Researcher that Finds, Tests, and Reports Starbucks Gift Card Bug gets Reproached
A security researcher by the name of Egor Hamakov, part of the Sakurity security consultancy company, found a weakness known as a race condition within in the Starbucks website which is responsible for checking balances and transferring consumer funds to Starbucks gift cards. To test the exploit with a ‘live test, Hamakov purchased three $5 gift cards and transferred the balance of card A to card B twice, resulting in a total balance of $20 (instead of the starting balance of $15) and a net gain (through exploit) of $5. In theory, this exploit could be used to generate unlimited amounts of....
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Starbucks is not yet accepting bitcoin for purchases. But customers can use bitcoin to load an app and get a 20 percent discount using the app to pay for purchases at many Starbucks stores. The app, foldapp.com, also plans to include purchases at Target and Whole Foods. The ability to use bitcoin to make purchases through apps and gift cards at major retailers takes bitcoin one step closer to mass consumer acceptance. How it works. Starbucks customers are loading bitcoin onto foldapp. Foldapp then transfers the designated amount from the customer's bitcoin wallet to a virtual Starbucks....
One of the more common ways for consumers to spend Bitcoin is by buying gift cards from various retailers and outlets. Popular Bitcoin gift card services will often offer a small discount on every purchase. Giving consumers an extra incentive to spend digital currency. A recent survey by CardCash shows how Starbucks gift cards are a clear fan favorite, whereas Visa Gift Cards are far less preferable. Most of these trends seem to correlate with how consumers would spend USD balances on gift cards, though.
Ever wanted to buy a cup of Starbucks coffee with your bitcoins? With Coin For Coffee, now you can. As its co-founder and CEO Matt Luongo explained to CoinDesk, Card For Coin leverages Starbucks' existing gift card infrastructure to process payments using digital currency. He put it simply: "We want people to be able to spend their bitcoins wherever they want." How it works. Coin For Coffee sports a simple interface. Users choose how much they want to upload (ranging from $5 to $50). After confirming a user's email address, the system produces a bitcoin address in which to deposit the....
US Bitcoin payment gateway iPayYou has announced direct Starbucks integration for Bitcoin users. Customers using the Starbucks mobile app can now use iPayYou to purchase items directly using Bitcoin with the automated conversion of funds to USD. The tool, dubbed ‘Bitcoin Direct to Starbucks,’ is an extension of the startup’s Black Friday release of Starbucks gift cards for Bitcoin, along with gift cards for other major retailers. CEO: Starbucks integration ‘no-brainer’. IPayYou Founder and CEO Gene Kavner said in a press release: “Integrating with Starbucks was a no-brainer, as the company....
Matt Luongo, the founder of Fold, and his team are known for helping their app participants spend bitcoins at large retailers such as Starbucks, Target and Whole Foods, and today they have returned to their roots by re-launching another product they created for the space, to help people make bitcoins. The product is called Card For Coin and in a statement to Bitcoin Magazine, Luongo explains that it is a re-release of their first release, originally launched in 2014. Since 2014, the team spent more time focusing on developing the consumer side of their other business, which they called....