Bitcoin firm Circle has added support for contactless mobile payments to its Android app, enabling crypto-currency enthusiasts to make instore purchases with a wave of their phone.
The move comes shortly after BitPay launched an NFC point-of-sale app for merchants, which Circle says means that thousands of high-street locations around the world will support its new feature.
More broadly, NFC payment technology is expected to have a breakthrough year in 2015, with transaction volumes predicted to triple to $72 billion, as contactless cards become ubiquitous and the likes of Apple Pay push mobile adoption.
With $26 million in funding behind it, Circle opened for business late last year, promising to take bitcoin to the masses with its free platform for buying, storing and paying with the crypto-currency.
Any attempt to bring digital currency into the mainstream looks like an uphill battle, though. Already this year, bitcoin has taken a price hit after exchange operator Bitstamp admitted that it has lost up to 19,000 coins.