Google looking at Bitcoin Wallet integration

Google is studying whether it can integrate the Bitcoin digital currency into its Wallet payments service, the company has revealed.

According to an email exchange between a Pakistan-based online marketing manager and Google's senior vice-president of advertising posted to internet forum Reddit, the search giant is looking at how the crypto-currency would work with Google's Wallet.

Marketing manager Jarar Malik contacted chief executives from Amazon, Apple and Google to enquire whether they were considering accepting payments in Bitcoin, as first reported by Forbes.

He only received a response from Google ad exec Sridhar Ramaswamy, who said Google was "working in the payments team to figure out how to incorporate bitcoin into our plans," and promised to "be in touch when we are a little bit more sure."

Malik posted his exchange on Reddit and was asked by the company's vice-president of payments, Ariel Bardin, to moderate suggestions from the community as to what the web giant could do with Bitcoin.

Over four thousand people have made over a thousand suggestions on Google Moderator at the time of writing.

Despite extreme volatility and bans on its use in China, Bitcoin is starting to gain acceptance among mainstream organisations. In the UK, the University of Cumbria said it would accept Bitcoin as payment for course fees on a limited scale.

Two Las Vegas casinos and online retailer Overstock also accept Bitcoin payments from this month.

Bitcoin is currently trading at US$950 on the largest exchange, Mt Gox.