First Of 40 Burger King Venezuela Locations Now Accepts Bitcoin

Burger King is letting people pay their way in Venezuela with a new bitcoin partnership that enables cryptocurrency purchases, CoinTelegraph reported on Saturday (Jan. 4).

Confirmed in a Dec. 30 tweet by @cryptobuyer, a Panama-based crypto platform, there is one Burger King in the Sambil area of Caracas that accepts coin payments from bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Dash and the stablecoin Tether.

The startup Cryptobuyer oversees a line of Bitcoin ATMs that convert cryptocurrency funds to pay out in fiat currency.

Cryptocurrency is getting a boost in Venezuela as economic upheaval carries on. The government has rebuffed borderless payment solutions and levied limits for global currency access.

A blog post on the Dash website indicated that all 40 Burger King locations throughout Venezuela are expected to accept coins in 2020.

“Dash usage continues growing at a rapid rate in Venezuela, as it provides an alternative that is a more reliable payment method and store of value,” Ryan Taylor, Dash Core Group CEO, said in the Dec. 30 post. “We are happy to collaborate with Cryptobuyer to keep growing the Dash ecosystem and serve Burger King and its customers.”

Previous bitcoin trials have failed with Burger King in the past, with shuttered rollouts in Russia and Europe. Its 2017 loyalty program — “Whoppercoin” — never gained traction. Overall cryptocurrency acceptance across retailers in Latin America has remained low.

Despite being controversial, the Venezuela-backed cryptocurrency Petro is the only currency accepted for passports and some other key resources citizens need, CoinTelegraph reported. Petro launched in November 2018.

In May, major retailers — including Crate and Barrel, Nordstrom and Whole Foods — started accepting bitcoin and three other types of digital money as payment in the U.S.

Flexa announced the limited launch of its network and mobile app to allow instant cryptocurrency payments at select retailers. Those merchants can now easily accept bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and the Gemini Dollar from consumers who have the new SPEDN mobile wallet app.