British Entrepreneur Launches BTXDeals.com; the First Bitcoin Online Marketplace

BTXDeals, a new and revolutionary Bitcoin online marketplace, has announced its live launch and opened its doors to a unique form of online trading – Bitcoins are its sole currency. This exciting business start-up is the first of its kind to truly take advantage of the rising potential of the burgeoning virtual currency – one that is set to become the future of e-commerce worldwide.

BTXDeals is the brainchild of forward-thinking British technology entrepreneur Nick Boardman, who has an enviable track record in building success from early-adoption models. At the age of just 20 he founded Rock Group PLC, a company that featured in the prestigious Vantis Hot 100 and became one of the UK's fastest growing businesses. Rock played an important role in an emerging laptop market, being one of the first companies to allow users to customise orders online. Since then he has founded numerous successful companies and featured in the CRN A-List awards on multiple occasions. BTXDeals is the result of his most recent passion – a love for Bitcoin.

BTXDeals distinguishes itself from other online e-tailers by offering the best possible value to its customers with a cost-per-sale typically 50% lower than that charged by Amazon or eBay, and with no hidden charges or additional fees. It's free to list an unlimited number of items, vendors can receive payment in either Bitcoins or GBP Sterling and unlike Amazon, BTXDeals will not try to compete with sellers, instead focusing its efforts on simply providing a safe and competitive platform on which to trade.

BTXDeals ensures that customers are getting a fair representation of the value of their virtual currency in the current market, and shopping for goods is made easy due to a transparent indication of currency conversion based on current exchange rates. The base price of goods is set in GBP Sterling and updated every 10 minutes based on the exchange rate of Bitpay, the largest Bitcoin payment gateway. Currently based in the UK with plans to expand into further territories next year, BTXDeals also offers comparisons in Euros and US Dollars for added convenience.

"As the first of its kind, BTXDeals embraces the potential of Bitcoin and provides a safe, secure and transparent form of online shopping that puts the power in the hands of the consumer," said Nick Boardman, CEO and Founder of BTXDeals. "We're passionate about the potential of this virtual currency and believe it will become the future for all e-commerce transactions."

BTXDeals, headquartered at Hilton Hall in Staffordshire, has already secured a number of key vendors across a range of industries including Grange Hotels, Shy Aviation, Sun Mountain Golf, K Bassam Jewellers, Time Square Birmingham, New Born Electronics, Paul Oz, Cherished Number Plates and Spanish Villas. It is in negotiations with a number of other major suppliers and well known global brands and expects to rapidly expand its product and service range over the coming months.

"We're confident that Bitcoins are capable of shaping the future of e-commerce, so joining a company that is looking to become an early pioneer of this form of online trading was an easy decision," said Scott Sullivan, CEO of Shy Aviation. "Nick's enthusiasm for the potential of BTXDeals to make a real impact on this market is infectious, and we're very much looking forward to a long and successful partnership."

As a virtual currency that is not managed by a bank, Bitcoins have a range of advantages over traditional currencies. It is easier and safer to send Bitcoin money over the internet; it is not susceptible to credit card, foreign exchange or cash handling fees and less susceptible to fraud. And since Bitcoins have a fixed upper limit, it is more predictable than currencies that can be inflated by a central bank. With a current market value of around $5billion, Bitcoins are seen by many as the inevitable future of e-commerce, and have attracted entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, the Winklevoss twins and co-founder of Netscape Marc Andreessen.

-ENDS-

NICK BOARDMAN - BIOGRAPHY

Nick Boardman has a distinguished history of realising potential in young and burgeoning markets. Perhaps his greatest success story began in 1992 when Nick was just 20 years old. Despite laptops accounting for just 4% of PC sales at the time, Nick realised their potential and founded Rock Group PLC, a company that would go on to rank in the Vantis Hot 100 as one of the UK's fastest growing businesses, achieving an average annual growth rate of 44% over the measured 4 years. At one point Rock was responsible for a 74% share across EMEA of Intel's newly launched premium mobile processor, at a time when many manufacturers struggled to maintain sales. When Rock set up its ecommerce website in 1996 it became one of the first e-tailers to allow customers to configure their orders online, pay for them and get them shipped direct. Rock laptops won over 100 product and service awards including the CustomPC Best PC & Laptop Manufacturer in 2007, which as a local OEM beating global brands such as ASUS, Dell, HP and Sony underlined its rise to prominence.

Since selling his majority share in Rock to a USA-listed PLC, Nick has pursued other ventures. He has worked as a Management Consultant and was a Director at a number of companies including Blubox Software, Casetec and Stone Computers. Nick is also the Founder and CEO of Purgo Fuel Technologies Ltd. – a specialist in dual-fuel vehicles.

He was honoured in both 2006 and 2007 in the CRN A-List awards. In 2007 he designed and launched the Meivo – a TV with PC functionality; now of course known as a Smart TV.

Nick, who lives in Royal Leamington Spa, first got involved with Bitcoins 18 months ago as a speculator, and as his interest grew came to realise the great potential for this currency to make a real impact on e-commerce. With the skills and market knowledge to identify early-adoption opportunities and bring them to fruition, BTXDeals is set to be his next big success.

For more information on Bitcoins and a detailed FAQ visit Bitcoin.org

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