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- The Bitcoin shopping app Lolli enables users to receive an average cash back of 7 percent in the form of Bitcoin (BTC) when shopping in online shops.
- Lolli has 950 well-known retailers who pay back up to 30 percent in Bitcoin.
Alex Adelman, CEO and co-founder of the Bitcoin shopping app Lolli, recently gave CNN’s Julia Chatterley an insight into his company’s business model. As Adelman explained, the platform already has more than 950 partners and merchants participating in Lolli’s reward system. The principle is simple. Users of the browser extension receive a reward in the form of Bitcoin when they shop in one of their partners’ shops.
Adelman told Chatterley that many people first come into contact with Bitcoin through his app, adding that Bitcoin has so far reached only a tiny percentage of the total population:
What we’re trying to do is create the easiest way for people to get into Bitcoin, and we have done so through a cash back model. We partner with merchants and then those merchants pay us when our users shop their site. Then we send people free Bitcoin through their Lolli wallets.
Asked about Lolli’s partners, Adelman said his company works with hundreds of retailers, including some of the world’s most famous brands:
Everyone from Priceline to Glossier to Expedia. We have over 950 merchants. We almost have a thousand, and these merchants are coming on board because it is the easiest way for the merchants to get into Bitcoin as well.It is not just the consumers that we have created an easy on ramp. We are getting mass merchant adoption, and I think some of the biggest merchants in the world have already joined us today.
A look at the lollipop website reveals that Adelman is by no means exaggerating. In addition to the three companies mentioned, the partners include renowned retailers such as hotel.com, Groupon, Bloomingdales, Marriot Bonvoy, Macy’s, Hilton, Sephora, Old Navy, Gap, Footlocker, Bodybuilding.com, Topshop, Sonos, The Vitamin Shoppe, Nike, Sixt and Happy Socks.
In order to participate in the cash back program, all users need to do is install and activate the lollipop browser extension in any browser. Afterwards, the user will be informed about the cash-back possibility at every online shop that Lolli has partnered with. The cash back amount varies between 0.5 and 30 percent depending on the online shop. For example, Nike offers up to 3%, Groupon up to 10.5% and Sixt up to 6%. On average, according to Adelman, app users can expect a cash back of around 7%.
When asked whether Lolli users can use the Bitcoin they have earned to pay for their purchases, Adelman said that the vast majority of users keep their Bitcoin and treat it as an investment. In addition, Adelman said that currently only 10 to 15 of the more than 950 merchants accept Bitcoin as a means of payment:
A lot of our users treat it as an investment. I think the data right now is that over 90% of our users just hold it as an investment. Very few actually exchange it out, and I think that’s a sign that people are treating it as an investment account. They are treating it as a savings technology, which is, I think, Bitcoin’s biggest feature right now.
Adelman on the Bitcoin Halving
Asked about the upcoming Bitcoin Halving in May and whether it is already priced into Bitcoin’s current price, Adelman explained that the major institutions are still in a wait-and-see attitude.
When I talk to my friends that are on the deep institutional side that have billion-dollar hedge funds, they are still waiting. […] I just don’t think that it has been priced yet.
You can watch the full interview in the following tweet.
“Our users can earn 7% (Bitcoin) back across all of our different merchants, an avg & then the actual is about 30%…our highest today that you can earn," @trylolli CEO @alexadelman explains.
PLUS #BTC investing & whether the next "halving" is already priced in! @firstmove pic.twitter.com/89cmTK0Rb4— Julia Chatterley (@jchatterleyCNN) February 18, 2020
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