Burger King in Venezuela now accepts payments in a variety of cryptocurrencies. The hamburger company has partnered with payment processor Cryptobuyer. As a result bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, dash, Binance coin and the USDT stablecoin are now accepted through the payment machines provided by the crypto startup.
The first Burger King to embrace these crypto payments is located in Caracas. The other forty restaurants will follow this year.
The payment processor also offers its services to other retail companies, including Traki, the largest department store in Venezuela, and electronics store Credimport. In addition Cryptobuyer also offers solutions to buy cryptocurrencies with traditional money. For example, they have crypto ATMs located in Panama as well as an online portal.
Venezuela is in a financial crisis. The bolivar is making a free fall and citizens use foreign money to survive. But there are foreign currency shortages, and inflation is still increasing. Therefore cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly popular.
The government launched its own crypto coin, the Petro, but that’s not what Venezuelans have been hoping for. Instead they resort to existing cryptocurrencies like Dash and Bitcoin. The government however is making payments in Petro mandatory. According to reports the Petro can be used for passport application fees and other government services.
Burger King is not the first company in Venezuela to accept crypto payments. Many local shops have been accepting crypto for a while now. Also big companies have already jumped in. For example fast-food chain KFC is accepting dash as a payment option. While sandwich chain Subway and pizza franchise Papa John’s also accept crypto.
