Bitcoin adoption in Mexico boosted by Lightning partnership with retail giant

June 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

“Imagine if Best Buy, Bank of America, Fox News and an NFL team were all owned by the same individual. All of them will have lightning capabilities in the future,” Jose Lemus, CEO of Ibex Mercado, told Cointelegraph.

The world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) conference, Bitcoin 2023, in Miami, Florida, passed without major fanfare this year. Past conferences announced nation-state adoption, massive crypto integrations in the United States, and islands and territories worldwide embracing Bitcoin.

Nonetheless, at Bitcoin 2023, one partnership with a potentially significant impact on the world’s 15th-largest economy flew under the radar.

We're thrilled to announce our partnership with Grupo Salinas. Looking forward to seeing the positive impact this collaboration will have.⚡️ #Bitcoin #bitcoiconference2023 https://t.co/rkAjWnmKsK pic.twitter.com/yWIWc6751B
— IBEX ⚡️ (@PoweredbyIBEX) May 18, 2023

José Lemus, the CEO of Ibex Mercado, closed out the Bitcoin 2023 Industry Day. He announced a partnership with Grupo Salinas, one of Mexico’s largest corporate conglomerates. In brief, the collaboration would allow millions of Mexicans to pay their internet bills at popular telecoms company Total Play using the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

Crucially, the Salinas Group owns tens of businesses across Mexico. Its billionaire founder, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, is the third-richest person in the country and a well-known Bitcoin maximalist.

Not only does the Bitcoin Lightning payments integration already deliver Bitcoin adoption to millions of Mexicans, but as Lemus explained to Cointelegraph, Total Play is one small retailer that’s part of the vast Salinas conglomerate:

“Imagine if Best Buy, Bank of America, Fox News and an NFL team were all owned by the same individual. All of them will have Lightning capabilities in the future.”

Lemus explained it’s just the “tip of the iceberg of what will go on in Mexico,” as more Bitcoin and Lightning integrations, and on and off-ramps attract more Bitcoin business. Speaking via video link, Lemus explained that fiat and Bitcoin can interact more freely in Mexico:

“Let’s say you have a wallet and you want to make Mexican pesos available in Mexico, or you have an exchange and you want to make the balances for your customers in Mexico. You can do that through CoinPro or through Grupo Salinas.”

The partnership is the beginning of Lightning functionality across Grupo Salinas. There will be a Lightning app “for employees, a super app for soccer teams to do something similar to what we have with the Perth Heat where we drive fan engagement with innovative ways.”

The Australian baseball team, Perth Heat, adopted a Bitcoin standard in 2021, with players earning salaries in Bitcoin and “Sats4Stats”, where players receive Bitcoin for hitting home runs. Plus, fan engagement activities use the Lightning Network. For example, during baseball games, “When a player steals a base, a QR flashes on screen and the first people that scan it get satoshis,” Lemus explained.

*Players can send satoshis to players directly during Perth Heat baseball games. Source: PerthHeat.com.au*

In the first year of operation, the Perth Heat players earned an extra 1% through Bitcoin, Lemus said on stage at Bitcoin 2023. “It’s still early” for such a technology, but an extra 1% is already encouraging.

Grupo Salinas owns the Mexican football clubs, Mazatlán and Club Puebla. Fans could soon get their hands on free money — in the form of Bitcoin or satoshis — for simply scanning the QR code on the stadium screen when a player scores, just like with Perth Heat.

*A snapshot of some of the Grupo Salinas brands spanning retail, banking, sports and advertising. Source: GrupoSalinas.com*

Ibex Mercado understands the massive opportunity for financial inclusion offered by the Lightning Network. Lemus founded Ibex in neighboring Guatemala, and the company delivered the Lightning Network integration for El Salvador’s Chivo Wallet — which effectively banked millions of Salvadorans — two years prior.

Lemus explained that more Bitcoin adoption could improve the lives of unbanked and underserved populations. Moreover, financial inclusion goes beyond banking the unbanked:

“It’s the ability to raise funds for your company. It’s the ability to open yourself to a broader market. And that is what, for me, true financial inclusion is.”

Finally, Lemus highlighted the potential of Mexico as a Bitcoin destination: “I think that Mexico is going to be the place where this is going to take off.“ More broadly, 2022 was a promising year for Bitcoin and crypto adoption in the country, from crypto remittance companies establishing in Mexico to crypto exchange expansion.

Does this mean that crypto enthusiasts may soon be able to live on Bitcoin like they can in El Salvador? Lemus replied:

“Let’s say you conduct most of your life in Bitcoin, I think 18 months is a reasonable target where you can do most of your life. But obviously, things like taxes and maybe rent will not run on Bitcoin yet.”

Similarly, the partnership with Grupo Salinas took 18 months of work and preparation, Lemus said. More partnerships and projects are on the horizon in Mexico, although it’s too early to share details, Lemus concluded.

Magazine: Peter McCormack’s Real Bedford Football Club puts Bitcoin on the map

Bitcoin in Cuba: Why some Cubans are adopting BTC to escape ‘The Matrix’

June 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

Private businesses in Cuba could be poised to benefit from the cryptocurrency revolution in one of the world’s harshest business environments.

Bitcoin adoption could swell in Cuba, particularly if private businesses understand the upside to accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as currency. That’s according to a Cuban businessperson and Bitcoin advocate, Erich Garcia Cruz.

A recent emigrant to the United States, Cruz is a vocal proponent of Bitcoin adoption in Cuba. Cruz leads the remittance and money transfer services BitRemesas and QvaPay, and has been outspoken in supporting Cuban citizens using Bitcoin since 2020.

In an interview with Cointelegraph as part of an upcoming documentary, Cruz explained that Cubans can use Bitcoin “as a tool.”

*Photo of Erich and Joe during the interview. Source: Cointelegraph*

While some Cubans use Bitcoin as a store of value, a means of exchange or a remittance tool, ultimately, it’s about getting “out from the Matrix,” he explained. Cruz referred to the country’s centrally planned and officially communist economy.

Cuba has no independent press, while the historic United States trade embargo makes it very hard for Cubans to access U.S. products, services and even applications. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is money independent of the state, and has no leader or central party.

Cruz explained that during a visit to El Salvador in 2022, one of his friends asked, “How do you teach about Bitcoin in Cuba if Cuba is run by a communist party?” Surely the party would be against Bitcoin?

“I don’t know if the government doesn’t know just how powerful Bitcoin is; they don’t know, and they are just thinking I’m teaching the people about coins in the casino, or if they are afraid of the hyper-Bitcoinization of the Cuban society.”

Cruz hints that the government may already understand how Bitcoin works, and maybe, “They can bypass some sanctions worldwide” using internet-based money.

Additionally, since 2021, the government has been warming up to cryptocurrencies, as private businesses can legally accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for goods and services. Cruz explains that more and more private companies should accept cryptocurrency instead of the Cuban peso (CUP) or moneda libremente convertible (MLC) — freely convertible currency:

“If you get paid with CUP or MLC, you are solving the customer’s problem, but you are creating a problem for you because owners are saying that then or later they will try to convert the CLP or MLC into international currency.”

The Cuban peso has devalued by more than 800% since its inception. If a Cuban bought Bitcoin at its all-time high of $69,000, they would still have more value in Bitcoin than pesos. Moreover, the MLC is a government-backed stablecoin used for purchases in state-run supermarkets. Cubans looking to save money typically do so in the U.S. dollar and, increasingly, Bitcoin.

*MLC price movement as compared to U.S. dollars and euros since 2015.*

Cruz shares the example of his father, who bought a small amount of Bitcoin with his Cuban peso pension fund three years ago. The pension fund has dramatically lost value as the Cuban peso continues to devalue, while Bitcoin has not only retained but increased in purchasing power:

“It’s not financial advice, but it’s better to store your value in Bitcoin than the CUP — a government-issued shitcoin.”

Nonetheless, despite the huge currency devaluation, Bitcoin suffers from a bad reputation in Cuba. Cruz was scammed by a crypto project before learning what Bitcoin is:

“We have no internet [in Cuba] until five years ago, and Bitcoin is 14 years old. The first contact with Bitcoin in our society was through scams.”

Cuba has a highly educated population and university education is free; however, the island is sheltered from Western influences, and the internet is a relatively new tool. The internet, as Cruz points out, only began to penetrate the country in a meaningful way over the past five years.

Cruz’s work, and that of the Cuban Bitcoin community, targets private businesses in Cuba, making it an area in which Bitcoin adoption could thrive:

“You have to teach the people who have the power to embrace that solution. And that’s the private sector. Okay? There is no law. There is no law that forbids the business from accepting Bitcoin. Not yet.”

Cruz’s interview will feature in an upcoming documentary about Bitcoin in Cuba.

Magazine: Peter McCormack’s Real Bedford Football Club puts Bitcoin on the map

Strike moves global headquarters to El Salvador, expands to 65 countries

May 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

According to Strike CEO Jack Mallers, the expansion drive aims to counter the “clouded world of crypto exchanges and hidden, unregistered licensing regimes and 1,000 different coins.”

Strike, a Chicago-based Bitcoin (BTC) payment provider, expanded its services to 65 countries in parallel to relocating its global headquarters to El Salvador. Before its expansion, the mobile app was operational only in the United States, El Salvador and Argentina.

According to Jack Mallers, the CEO and founder of Zap, Strike's parent company, the expansion drive aims to counter the “clouded world of crypto exchanges and hidden, unregistered licensing regimes and 1,000 different coins.” Speaking to Fortune, Mallers revealed that the move to relocate its headquarters to El Salvador was a response to the growing anti-crypto regulatory sentiments in the U.S.

On one hand, regulations prevent Strike from offering its service in New York. On the other hand, El Salvador introduced crypto-inclusive regulations to attract technological innovations in the region.

3/ El Salvador is the epicenter of Bitcoin adoption, and thus, economic freedom, financial sovereignty, censorship resistance & unconfiscatable wealth.

When we issue the first of the volcano bonds, we will once again be blazing the path forward for this new monetary revolution.
— The Bitcoin Office (@bitcoinofficesv) January 11, 2023

During the discussion, Mallers spoke about El Salvador’s success in establishing Bitcoin as a legal tender. He believed that merchant adoption “wasn’t what was defining success.” Instead, he weighed El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption success in terms of other factors including increased tourism.

Strike will initially allow users in the new global markets to only receive Bitcoin, however, Mallers revealed plans to launch new features by the end of the year, including a debit card. For markets outside the US, Strike will enable U.S. dollar payments via Tether (USDT).

“Two years ago, people would have made fun of me [for our] headquarters in El Salvador to launch product for three billion people, but now Coinbase is fighting with Gary Gensler,” he said. “Who’s laughing now?,” Mallers concluded.

Strike and crypto exchange Bitfinix were among the first crypto companies to bag operational licenses in El Salvador.

We are now the world's first international digital asset platform to receive approval for a Digital Asset Service Provider license under El Salvador’s new Digital Assets Issuance Law! A milestone for financial freedom in Latin America.@bitfinex https://t.co/88Mmmi5s6M
— Bitfinex Securities (@BFXSecurities) April 11, 2023

El Salvador’s Digital Asset Service provider license allows Bitfinex Securities “to facilitate the issuance and secondary trading of assets” with clearly defined rights and obligations in the jurisdiction.

Ordinals and BRC-20 will disappear in a matter of months, JAN3 CEO says

May 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Analysis

The hype around Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens is unsustainable and will fade away in a matter of months, according to JAN3 CEO Samson Mow.

The latest hype around Bitcoin (BTC) Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens is unsustainable and will fade away in a matter of months, according to JAN3 CEO Samson Mow.

“These guys are basically paying massive amounts of fees that go directly to Bitcoin miners, and there is no way this can be sustained," Mow said in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph.

"They will fade away after even months, let's not talk about years here," he continued.

Growing activity around Ordinals and BRC-20 – a crypto technology that allows users to mint fungible and non-fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain – is the main cause provoking a spike in transaction fees, which resulted in the congestion of the Bitcoin network.

While many members of the Bitcoin community see Ordinals as a use-case that could boost Bitcoin adoption, Mow considers them just as spam clogging the network.

"These are just short-term money grabs similar to most things on competing chains like Ethereum and Solana," he pointed out.

To Mow, mass adoption of Bitcoin will happen because of its use case as a saving technology and as a means of exchange, not because of “people minting JPEGs and sticking them in the chain.”

To learn more about Mow's argument against Ordinals, watch the full interview on our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!

Magazine: $3.4B of Bitcoin in a popcorn tin — The Silk Road hacker’s story

Bitcoin Lightning Network is 1,000x cheaper than Visa and MasterCard: Data

April 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

Glassnode data demonstrates that the Lightning Network outcompetes traditional payment networks in terms of commission costs.

Fresh data from Glassnode demonstrates that Bitcoin's (BTC) Lightning Network is significantly cheaper to use than legacy payment networks.

The median fee rate, or the cost of sending value across the Lightning Network, is 0.0029%, 1,000 times cheaper than that of MasterCard of Visa payment processors.

James Check, lead analyst at Glassnode, told Cointelegraph that the median fee rate, or the fee charged per 1 BTC sent across the Lightning Network, is currently 3,000 Satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin). That is “equivalent to $0.84 to send $28,800 worth of value [...] which is a fee of 0.0029%.”

“Pretty remarkable when you think about it.”

In a post on the Nostr social media protocol, Bitcoin analyst Dylan LeClair noted that this rate is many times less than that charged by major credit card companies.

The Lightning Network, a layer-2 payments solution built atop the world’s largest cryptocurrency was first proposed as a way to make Bitcoin effective as a payment method. These data points demonstrate that it is not only fast but low-cost, with the mean fee rate has been steadily trending lower since November 2021.

Legacy payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard charge merchants a fee of around 2-3% per transaction, making them an expensive option for businesses. In an upcoming Cointelegraph documentary shot in Cape Verde, the business owner of one of the few businesses to accept Bitcoin explained that accepting foreign Visa and Mastercard costs over 8%.

Moreover, Glassnode's Check referred to users who run their own nodes and manage their own channels. Many Lightning users take advantage of custodial wallets, such as Wallet of Satoshi and Alby to make micropayments on social media apps such as Nostr.

Some Bitcoin early adopters have noted the growing preference for custodial solutions (as the Bitcoiner mantra is “not your keys, not your coin”), although semi-custodial solutions such as Fedi and Cashu could undermine reliance on fully custodial solutions.

Furthermore, the throughput of the Lightning Network could be called into question. Check explained:

“Of course, we must also consider that the typical channel is smaller than 1 BTC. The median channel size is 0.02 BTC and the mean is 0.08 BTC, so overall the Lightning Network remains well suited to payments below $1,000.”

In the below graph, the channel size is trending higher but still well under $10,000. In such an environment, payments over $1,000 may be better suited to the Bitcoin base chain in order to avoid payment failure or misfire.

Fireblocks VP: Big names won’t go back after discovering crypto payments’ potential

April 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

Ran Goldi, the vice president of payments at Fireblocks, believes that affordability and speed will keep big brands that have implemented crypto payments in the last two years.

Hashing It Out Episode 16 explores one of the most popular use cases for cryptocurrencies: payments. Elisha Owusu Akyaw is joined by Ran Goldi, vice president of payments at Fireblocks, to explore the rapidly evolving world of crypto and payments, the steps necessary for adoption, the role of stablecoins, and the hurdles — such as the collapse of crypto-friendly banks in the United States.

The conversation begins with a discussion on the impact of the collapse of crypto-friendly banks in the United States. Goldi believes that the current banking issues in the U.S. are not helping with crypto adoption, especially with institutions. These issues shake the firms’ confidence in using blockchain technology like stablecoins to move money globally, according to the vice president of payments at Fireblocks.

“We had one company that was working with Silvergate, and Silvergate got shut down. We immediately gave them an intro to SVB, and then SVB got shut down, and then in the evening, we said don’t worry, we will introduce Signature next week, and by next week there was no Signature.”

Despite the issues with the banking sector and regulatory environment, Goldi is optimistic that 2023 will bring more adoption to crypto through payments. The vice president of payments at Fireblocks argues that multiple big names like PayPal, Checkout and Stripe have entered the digital asset industry in the last couple of months, and when they discover they can do more while paying less and faster, they will not go back.

Goldi breaks down how blockchain payments allow for faster cross-border payments that don't require three to four days to settle. Furthermore, Goldi believes that the most popular form of cryptocurrency payment adoption in the initial stage will involve institutions. He explains that the financial rails between institutions around the world will evolve, and most firms will have a leg in blockchain to move money faster.

Listen to the latest episode of Hashing It Out with Ran Goldi on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or TuneIn. You can also explore Cointelegraph's complete catalog of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

Bitcoin Lightning Network growth is organic, coming from real-world adoption

February 22, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Africa

Bitcoin Lightning Network adoption receives a boost with the launch of USD payments and decentralized social media platform, Nostr.

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) capacity recently surpassed an all-time high of 5,000 BTC.

The Lightning Network is a neutral protocol built on top of Bitcoin and currently it does not have a “native” token attached to it like many decentralized finance platforms.

Although the Lightning Network’s total liquidity is less than 0.5% of the ETH in DeFi contracts, the uptrend in Bitcoin’s LN capacity versus a downtrend in the amount of ETH locked in smart contracts is encouraging for LN development.

*Total ETH locked in DeFi contracts (top) and total BTC in Lightning Network channels (bottom). Source: DefiLlama*

While the liquidity on the LN has been rising consistently, the number of channels on the peer-to-peer network dropped drastically in November following the FTX collapse. It could be due to an exodus of miners operating LN nodes besides running mining clients.

However, the likely end of miner capitulation and the rise of Bitcoin-based applications like NFTs could mark an end to LN channel capitulation. Since the start of 2023, over 2,000 new channels have been added to the network.

*Lightning Network number of channels. Source: glassnode*

A Valkyrie Investments report stated that LN adoption was picking up speed in emerging markets like South America and Africa, primarily due to efforts of the LN mobile payment application, Strike.

In December 2022, the firm launched an LN-based remittance service in Africa. The service offers no-cost transfers from the U.S. to Africans in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. Later, Strike announced a similar program in the Philippines.

*LN capacity and important chronological events. Source: Valkyrie*

More recently, the firm announced dollar payments using LN, where users can potentially send dollars from the Strike’s cash balance to savings and VISA-enabled accounts. The app will convert USD to BTC in the background and convert to USD at the destination. Since LN is fast and cheap, the risk due to Bitcoin’s price volatility is minimal.

The cost of international payments from the U.S. can rise as high as $45 per transaction, with transfers taking hours or sometimes days. Thus, users could start preferring Strike-based payments over traditional remittance channels.

A recent report from Marty Bent found that the LN payments have risen this year on the top Lightning Network wallets, Wallet of Satoshi. Moreover, a podcasting platform, Podcasting 2.0, that accepts LN payments also recorded an uptick in tips sent to creators.

Nostr is boosting LN adoption

Another factor influencing the adoption of LN is the launch of Nostr. According to the protocol's Github page, Nostr is a simple, open protocol that enables global, decentralized and censorship-resistant social media. The protocol allows social media applications to be built on it.

Damus, a Twitter lookalike, implements Nostr with an IOS and Android application. The idea of an open and free social media network reverberates the strongest in the crypto space. Bitcoin pioneers like Jack Dorsey and Adam Back have strongly endorsed Nostr.

Besides similarities in ideology, Nostr can boost LN adoption as Damus has integrated various LN wallets like Wallet of Satoshi, Strike, BlueWallet, and others. A report from LN analyst, Kevin Rooke, cited that over 600,000 users signed up on Nostr. This could help onboard users to LN as Nostr inherently supports the Bitcoin payment network through Nostr Zap.

The Lightning Network is a neutral protocol built on top of Bitcoin, with no token attached to it, avoiding speculation. There is a potential for yield for LN nodes as fees for facilitating transactions and providing liquidity. However, in the current state, the earnings are negligible. Hence, the Lightning Network's growth appears organic and well-positioned to become the leading global payment network, which prominent personalities in this space have predicted.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Paying the way for Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador: Video

February 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

What is Bitcoin adoption like on the ground as peer-to-peer cash in the home of Bitcoin worldwide? Cointelegraph visits El Salvador to find out!

The Bitcoin (BTC) white paper title describes Bitcoin as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.” So how is Bitcoin being used as a means of exchange, or electronic cash, in the first country to adopt Bitcoin?

Reporter Joe Hall spent a few weeks in El Salvador attempting to live off Bitcoin and Bitcoin only. He documented his trials, tribulations, successes and satoshis (the smallest amount of a Bitcoin) in a video for Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel:

Headlines from El Salvador within the crypto community have been largely positive. Moreover, statistics emanating from the country have been abundantly positive; tourism is up 30%, crime and the murder rate in El Salvador have decreased dramatically, and the Bitcoin bonds project is underway in 2023.

Nonetheless, while Bitcoin is undoubtedly one of the best-known brands worldwide; and a marketing tool that appeals to a pool of ardent Bitcoin believers around the world, its use as a means of exchange is often questioned. In El Salvador, it’s no different, as Hall explains.

Some Salvadoran vendors are laser-eyed hodlers; others made their first Bitcoin payment with Hall and were keen to ask questions and learn more.

*Tipping Henry the delivery guy in Bitcoin to his Chivo wallet at 2 am. Source: Cointelegraph*

Hall was surprised, dismayed, entertained and ultimately enthused by his findings in the country. Adopting a new technology as novel and misunderstood as Bitcoin is a mammoth task, but Salvadorans are getting stuck into the new technology where possible.

Retailers like Walmart had the option to pay in Bitcoin — but the process was slow and inconvenient — while the likes of Texaco were staunchly anti-Bitcoin. At McDonald’s, the experience is smooth and fast; it’s even quicker than the McDonald’s branches that accept Bitcoin in Switzerland.

From the Adopting Bitcoin conference — a Lightning conference in San Salvador that gathered Bitcoiners from around the world — down to Bitcoin Beach and Surf City, across to the volcanoes of Santa Ana and on the streets of San Salvador, Hall mingled with locals to get a better sense of Bitcoin as a means of exchange.

Hall attended the “My First Bitcoin” educational graduation ceremony at a school in El Pacheco. The founder, John Dennehy, was recently interviewed by Cointelegraph. Dennehy explained the group’s plan to remedy Bitcoin education in El Salvador by teaching teenagers how to Bitcoin.

Indeed, the recent graduates Hall interviewed at the school grasped the fundamental tenets of Bitcoin and expressed their belief that Bitcoin represents hope for the future. Watch the video to find out more.

Bitcoin adoption of Guatemalan merchants grows one BTC tattoo at a time

January 30, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Art

The Central American country of Guatemala is getting inked on the path to greater Bitcoin merchant adoption.

Bitcoin (BTC) use in Guatemala is on the up. The Latin American country that borders El Salvador boasts Guatemalan-grown Bitcoin companies such as Ibex and Osmo, several Bitcoin Beach-inspired projects including Bitcoin Lake, and now, free BTC tattoos.

A Bitcoin merchant adoption competition hosted by Osmo Wallet in 2022, a Guatemala-based Bitcoin company, led to the free ink promotion. Cointelegraph spoke to Piero Coen, the co-founder of Osmo Wallet, and Steven Marroquin, the owner of Soul’s Anchor, a tattoo parlor in Guatemala City.

Free tattoo ideas from Soul's Anchor. Source: Coen

Coen explained how it that the mission is to get more people to use Bitcoin:

“So we ran a competition amongst merchants to see who would process the most volume in Bitcoin sales in 2022. Turns out Soul's Anchor Tattoo Shop in Guatemala City, who started accepting Bitcoin payments using Osmobusiness back in October, won the competition.”

Merchant adoption is nothing new in Guatemala. So they thought about how to make things more exciting. They decided that offering free Bitcoin tattoos to customers might be a Bitcoin-friendly marketing tactic. “It was a huge hit. All the slots filled up in hours!” He explained.

The free Bitcoin tattoos get the thumbs up from Cointelegraph's Bman. Source: Coen

Guatemalan Bitcoin believers and Bitcoin tourists streamed into the store to ink their favorite Bitcoin meme, quote or art onto their skin. Steven Marroquin, Souls Anchor owner, explained, “It’s been around seven months since we officially accepted Bitcoin and have two to three customers per month.” It's a small amount, but payments are on the rise, he reports:

“The first months we had only one customer, and even though it’s still a few percentages of our income, probably 1%, we are happy have started accepting it.”

Coen explains that “It’s still super early” for Bitcoin adoption in Guatemala, and “Most business owners are still unsure about accepting and holding onto Bitcoin because of the volatility.”

By allowing instant Bitcoin to fiat currency conversion at the payment merchant terminal, merchants can sidestep the volatility. Instant BTC to fiat conversion is a growing trend in the Bitcoin payments space, as companies such as Strike–headed up by Jack Mallers–and CoinCorner offer similar solutions. Bitcoin as a means of exchange is burgeoning and Coen is optimistic about its future:

“Bitcoin adoption in Guatemala City is on the rise, every day we see more and more people are getting into it, learning about it, and stacking up on Sats."

Rikki, one-half of the Bitcoin Explorers couple who spent 45 days living off Bitcoin only in El Salvador, recently traveled around Guatemala, paying his way in Bitcoin. Rikki told Cointelegraph the level of “adoption of Bitcoin in Guatemala has really surprised us,” referring to himself and his partner Laura.

“Locals are curious, they want to learn about Bitcoin and see it as an important alternative to credit cards whose fees are very high in the country.”

Indeed, by accepting Bitcoin, business can save over 50% on transaction costs when compared to accepting credit card payments, “So the incentives are there,” Coen explained.

Rikki added that “orange-pilling” efforts by Guatemalan-based companies, such as Ibex and Osmo, “are pushing to raise awareness of the technology.” The couple also visited the Bitcoin Lake, a Bitcoin-beach-style community project, where a Guatemalan mayor is mining Bitcoin in his office, before getting inked themselves as part of the promotion.

“We found the tattoo idea very cute. It is a company that wants to reward its shopkeeper who has received the most Bitcoin transactions by promoting its business.”

Bitcoin and crypto tattoos are increasingly common, as crypto advocates choose to brand themselves with their coin of choice. However, crypto tattoos can sometimes go very, very wrong.

Bitcoin tattoos belonging to Rikki (top) and Laura (bottom). Source: Rikki

Take Mike Novogratz, the Galaxy Digital founder, as an example. His Terra (LUNA) tattoo is a constant reminder that investing requires humility. The LUNA token crashed by over 99% in price in 2021. Fortunately, the Bitcoin tattoos are safe, for now, thanks to a January price pump.

Less than 100 Bitcoin ATMs added worldwide in the second half of 2022: Data

January 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

ATM

Over the last six months, between July to the end of 2022, just 94 Bitcoin ATMs were added to the global network.

While Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs were an afterthought to Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of sound money, they are now considered one of the main pillars of Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption. However, the global Bitcoin ATM network, which used to add thousands of machines each month in 2021, recorded a net addition of just 94 Bitcoin ATMs over the past six months since July 2022.

A year-long bear market in 2022 — accompanied by geopolitical tensions and global inflation — hindered various initiatives aiding the growth of the entire crypto ecosystem. As a result, efforts to install new Bitcoin ATMs dipped in many countries that once spearheaded the initiative.

*Chart showing the number of bitcoin machines installed over time. Source: CoinATMRadar*

Over the last six months, between July to the end of 2022, just 94 Bitcoin ATMs were added to the global network. In contrast, a modest 4,169 ATMs were added during the year’s first six months, confirms data from CoinATMRadar.

Despite the global slowdown, countries such as Spain and Australia have taken the lead in crypto ATM installations. The United States and Canada retain the top two positions for hosting the highest number of ATMs. El Salvador, the country that once held the third position, has now moved down to the fifth position after Spain and Australia, respectively.

*Number of cryptocurrency machines installed over time per each top manufacturer over time. Source: CoinATMRadar*

During this timeframe, Bitcoin ATM manufacturer BitAccess saw a relative drop in its ATM installation while others reported a comparatively steady increase.

As crypto investors shake off the negative sentiments from the past year and dive back into the game, sub-ecosystems like Bitcoin ATMs remain well-positioned for a recovery.

Australia, just after overtaking El Salvador to become the fourth-largest crypto ATM hub, got its first Bitcoin ATM with integrated Lightning Network (LN) capabilities.

Using LN, Bitcoin ATMs can process transactions immediately without having the operator batch the funds. As Cointelegraph previously reported, this development can potentially lower transaction fees compared to an on-chain payment.

Bitcoin Payments

Nostr is boosting LN adoption

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