US-based company CoinSafe says its new mobile and desktop apps can turn any local business into a ‘bitcoin ATM’, or face-to-face bitcoin exchange. The CoinSafe apps are free to use and allow businesses to trade bitcoins directly with walk-in customers.

After registering their business name for inclusion in CoinSafe’s directory, owners then link the app to a Blockchain, Coinbase or Bitstamp account and can start trading bitcoins face-to-face.

CoinSafe says the software is “designed to be used by someone who has no idea what bitcoin is”, and that a staff member merely needs to confirm that funds have been received before releasing the payout amount in either bitcoin or cash.

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CoinSafe co-founder and CEO Michael Flaxman said the software provided business owners with a less risky, more flexible option for getting bitcoin into their customers’ hands without having to purchase or maintain ATM hardware. He further said that CoinSafe would provide a map on its website showing the locations of businesses who had signed up to the service.

The company will not have access to any user’s private keys and will encrypt all customer information in transit to its services, its website says. It also recommends that businesses keep larger amounts of bitcoin in cold storage. Businesses paying out cash for bitcoins only do not have to give API access to CoinSafe at all, so long as they provide a bitcoin address by which the transaction can be confirmed. The service uses standard transaction fees of approximately 0.0001 BTC (about 6 US cents).

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Following Apple’s controversial removal of iOS bitcoin apps in January, the first of the big-name wallets relaunches on the App Store today. Blockchain, which already provides hugely popular wallets for both desktop computers and Android devices, has unveiled its new-from-the-ground-up iOS wallet, which it hopes will bring bitcoin to users across the globe.

Prior to Apple’s removal of all apps offering cryptocurrency transactions in January 2014, Blockchain was the most downloaded bitcoin wallet for iOS devices. Blockchain’s announcement will likely come as welcome news for the bitcoin community, which protested loudly at Apple’s ban – with some users even shooting their iPhones in an unlikely show of support.

However, for reasons known only to Apple insiders, a new, more open policy was announced at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference in early June, paving the way once more for bitcoin wallets and other apps that transact using cryptocurrencies.

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The App Store has seen the addition of several bitcoin apps, including an unofficial wallet for Coinbase users and Gliph, a messaging service that lets connected users send each other bitcoin. However, Blockchain is the first of the major players to offer wallet services on iOS since early 2014.

Nicolas Cary, CEO of Blockchain, told “The moment Apple signalled a shift in their policy toward digital currency apps, we pulled the iOS project off the shelf and got to work. We wanted to use this as an opportunity to improve the wallet, but we were still apprehensive about dedicating huge amounts of engineering time because it wasn’t clear what types of apps would get through the submission and approval process.”

He added: “Working with Apple has been quick and easy, and we really appreciate their thoughtful guidance – it’s a partnership we really value.”

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