Recently, Cryptobuyer, a crypto exchange based in Panama, announced it had struck a deal with Mega Soft, a local payment processor in Venezuela. The deal will allow locals to purchase services and goods at over 20,000 point-of-sale terminals in the country. Mega Soft is connected to some of the biggest retail chains in Venezuela.
Why the Deal Matters
The country is entering into its seventh year of economic contraction. At the start of 2020, the inflation rate stood at around 3000%, which led to the collapse of the bolivar. In Venezuela, citizens have turned to crypto after the collapse of the nation’s national currency. Since then, most people have to crypto during transactions.
The national government has tried to introduce a national digital currency called the Petro in 2018. It was supposed to help the country circumvent US-sanctions, which the country blames for its economic woes. However, the Petro has not enjoyed a lot of success in Venezuela. Besides that, the US banned all of its citizens from using the Petro. To force the adoption of the Petro, Maduro, the country’s president, issued a directive for all banks to hold the Petro, which would be available to citizens.
How Venezuelans will Use Crypto
Any store connected to the Mega Soft Merchant Server platform can process transactions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, DASH, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Tether and the XPT, which is the native token of the Cryptobuyer exchange. Currently, Mega Soft processes an average of 18 million monthly transactions in Venezuela.
The platform will be rolled out in June, according to the Cryptobuyer announcement. Once payment is made in crypto, the merchant can convert them into fiat cash or retain them in the form they received them. Cryptobuyer said that this would alleviate the concern by merchants about being able to convert payments made in crypto into Euros or dollars immediately.
Various Firms Have Already Signed Up
Some major businesses in the country have already signed up for the crypto payment network. They include Farmatodo, one of the largest pharmaceutical groups in Venezuela, Madeirense, which is a major supermarket chain in the country, Plaza’s Automercados, EPA Hardware, a movie theatre, and other major stores that sell consumer goods.
Some major multinationals in Venezuela already accept payments in crypto. They include Burger King, Samsung, and Traki Stores. Traki recently revealed that since it began accepting crypto two years ago, it had handled around one thousand transactions in crypto.
The CEO of Cryptobuyer, Jorge Farias, said that the company was planning to add about 100,000 merchants in Venezuela, South America, and Europe by the end of 2020.
According to Antonio Castro, the CEO of Mega Soft, crypto will play an important role in the future of Venezuela. He said that crypto coins were crucial to the growth of new forms of payments. The CEO noted that they were universal and agile. Besides that, they are easily accessible by all sections of society.
Founder Of DASH Nation Believes This Will Be Big
Founder of DASH Nation, Christopher Carruthers recently shared his thoughts on a Cash Alternative TV episode on Youtube. Chris mentioned that Cryptobuyer is a long time DASH partner. The partnership has revolved around Cryptobuyer offering a DASH pair on their exchange. Despite DASH not being the only digital asset offered in this deal, Chris believes that DASH will be the ultimate outlier. Aside from aiding in inflationary pressures in Venezuela, Chris believes that DASH will win many consumers over due to its simplicity and smoothness during payments.
Summary
Crypto has proven itself quite useful in regions of the world facing the collapse of their fiat currencies. While it is not a solution to the economic problems facing Venezuelans, it gives them power over their finances and mitigates the effects on the sanctions imposed on the nation.