Coin transactions will be processed through Binance Pay.
A major Ukrainian pharmacy chain has started accepting cryptocurrencies through Binance Pay. The new payment method will be available online, according to the company, which operates hundreds of pharmacies across the war-torn Eastern European nation.
Pharmacy Offers Ukrainians the Option to Pay with Cryptocurrencies Using Binance Pay
Customers of the Ukrainian pharmacy chain ANC can now buy medicines and other items using various cryptocurrencies. The new payment option is available from Tuesday, the company announced, stating that it has become the first pharmacy chain in Europe to offer it:
“From January 3 you will be able to enjoy instant payments for the purchase of pharmacy products. It will be possible to pay for orders with cryptocurrency in Anc.ua!”
Coin transactions will be processed through Binance Pay, the payment system developed by the world’s largest digital asset exchange by trading volume. It allows users and businesses around the world to spend, send, and receive more than 70 digital currencies such as Bitcoin.
How Does It Work?
To take advantage of the service, clients will need to download and install the Binance app, go to the ANC website, place an order, and cover the bill with Binance Pay. They can then receive the products or pick them up at any of the chain’s stores.
ANC operates a network of pharmacies under its brand and unites several other Ukrainian chains such as Blagodiya, Kopiyka, and Shar@. It has stores in more than 130 Ukrainian cities with more than 7 million customers per year. Crypto payments are initially available in the capital, Kyiv.
In recent years, Ukraine has established itself as a regional leader in cryptocurrency adoption. Since Russia launched its invasion in late February, the country’s government and volunteer organizations have relied on cryptocurrency donations to fund humanitarian and defense initiatives, also supported by industry.
Binance Pay has been employed by other Ukrainian companies to enable crypto payments. In September this year, a supermarket chain with more than 100 stores in Ukraine, known as Varus, integrated the payment system to offer its customers in Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and other cities the option to spend coins on groceries.
In August, Ukrainian tech stores Tehnoezh and Stylus introduced crypto payments via Whitepay, a similar payment platform developed by Whitebit, a European cryptocurrency exchange with Ukrainian roots.
In early February 2022 — or weeks before Russian forces invaded Ukraine — Binance Ukraine CEO Kirill Khomyakov told Cointelegraph that launching a Binance Card in Ukraine was one of Binance’s top priorities for 2022.
According to Khomyakov, crypto payments through services like Binance Card do not conflict with Ukrainian laws because there is no ban on cryptocurrency derivative transactions in Ukraine. At the same time, local laws do not allow direct payments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, being the pharmacy chain ANC the first to change this.
By Audy Castaneda
