Burger King Venezuela Starts Bitcoin Payments in First of 40 Stores

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Bitcoin (BTC) has come to Burger King in Venezuela as a new partnership opens up cryptocurrency payments at the fast-food chain.

Confirmed in a tweet on Dec. 30, a single Burger King branch in the Sambil area of Caracas now accepts Bitcoin, along with altcoins Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Binance Coin (BNB) and Dash (DASH), as well as stablecoin Tether (USDT).

Altcoins, Tether join BTC foray

A total of 40 locations will follow suit in 2020, according to a blog post from Dash executives about the move. 

Cryptobuyer is a Panama-based cryptocurrency merchant gateway startup that also runs a fleet of Bitcoin ATMs. It offers conversion of cryptocurrency funds for businesses, which it then pays out in fiat currency. 

“We are pleased to announce our commercial alliance with @BurgerKingVE,” part of the company’s tweet reads.

Venezuela continues to suffer from major economic turmoil, giving rise to efforts to boost cryptocurrency usage. The government has shunned borderless payment methods, imposing heavy restrictions on foreign currency access.

Instead, Petro, the highly controversial state-backed cryptocurrency, is the official weapon of choice for combating the crisis. As Cointelegraph reported, Petro is now the only currency accepted for some essential services, such as passports.

Real adoption or dog’s dinner?

Burger King Venezuela meanwhile stopped short of publicly acknowledging its crypto foray. In recent years, the idea that Venezuelans are turning to coins such as Dash has further come under scrutiny. 

As various commentators have noted, despite claims by ex-Dash Core Group CEO Ryan Taylor that the altcoin is the country’s most popular, overall cryptocurrency traction among merchants, in fact, remains low. 

Similarly, while P2P trading volumes for Bitcoin regularly hit new highs when denominated in Venezuela’s ailing Sovereign Bolivar, the data speaks more to the fiat currency’s weakness than Bitcoin adoption. 

Burger King’s experiments with Bitcoin have meanwhile fallen flat in the past. Various initiatives in Russia and Europe appeared to be short-lived, with acceptance disappearing soon after launch. The company’s Russian presence also began a dedicated loyalty scheme dubbed “Whoppercoin,” which earned it attention from the country’s prosecutor.