The new payment option is only available at the Rattan Plaza branch. The establishment uses Cryptobuyer as a Bitcoin payment gateway.
There are a growing number of options to buy with Bitcoin in Venezuela. One of the most popular supermarkets on Margarita Island, Rattan, joins the use of this means of payment.
On its Instagram account, the commercial establishment confirmed in recent days that it incorporated Bitcoin. They rate this new payment option as being an innovation milestone.
Rattan makes this incorporation after joining forces with the Panama-based company with a presence in Venezuela, Cryptobuyer. That company provides the payment gateway and its Cryptobuyer Pay point of sale system to the supermarket.
Apart from Bitcoin, Rattan now accepts seven other cryptocurrencies, which include DASH, Litecoin (LTC), Ether (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB). Besides, they accept payments in the stablecoins Tether (USDT) and DAI. Finally, the supermarket’s customers will be able to pay for their purchases with XPT, Cryptobuyer’s token launched under the ERC-20 standard of the Ethereum network.
The Rattan supermarket chain has three branches on Margarita Island and other cities in the country. On their Twitter account, they confirmed that at the moment they are only accepting payments in Bitcoin at their Rattan Plaza branch, which is located on the island.
Customers will now be able to use the pioneering cryptocurrency at this popular chain. There, they will be able to buy food, groceries, liquors, cleaning, and personal hygiene products, as well as medicines.
A Growing Number of Businesses Accept Bitcoin in Venezuela
Rattan supermarkets join a growing list of large businesses that have included Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in their payment options. A few weeks ago, another supermarket chain, Excelsior Gama, did it in the city of Caracas. Citizens might even receive a rechargeable Visa card with cryptocurrencies to buy anywhere in the country.
The Mega Soft Company has installed around 35,000 points of sale and cash registers in various cities of the country. This year, they partnered with Cryptobuyer to give the businesses that are using their equipment the option to accept Bitcoin payments.
Antonio Castro, Director, and partner of Mega Soft, explained that about 500 of its points of sale or cash registers currently receive payments in some cryptocurrencies. The executive says that businesses process an average of at least two transactions a day.
Blockchain research firm Chainalysis published in September a study in which it notes that Venezuela is the third country with the highest rate of adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the world. The peer-to-peer trading of Bitcoin and its use for remittances are the most prominent in Venezuela due to the weak economic situation and hyperinflation. This has also led to the incorporation of various options for payments and everyday transactions.
The steady depreciation of the bolivar (VES) recently led the price of the main cryptocurrency to reach an all-time high in Venezuela; due to such high levels of inflation, an increasing number of Venezuelans are turning to Bitcoin as a store of value.
By Willmen Blanco
