Payments with Bitinium (BTN) and five other cryptocurrencies are now available to SimpleTV users. This company replaced DirecTV, which stopped working in the country in May 2020.
Joining other companies in the country, Venezuela’s largest satellite television operator SimpleTV now accepts payments with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. That allows more than 4 million users of the company that replaced DirecTV to choose to pay with crypto assets.
The SimpleTV online platform shows the new option for its users to pay for the television packages through Cryptobuyer. The Panama-based cryptocurrency payment provider has a large presence in Venezuela, according to local media.
The users of this satellite television operator can choose to pay with Bitcoin in their express recharge system. They can also use the other supported cryptocurrencies: Ether (ETH), DASH, Litecoin (LTC), Cryptobuyer’s XPT token, and the stablecoin Tether (USDT), on the Tron network.
Using Cryptocurrencies to Face the Lack of Cash
Jorge Farías, the founder and CEO of Cryptobuyer, said that they have taken an important step. He adds that it pays for the possibility to access entertainment and information amid the COVID-19 confinement. The diversification of payment methods has become a strategic solution given the lack of cash in Venezuela.
Just a few months after entering the market, SimpleTV inherited DirecTV’s customer base. The former provider of satellite television service left the country in May 2020. At that time, AT&T, the headquarters of the US-based operator, announced the immediate cessation of operations in the South American country.
Other Businesses Have Been Accepting Payments with Bitcoin
More Venezuelan businesses and companies have been adding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to their forms of payment. The list of the names that have joined the wave has been increasingly growing.
Supermarket chains such as Excelsior Gama (in Caracas) and Sigo and Rattan (on Margarita Island) accepted payments with cryptocurrencies before SimpleTV. Well-known franchises such as Pizza Hut and Venezuelan government services also began to accept Bitcoin in 2020. That was one of the most active years regarding the adoption of cryptocurrencies for the country.
Growth in the Adoption of Bitcoin in Venezuela
There was an exponential increase in the acceptance of Bitcoin for everyday payments in the South American country in 2020. Many large businesses have used the Cryptobuyer payment gateway services, which has had a lot to do with these advances.
This company’s partnership with Mega Soft was one of the biggest milestones of the year. The latter is the main supplier of points of sale in Venezuela, of which 500 are active. The agreement between both companies has allowed receiving payments with cryptocurrencies through more than 30,000 points of sale.
Venezuela is the second country in the world to adopt cryptocurrencies and the third by trading volume, according to data from Chainalysis. The growing inflation of the country’s fiat currency has contributed to such a high level of adoption of these forms of payment. At the time of writing this article, the cryptocurrency that Satoshi Nakamoto created is trading at around USD 53,260.
By Alexander Salazar
