakamoto's tech retail store follows the initial concept behind Purse.io, but in brick-and-mortar format, and aims to give more practical uses and applications for the digital currency on a local scale.
As of today, Nakamoto's electronics offers dozens of popular products, including Chromebooks, Amazon Kindles, Apple headphones, and Raspberry Pis. The outlet offers a minimum 10% discount off the Amazon price when paying with Bitcoin.
Andrew Lee, CEO of Purse.io commented on Nakamoto's launch:
"It is a great way to onboard new users with goods and products that they can pick up and physically touch. We’ll have a BTM (Bitcoin ATM) on site so if you don’t have Bitcoin and only have cash you can purchase Bitcoin and take your discount on the spot."
A major part of the project's funding came from loans that were funded on BTCJam, a peer-to-peer lending platform that gathers investors and Bitcoin enthusiasts.
Founded in late 2013 by Brazilian software engineer Celso Pitta, BTCJam claims to be the first completely global P2P lending company powered by Bitcoin.
The platform uses a credit-scoring algorithm that works online and on a global scale, that leverages users' social media profiles, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and e-commerce transaction history, such as Paypal and eBay, as well as traditional date points, to grade borrowers.
Borrowers are free to define the repayment parameters as well as the rate they are willing to pay, and make periodic payments to investors. The platform applies a P2P reputation system that allows users to grade each other.
BTCJam was part of 500 Startups, a business accelerator funded by entrepreneur and prominent angel investor Dave McClure. The startup counts among its investors Ribbit Capital and Funders Club.
On February 2, BTCJam released its Android app, a product aimed to improve borrower registration flow, streamline the enrollment process for new borrowers, and enlarge the company's client base to developing countries.
BTCJam's CPO, Gustavo Guida, said in an announcement:
"We are targeting borrowers from developing countries that make more use of affordable rates that our unique platform offers. Most of developing countries users are mobile-first users, and the most popular platform there is Android."
The startup recently reached US$10 million worth in loans and is used by over 80,000 people from more than 200 countries.
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