"Bitcoin Black Friday" Parters with "Fight for the Future"

Site: http://bitcoinblackfriday.com
Site: http://www.fightforthefuture.org/

BITCOIN BLACK FRIDAY PARTNERS WITH FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE

Energizing Bitcoin’s Second Annual Black Friday Event

Bitcoin Black Friday (formerly known as Bitcoin Friday) announced today a partnership with Fight for the Future, a digital rights advocacy group best known organizing the first massive protests against SOPA in 2011. Fight for the Future will be providing Bitcoin Black Friday with resources, viral organizing knowledge, and grassroots experience. Through this partnership, Bitcoin Black Friday aims to appeal not only to Bitcoiners, but to any internet user looking for a better way to pay for goods online.

“Before Bitcoin Friday, in early 2012, people were wondering whether Bitcoin could even exist as a currency, whether people would ever spend their hoarded bitcoins.” The founder of Bitcoin Friday, Jon Holmquist, remarks, ”Last year’s wildly successful event alleviated those fears.” The idea is simple: Bitcoin merchants opt-in for a free listing on the site and list their ‘deal’ that is only redeemable during Bitcoin Friday. Last year’s deals were wide-ranging from 20% off a WIKISPEED car to 25% off VPN services. Participating merchants saw anywhere from 2x as many sales to some merchants having their best single day of sales ever. BitPay, the largest Bitcoin payment processor, recorded their largest amount of orders placed in a single day during Bitcoin Friday, and other Bitcoin payment processors universally reported similarly high results.

This year, Bitcoin Black Friday is occurring on November 29th, the same day as Black Friday, and will include a much larger selection of merchants. Instead of being able to fit all participating merchants on one page, the website will now be split up into categories. About 500 bitcoin-accepting merchants are going to be participating.

New this year for Bitcoin Black Friday is a charity section. If Bitcoin consumers have a few bitcents in their wallets after their shopping sprees, they can donate directly to one of the many charities and nonprofits accepting bitcoin, such as the Internet freedom group Fight for the Future or Sean’s Outpost.

Bitcoin Black Friday is not only online. The digital currency Bitcoin is gaining an increasing amount of ‘meatspace’ businesses. To celebrate Bitcoin brick-and-mortar merchants, Bitcoin Black Friday Parties will be occurring around the globe at locations that accept bitcoin payments in person. In Berlin, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and in other major cities, these parties will bring Bitcoiners in the community together, to bond over cocktails and love of cryptocurrency.

“We are extremely excited to be helping with this year’s Bitcoin Black Friday,” said Fight for the Future co-director Holmes Wilson, “Bitcoin is so close to mainstream adoption, and moments like this can help push it over the edge.”

Over the last year, Bitcoin has risen in value, popularity, and adoption. The growth of Bitcoin is being tracked by the massive growth in merchant adoption. Last year’s event drew in about 75 merchants. This year’s event will pull in more than 500. More and more people around the world are turning to bitcoin as an exciting, secure, and innovative online currency. Bitcoin Black Friday will help rally the growing bitcoin community and help merchants connect to a new vibrant and global market.

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1 For more specific numbers: http://codinginmysleep.com/bitcoin-friday-results/