Phunware Inc (NASDAQ:PHUN) (FRA:2RJ) announced Tuesday that its board has authorized bitcoin purchases in preparation for the commercial launch of its blockchain-enabled Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) Customer Data Platform (CDP) and MaaS Mobile Loyalty Ecosystem.
The company plans to release PhunWallet on iOS and Android later this month, subject to approval from the Apple App Store and Google Play, respectively. PhunWallet is designed to manage the issuance of PhunCoin, which rewards consumers for the value of their data and PhunToken, which rewards consumers for the value of their engagement, the company said.
“We recently completed an initial purchase of 25.8 bitcoin at an average price of $58,133 per bitcoin and are thrilled to actively participate in such a vibrant global market and community alongside Tesla, MicroStrategy, Square and many other corporations and funds worldwide,” CEO Alan Knitowski said in a statement.
READ: Phunware posts $10M in FY2020 revenue on strength of its Multiscreen-as-a-Service subscriptions
“We expect to leverage more than a decade of our mobile experience to drive the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, while simultaneously offering enterprises and governments the opportunity to leverage the benefits of blockchain to drive profitable behavior without the complexity of designing and maintaining their own infrastructure or ecosystem,” Knitowski added.
Phunware also recently partnered with payment app BitPay to expand its corporate benefits package to provide cryptocurrency payroll options for employees, including bitcoin.
The company said its MaaS CDP is a cloud-based, proprietary algorithm-enabled solution that aggregates and organizes customer data across a variety of touchpoints in real-time to create persistent and unified customer databases.
In tandem, its MaaS Mobile Loyalty Ecosystem seamlessly integrates Phunware’s MaaS Mobile Engagement and MaaS Location Based Services (LBS) software to enable one-to-one consumer interactions that drive profitable behavior and further enrich these customer databases.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel