A Newly Announced Partnership Could Mean Increased Bitcoin Adoption in Vietnam
A partnership between Bitcoin merchant services provider Coinify and Bitcoin Vietnam Co. Ltd., Vietnam’s first bitcoin exchange will see advanced merchant processing tools for the Vietnamese market. The new platform will be applicable both online and in point-of-sale outlets in shops around the country.
Danish bitcoin- and blockchain-based currency merchant processor, Coinify has announced a ‘strategic partnership’ with Vietnamese exchange – Bitcoin Vietnam to launch a platform that will help integrate bitcoin and alternate currencies as a mode of payment in the country.
The platform will enable Vietnamese merchants to receive payments in bitcoin and other digital currencies (17 in total), which are then automatically converted to the Vietnamese Dong, the local currency of the country. Merchants are assured of payments in their local currency on a regular basis.
A press release confirms the platform’s integration to merchant websites and online stores via a custom API or plugins. Furthermore, owners of brick-and-mortar shops which make for a large presence in Asian countries can also integrate the platform to accept payments in bitcoin.
In a statement, Bitcoin Vietnam CEO Nguyen Tran Bao Phyong said:
Bringing the option of receiving blockchain payments to Vietnamese merchants will dramatically improve the lack of trust and security which are swirling around legacy payment options like credit cards, Paypal and similar offerings.
She added that such innovation is a necessary step for the development of the Vietnamese domestic market in order to enable locally-based merchants with new payment solutions that are both safer and bring them an audience who transact in truly global currencies.
Bitcoin Vietnam Ltd. provides brokerage, exchange, and remittance solutions to Vietnamese people living within and outside the country.
Bitcoin Adoption in Burgeoning New Economies
The prospect of enabling merchants to accept bitcoin and other alternate and cryptocurrencies as a method of payment brings with it, a tremendous potential to see the potential of a decentralized currency make its mark in an emerging economy.
Vietnam is home to increased smartphone adoption, a poverty line that has steadily fallen from 21% in 2010 to 13% in 2014 and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world , let alone southeast Asia.
Speaking to CCN.com, Lenka Hudakova – a representative for Coinify, pointed to the potential impact that the Coinify platform could bring to the country.
Owing to the fact that Coinify and Bitcoin Vietnam will launch the first merchant processing platform tailored for the country, this can be [used by] basically any online business/ shop owner in Vietnam.
The Danish company, backed by venture funding, also sees this as another step toward expanding globally beyond Europe, with its continued foray into Asia.
Hudakova added:
After confirming our dominance within the European continent, we have been looking into ways to expand globally. We have already established partnerships that contribute to the infrastructure and fuel digital currency adoption in Asia – with Digix, Hello Markets, Passion, Bitcoin Vietnam and are open to the new ones.
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