When Lolli launched in August, co-founder Alex Adelman wrote, “Over 60% of Americans have heard of bitcoin, but very few actually own any.”

For all of us in the tech bubble, this is a good reminder of the relative inaccessibility of cryptocurrency. Many of us have Coinbase accounts (a V1 portfolio company) and don’t think twice about buying currency. But when you take a step back, you realize that the act of buying another type money is very unfamiliar to the average consumer (the closest thing we ever had before was foreign exchange).

Pair this with the fact that bitcoin, as an example, has a distribution problem. The only way you can get BTC is via buying or mining. There should be no surprise that mainstream adoption is so low.

Enter Lolli, a rewards application that earns you bitcoin when you shop online. Their mission is to make bitcoin more accessible to all, by simplifying the way people earn, share, and save bitcoin.

And today, we are excited to announce our investment in this company. We led the round with participation from Bain Capital, 3K VC, Forerunner, FJ Labs, DCG and some great angels.

 Why are we so excited about Lolli?

• Their mission aligns very well with our core beliefs – primarily belief #1 “democratizing access to resources.”
• Lolli is intuitive and easy-to-use – perfect for people’s first experience with bitcoin. It’s a browser extension with over 500+ brand partnerships already in place. You can earn bitcoin while shopping for clothes, groceries, hotels, and more.
• There’s no risk to the consumer, significantly improving on-ramping into crypto. Since bitcoins from Lolli are “gifted” to you as a reward, you won’t feel the sting of crypto’s volatility in the same way as if you had bought it.  
• Lolli has network effects with the ability to earn/spend one reward currency (BTC) across different online retailers. While rewards programs have traditionally been silo’ed (what you earn on one e-tailer’s site has to be redeemed on that site), think of Lolli as a universal rewards program.
• The grander opportunity is that Lolli will be *the* wallet for everyone. To start earning BTC, the company creates a wallet in a quick and frictionless for each consumer who signs up.

And in addition to all of this, we love the team! Co-founders Alex Adelman and Matt Senter have been working on democratizing commerce for years. Their last company, Cosmic, gives people the ability to seamlessly buy and sell all across the web (Cosmic was acquired by PopSugar and then later by Ebates).

So, whether you closely track your crypto portfolio or have been wondering how to get into bitcoin, sign up for Lolli – and bring your parents and grandparents on board too!

Download Lolli: www.lolli.com

Join the Lolli Facebook community for exclusive deals

Follow Lolli on Twitter for company updates & more ways to earn bitcoin: @trylolli