Users of Perk's Reward Browser Can Now Earn Bitcoins When They Surf, Search and Shop via the Web

AUSTIN, Texas, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Perk, the world's first web browser that rewards users for surfing, searching, and shopping online, announced today that its users now have the ability to turn rewards – Perk Points – into Bitcoins. Perk has partnered with more than 2,000 top merchants including 1800 Flowers, BestBuy.com, Urban Outfitters, drugstore.com and many more, to offer its users an array of options to earn and spend Perk Points.

Bitcoin is a new and exciting open-source digital currency that enables instant peer-to-peer transactions and worldwide payments. Bitcoins can be transferred through a computer or smartphone, to directly pay and/or receive payments for goods and services and settle debts among friends.

"We wanted to give Perk users the opportunity to play with what amounts to 'house money' when it comes to Bitcoins," said Adam Salamon, Co-Founder and COO of Perk. "Perk users now have the freedom to convert their Perk Points into Bitcoin, that can be spent however they like, in addition to the great products, services, gift cards, airline miles, social gaming currency and donations that we typically offer."

Perk believes that by providing its users with "low risk" access to Bitcoin, it will enhance access and use of this revolutionary new way to transact online.

"At Perk we're always looking to offer our users new and exciting ways to use their points, including the freedom to transmit 'value' from one person to the next with Bitcoins," said Roj Niyogi, Founder and CEO of Perk. "Many people are still trying to grasp the value of a Bitcoin, so we thought it would be appealing to give our users the opportunity to try it out for themselves, with no risk."

Perk is powered with top tier search capabilities and is built on the open source project, Chromium, the technology behind Google Chrome. The Perk browser is now available for download here (www.perk.com) on both Mac and Windows.

About Bitcoin
Bitcoin is one of the first implementations of a concept called crypto-currency, which was first described in 1998 by Wei Dai on the cypherpunks mailing list. Building upon the notion that money is any object, or any sort of record, accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context, Bitcoin is designed around the idea of a new form of money that uses cryptography to control its creation and transactions, rather than relying on central authorities.

On September 27th 2012, the Bitcoin Foundation was created in an effort to standardize, protect, and promote Bitcoin. Today, the Bitcoin economy is developing quickly with new users joining every day.

About Perk
Perk is the world's first Web browser – available on Mac and Windows – that rewards users with "Perk Points" that can be redeemed for products, services and causes, by simply surfing, searching and shopping on the Web. Perk is built on the Chromium open source project and includes more than 2,000 merchant partners including 1800 Flowers, BestBuy.com, Urban Outfitters, drugstore.com and many more.

Perk.com is backed by Insight Capital, has its headquarters in Austin, TX with offices in Bangalore, India. 

About Jutera Labs
Jutera Labs is an Austin, Texas-based technology incubator that operates using the principles of keiretsu, where interlocking business relationships and shareholdings merge to form a shared ecosystem for conceiving, developing, launching and scaling companies. Jutera Labs' companies focus on the fields of digital media, retail and advertising.  The company has offices in both Austin, Texas and Bangalore, India.

Jutera Labs was founded in 2010 by ex-Social Media.com and Bazaarvoice (NASDAQ: BV) executives Roj Niyogi and Adam Salamon , who have parlayed their experience with running startups in social, deals / loyalty, online and multichannel retailing into an incubator for emerging companies.  Jutera Labs completed a Series A round in September of 2011.  Its main investor is Walnut Creek, California-based Insight Capital, as well as undisclosed business angels.

SOURCE Perk