Bengaluru-based startup GoSats rewards Indians in Bitcoin for online purchases
Every time you order food or buy clothes on an e-commerce platform, receiving rewards in the form of cashback or discount will make you happy. It’s a simple win-win scenario for all parties involved, the sellers see an increase in sales when they offer cashback, and the user gets a cashback in their wallet that can be reused to buy other things. But what if you are promised a “Bitcoin” in the form of rewards for every transaction you make on these apps? This is exactly what a Bengaluru-based platform does.
Mohammed Roshan and Roshni Aslam, the founders of crypto-staking platform GoSats, are promoting Bitcoin to Indians to simply make purchases online. The platform has more than 120 apps, including Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, Big Basket and Myntra, and claims to have 1,00,000 users on board till date.
Using GoSats is quite simple. There are two ways users can shop on the platform: One, by purchasing brand vouchers – and then using those vouchers at the respective brand’s online/offline store, and second, by shopping directly within the app as on any e-commerce platform .
“Reward programs incentivize consumers to reap the benefits of spending their money on a brand. It’s a psychological pull that most consumers don’t – and sometimes can’t – resist,” Roshan told indianexpress.com. He calls cashback ‘Satback’. It means cashback given in terms of Satoshis Satoshis is to Bitcoin what paisa is to rupee 10 Crore Satoshis is equal to 1 Bitcoin.
Mohammad Roshan is the founder of GoSats. (Photo: GoSats)
According to Roshan, rewards in the form of Bitcoin make more sense than any other asset because it is a “deflationary asset with limited supply.” For a decade, Bitcoin has been considered the most effective asset, going all the way from $0.01 to $42,000 at its peak. “A consistent pattern in Bitcoin is that it appreciates with the increase in demand over a long period of time. Now compare this to any other form of cashback (INR, credit card points, airline miles, etc.) and it’s clear that they all lose their value over time, he said.
The rewards given by the platform range from 5 percent to as high as 20 percent. The company has a simple business model. “For every transaction a user makes, it rewards users in Satoshis and in return, the company generates revenue and brings in new users for various D2C brands,” explains Karan Agarwal, Product Manager at GoSats.
Interestingly, for GoSats, crypto winter is not bad news. “When the crypto market plunges, we have increased the reward percentage for our users. This is because the value is currently down and more Bitcoins can be brought, we offer as high as 20 percent Satoshis to ours now, Agarwal adds. In the future, the company may allow its users to stake their rewards, which means they can re-invest the rewards and earn more incentives.
The company clarifies its position that it does not function as an exchange. Any user who registers on the platform must provide their crypto wallet address, but to liquidate (withdraw Bitcoin), users must use an exchange, according to their needs. “There is no risk involved as there is no investment of money involved, users earn Bitcoin for free when they shop online,” notes Roshan.
He believes this could be a great way for users just learning about Bitcoin to get their first Satoshis. “Typically, students don’t have a lot of money that they can use for investments, but many of them spend a lot of money on shopping. This makes them ideal for Bitcoin cashback,” he adds. The platform has users in the 18-24 age group.
“I don’t think we can get mass adoption by having Bitcoin as just an investment vehicle. Instead, we need to have Crypto products that integrate into people’s everyday lives and provide value over other alternatives. Cashbacks in Bitcoin can only be the way that leads to mass adoption by giving millions of people their first Bitcoin for their daily shopping.” says Roshan.
