Grupo Elektra – a company headquartered in Mexico – has announced that it will begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment. Users can now make purchases with the world’s number one digital currency by market cap, bringing the asset closer to its initial goal.
Grupo Elektra Is Willing to Take a Chance on BTC
The news is big in that bitcoin and many other forms of crypto were initially designed to serve as payment methods. They were built to push things like checks, credit cards, and even fiat currencies to the side and be the ultimate tools for garnering everyday goods and services. However, this has been a slow journey given how volatile bitcoin has been. It moves up and down without notice, sometimes incurring huge dips that have made it unimpressive in the eyes of business owners and retailers.
As a result, many stores and similar establishments have refused to take BTC seriously or accept it as a form of payment given that they are worried about the possibility of losing profit, and to a degree, we can’t really blame them.
Consider the following scenario: a person walks into a store and decides to purchase $50 worth of merchandise with bitcoin. For one reason or another, the store does not transfer the BTC into fiat right away. 24 hours go by, and the next day, the price of bitcoin has fallen. Thus, that $50 is now worth $30. The customer still gets to keep everything they bought, but the store has lost profit. Is this fair? Not everyone thinks so.
That’s why when companies like Grupo Elektra are willing to step up to the plate and take a chance on bitcoin, fans everywhere are likely to emit a big cheer. The currency is edging closer and closer to mainstream territory through efforts like these, and soon, bitcoin can earn its place as one of the primary financial tools for the public.
A supermarket and banking chain in Latin America, Grupo Elektra is just the latest company in that region to say “yes” to bitcoin and crypto payments. The company is owned by parent firm Grupo Salinas, which is offering a 20 percent discount on all items granted that customers are willing to pay in BTC.
In a series of tweets, Salinas broke the news to crypto fans everywhere:
The rumors are true. Elektra is the first (retail) store in Mexico that allows you to buy with bitcoin. I’m very sorry to beat the competition again.
Latin America and BTC Are Like Two Peas in a Pod
All bitcoin payments will be processed through a U.S. financial firm known as Bit Pay.
Latin America and bitcoin have proven to be the perfect couple. Earlier this year, El Salvador made headlines when it announced that it would be the first country to establish bitcoin as legal tender, and that people could use it alongside the U.S. dollar.