ShapeShift unveils iOS app for instant trading of major cryptocurrencies

ShapeShift founder & CEO Erik Voorhees

ShapeShift, a Swiss-based digital currency exchange, announced Tuesday that its platform is now available for the iPhone, making it the first such exchange to offer an iOS app for trading every major digital asset at the touch of a button.

“Since inception, ShapeShift has changed what is expected of altcoin exchanges. Having a presence on mobile is a crucial step in our roadmap for delivering the most frictionless experience possible while working at the speed of digital currency,” said ShapeShift founder and CEO Erik Voorhees in a press release provided to CoinReport.

Already available as an online exchange and API, the app allows users to trade cryptocurrencies on their iPhones without the need of an account, username, password, or email address. ShapeShift said its model provides superior consumer protection as it does not store sensitive private information. It said “shifting” coins is no-hassle process, with users choosing the desired coin or digital asset, specifying the payout address, and experiencing the conversion just moments after their deposit is received.

As shown in the YouTube video below, users of the app can start their exchange by choosing their input (deposit) and output (receive). Users can save digital currency addresses in order to easily access when providing their receiving address. After clicking “start,” users copy their deposit address and send the depositing coins from an external wallet of their choice. After sending the coins, the exchange will begin immediately.

“Most exchanges hold customer funds and extract personal information, which is an archaic and insecure model,” said Voorhees in the press release. “Mt. Gox was a teachable moment for everyone in the Bitcoin community and ShapeShift has innovated these problems out of the picture. We are both faster and more secure. This is real consumer protection – no funds or sensitive information is stored on our servers nor on the user’s phone in case it is damaged, destroyed or stolen. Digital currency has brought to humanity a more secure infrastructure, and so we build in that spirit.”