BitPagos, who has successfully launched Bitcoin service in Argentina is now expanding into South America’s largest country, Brazil, with the release of Ripio.com. Ripio allows anyone living in Brazil to be able to make Bitcoin purchase orders through their website, and with a basic bank slip, can buy Bitcoin at thousands of locations throughout Brazil.
Also read: “Argentina: Bitcoin Just Received an Unintentional Boost”
“We have noticed an exponential growth of Bitcoin economies all around the world. And mainly in Latin America, where the expensive systems for the sending of remittances, the instability of the currencies issued in the different countries and the widespread access to the Internet by the community in general. This will pave a wider way for the development of this new technology that will change the way we use money.” says Javier Pérez Santoro, BitPagos’ Sales Director.
Brazil is home to over two hundred million people, many of them “unbanked”. Four out of five people in Brazil have mobile phones, but two out of three are not using banking services. Bitcoin is specifically designed to fill that gap, and bring global financial services to those who lack credit, identification, or access to traditional banking services. BitPagos’ primary clients in Argentina include hotels, restaurants, taxis, e-commerce sites, and professionals, all seeking to integrate Bitcoin payments.
Bitcoin and BitPagos have seen tremendous growth and acceptance in Argentina based on the economic issues with the Argentinian Peso. Capital controls by the government, and poor management of the currency has led many to seek monetary alternatives. “Necessity is the mother of all invention” the saying goes, and Argentinians have needed better monetary policy for the quite a while, as moving fiat currency outside of Argentina has been restricted. Bitcoin gives instant value and ability to use decentralized, encrypted money that is accepted worldwide, as opposed to sovereign currencies that need to be exchanged for international use.
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