E-commerce Retailer FONQ.NL Accepts Bitcoin

     One of the strongest forces driving the use of Bitcoin as a currency is e-commerce, and one of the most advanced countries in the world for Bitcoin is the Netherlands. So it’s no surprise that one of the most prominent e-commerce merchants in the Netherlands, Fonq.nl, now accepts Bitcoin.

Log on to www.fonq.nl and you can buy gifts, homewares and fashion items using Bitcoin and a number of other payment options. Customers can pay using iDeal (an online payment service), credit card, PayPal and bank transfer, and now Bitcoin.

The fact that Dutch e-commerce retailers haven’t made a big splash in the Bitcoin space perhaps says something about the widespread use of Bitcoin in the Netherlands.

At the time of publishing, there were no announcements regarding Bitcoin on the fon.nl website.

BitPay announces Fona.nl on Twitter

The development has attracted attention today as BitPay announced the news on Twitter. As of today, BitPay does not mention fonq.nl on its website.

According to ecommercenews.eu (Dutch media), Fonq.nl operates four online stores in Europe. In addition to the Dutch business, the company also has e-commerce sites in Belgium, Germany and France. Ecommercenew.eu noted that Bitcoin payments are only available on the Dutch e-commerce site.

Fonq.nl, part of RFS, the second largest e-commerce company in the Netherlands, joins the long list of Dutch retailers that accept Bitcoin payments.

A year ago, CCN reported that the Dutch city of Arnhem had the first supermarket to accept Bitcoin, Spar Arnhem Centraal. Arnhem calls itself the "Bitcoin City" and the most Bitcoin-friendly supermarket in the world. There is a map on the website indicating the many retail outlets that accept Bitcoin. Coinmap (a web-based Bitcoin heat map platform) shows that there are nearly 100 locations in Arnhem that accept Bitcoin.

The Netherlands embraces cryptocurrencies

     According to Bitcoin Wednesday, the organization that hosts monthly Bitcoin conferences, next week Amsterdam will host the second Bitcoin Film Festival, which will showcase films about Bitcoin and digital currencies. The festival is co-sponsored by Bitcoin Wednesday and Bitfilm, a Berlin-based film production company, and is part of a 16-city global tour.

The Netherlands is also home to “The Bitcoin Embassy,” a nonprofit educational center in Amsterdam where people can attend Bitcoin lectures, buy Bitcoin, and use Bitcoin ATMs. The center is sponsored by BitPay, Blocktrail, Rubion, and MrBitcoin.