Latin America

BCH Latam: Creating a Viral Feedback Loop for Mass Adoption With Bitcoin Cash

14/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

From Dash to Bitcoin Cash - George Donnelly Discusses the BCH Latam Initiative

This week news.Bitcoin.com spoke with George Donnelly from the BCH Latam initiative about his plan to help the people of Latin America “achieve greater individual liberty and prosperity.” Donnelly explained the BCH Latam initiative aims to generate greater financial inclusion through mass adoption systems and the organization’s gamified adoption app will help with this goal.

Also Read: 3 Cents per kWh – Central Asia’s Cheap Electricity Entices Chinese Bitcoin Miners

From Dash to Bitcoin Cash: George Donnelly Discusses the BCH Latam Initiative

George Donnelly is a libertarian entrepreneur who recently worked with the Dash Latin America (Dash Latam) effort, but has since moved his focus over to bitcoin cash (BCH). Not too long after, Donnelly officially launched BCH Latam and hopes to help spread liberty and economic freedom to residents living in Latin America. Donnelly started crowdfunding the initiative to help further the project’s goals and he used the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) to create PAN token. PAN will be used to help bolster adoption, create gamification and leverage SLP attributes like dividends as well. Donnelly told our newsdesk that the team has sold 1% so far and aim to give the PAN token life by applying merchant acceptance for goods and services. While chatting with news.Bitcoin.com, the BCH proponent also discussed his views about the current state of Bitcoin Cash.

BCH Latam: Creating a Viral Feedback Loop for Mass Adoption With Bitcoin Cash — George Donnelly launched the BCH Latam Initiative.

Bitcoin.com (BC): Can you tell our readers how you got into spreading cryptocurrency adoption?

George Donnelly (GD): As a libertarian activist during the Ron Paul years, I couldn’t help but discover Bitcoin. And understanding Bitcoin meant I couldn’t help but start using it and inviting others to use it. With the 2017 price run-up, it seemed like a good time to finally work on mass adoption. So, in early 2018 I started affiliating merchants for Dash in Medellín, Colombia, my home now for nearly 20 years.

BC: You once worked with the Dash community. Can you explain why you left the Dash community and have been promoting bitcoin cash recently?

GD: Bitcoin Cash has more promising conditions that should enable us to achieve our goals, which include onboarding 1 billion new daily crypto users by 2030 and solving the inflows challenge. Bitcoin Cash has a larger community with a welcoming and positive attitude that is focused on market-based growth and Bitcoin as P2P electronic cash.

Dash has abandoned its Latin America and digital cash strategies and is now pursuing a venture capital and dapps strategy.

BC: Can you tell us about the BCH Latm initiative?

GD: We created BCH Latam in order to serve the people of Latin America in their efforts to achieve greater individual liberty and prosperity. We aim to generate greater financial inclusion through self-sustaining BCH adoption systems with a strong focus on the informal economy. The informal economy in Latin America includes 150 million working people, 53% of jobs and one-third of regional GDP. Informal economy entrepreneurs are excluded from economic growth by excessive government bureaucracy, taxes, and fees. Business activities that we take for granted, such as formal asset registration, incorporation, credit, and banking, are not readily available to the informal economy.

BCH Latam aims to build a thriving Bitcoin Cash ecosystem in Latin America with a bowling pin strategy of merchant adoption, remittances, B2B buying, international trade and more. We’ve honed our plan with more than two years of research and fieldwork in Latin America, where we have team members in six nations plus Spain. Our gamified adoption app will enable indie BCH adoption workers to earn their way into Bitcoin Cash by completing verifiable tasks that add concrete value to the Bitcoin Cash network. Gamified adoption is a viral feedback-loop system to kickstart BCH adoption globally in parallel at a low cost.

BCH Latam is in this to kickstart the Bitcoin Cash commons in Latin America, provide superior value to the developing world through BCH and eventually make Bitcoin Cash the international currency of Latin America. We aim to leverage our results to create a groundswell of buzz for Bitcoin Cash across the globe.

BC: What prompted the idea to start crowdfunding and create a video presentation?

GD: Remittances are a key early bowling pin for us, but it is an industry that requires a multi-location approach and a serious marketing and development plan. There is no formal funding mechanism for Bitcoin Cash projects and the Bitcoin Cash Ecosystem Fund is taking some time to get off the ground, so we aim to offer value for value by giving our donors our fixed-supply PAN token. Our PAN token enables donors to both show off their support for BCH Latam and potentially profit from our success in the future. We are also seeking feedback from the Bitcoin Cash community on our plans and activities, as well as new members to join our team. We hope to attract a CFO and lead developer from within the BCH community this month.

BC: Which specific countries in Latin America do you think need the most attention?

GD: We’re focused on Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Chile, roughly in that order. Colombia sends a lot of small remittances to Venezuela, often paying fees as high as 40%. Mexico is the largest remittance recipient in Latam, and the third largest in the world, with $36 billion in 2018 inflows. Cuba is a small market that is experiencing high remittance fees and difficulties due to US sanctions.

BC: How do you expect to create a “viral, feedback-loop mass adoption system”?

GD: Our gamified adoption app will present the end-user with a series of tasks they can complete to earn our PAN tokens. Tasks will begin with watching videos that teach them about Bitcoin Cash and progress to onboarding merchants, becoming liquidity agents, referring new remittance senders, spending BCH, providing support to merchants, holding meetups, starting Bitcoin Cash businesses and more. Think of it as a hybrid of Duolingo, Uber, a choose-your-own-adventure novel and a mechanical Turk. All tasks will be verifiable. Verification will be done via gamification by more advanced users and/or by an in-house quality control team. We will be able to limit the use of the system by market and country, thus ensuring that each market develops in a balanced manner.

By enabling new users to earn their way into Bitcoin Cash, we remove the barrier to entry of having to buy-in. This also helps solve the inflows challenge.

BC: What are PAN tokens?

GD: PAN is an SLP token with a fixed 400,000 token supply that we are selling in order to finance our profit-seeking BCH remittances business plan. We have sold about 1% of the 180,000 currently for sale. We aim to give our PAN token real-world utility by having our merchants accept it for goods and services and by making it the currency of our gamified adoption app. We’ve apportioned up to 45% of the total supply to finance 15 to 18 months of runway for our BCH remittances startup Panmoni, 25% for the team and 30% for the gamified adoption app or possibly a second financing round. Full details are available at bchlatam.com/crowdfunding2020.

BC: Do you think Bitcoin Cash will ever become a global currency or something that’s just used by a niche group?

GD: I believe that Bitcoin Cash can become the dominant currency of the world. Our challenge is to build real consumer utility that crosses the chasm and is adopted by mainstream users to meet regular and basic needs. Remittances are a repeat-use $689 billion per year industry that promises to be an excellent first stepping-stone towards regular, global use for Bitcoin Cash.

BC: How do you feel about the current state of Bitcoin Cash as far as ecosystem and development growth?

GD: The irregular block times and the passionate furor over the Infrastructure Funding Plan are a bit unsettling. The frequent meetups, the number, and variety of developers read.cash, memo.cash, the people working on merchant adoption, Bitcoin.com, the welcoming and supportive attitude of the community, and Local.Bitcoin.com are all very encouraging.

We urgently need to move forward on ecosystem funding, regular block times and instantly-settled transactions. We need more mobile developers. A reduced focus on passionate philosophical debate and an increased focus on practical, systematic business plans would be good. It’s important people realize that we need to solve the inflows challenge in order to progress beyond small-scale, hobbyist merchant and consumer adoption. Almost no one is talking about this. I’d like to see software development revolve around more evidenced, researched and properly presented business use cases so we can use resources effectively to grow real use in the real world.

What do you think about the BCH Latam initiative and George Donnelly’s efforts? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Image credits: Shutterstock, BCH Latam Initiative, Fair Use, and Pixabay.

Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here.

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Digital Remittances Reach Record High of $96 Billion, Fees Charged by Traditional Providers Open Door for Cryptocurrencies

14/02/2020 by Idelto Editor

In a globalized world where labor follows capital, the remittance industry has been growing constantly in both volume and users. Traditional providers like banks and money transfer companies have been charging high fees for their services which creates opportunities for alternative digital platforms and decentralized cryptocurrencies.

Also read: Russians Can Use Qiwi, Sberbank, Yandex Money and Now Binance P2P Exchange to Buy Bitcoin With Rubles

Digital Remittance Volume Projected to Touch $143 Billion by 2023

According to numbers gathered by market data provider Statista, the total transaction value of digital remittances, cross-border transfers made over the internet, has reached almost $95.96 billion in 2020, representing a year-over-year increase of more than 21%. At the same time, the number of users in this segment of the remittance market has been estimated at 8.5 million (+20.5% yoy). Both indicators are projected to increase by 2023, to over $143 billion in volume and 13.2 million users.

Last year, the largest share of users (32%) were between 25 and 34 years old, and another 25% were aged 35-44 years, a majority from labor-active age groups. The average annual transaction value per user in the digital remittances segment amounts to a little over $11,233 according to the data released this year. Five countries, United States, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and China, top the transaction value comparison chart. With a total transaction value of $21.297 billion, the U.S. is the pronounced global leader and Switzerland comes in second with $7.969 billion.

Total transaction value in the digital remittances segment, Source: Statista — Global comparison, transaction value. Source: Statista

The authors of the report note that remittances often occur on a regular basis and most of the user groups are not inclined to change their fund transfer provider very often. The sector is dominated by established service providers such as banks, post offices and money transfer processors like Western Union and Moneygram. The relatively high fees they charge has opened the way for alternative platforms such as Transferwise, Worldremit and Remitly, Statista points out, which have managed to cut costs by optimizing the use of digital infrastructures.

Ripple’s Latest Remittance Service Agreements Turn the Tide for XRP

While there have been various developments around XRP recently, some of them have influenced its market in a positive way. Two partnerships have been announced this month in which Ripple, the company associated with the cryptocurrency, will be providing remittance services. The price of XRP, the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, spiked over the past couple of days, from a low of $0.2678 on Feb. 11 to a high of $0.3288 early on Feb. 13. Although the crypto lost some of the gains later on Thursday, the price jump is remarkable as it comes after a difficult year for one of the top coins.

According to media reports this week, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the country’s largest financial institution by assets and branches, has signed a cooperation agreement with Ripple to open a new channel for receiving remittances from Egyptians that live and work abroad. The bank said it wanted to employ Ripple’s blockchain solutions to further develop its remittance business supporting transfers from around the world and particularly the Gulf region.

The Egyptian deal follows another similar agreement announced by Ripple earlier in February. The company revealed it’s going to work with International Money Express (Intermex), a leading remittance services provider focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean corridor, to address the challenges with slow and expensive cross-border payments. Intermex plans to leverage Ripplenet for faster remittances between the United States and Mexico. Ripple claims the network links over 300 banks and financial institutions globally.

According to the World Bank, Mexico ranks third among countries with the highest number of remittance recipients. Data published by Banco de México, the nation’s central bank, shows that Mexican emigrants have sent home a record $36 billion in 2019, a 7% increase over the previous year’s almost $33.7 billion. Most of the money, a large portion of which comes from the U.S., has been transferred electronically and in small transactions averaging around $300. Intermex is one of the largest money remitters between the two countries processing more than $30 million in transactions annually.

The status quo in the digital segment of the remittance market undoubtedly creates opportunities for decentralized cryptocurrencies as well. Transaction fees in the case of bitcoin cash (BCH), for example, are less than a cent per transfer. Certain regions can benefit significantly – a 2019 report by the World Bank revealed that the average cost to send the equivalent of $200 to Sub-Saharan Africa is 9.3% of the transferred value, as news.Bitcoin.com reported last year. In 2018, African expatriates sent $46 billion to their home countries.

What are your expectations about the future of the remittance industry? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Statista.

Do you need a reliable bitcoin mobile wallet to send, receive, and store your coins? Download one for free from us and then head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can quickly buy bitcoin with a credit card.

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Distrust of the Bolivar Prompts Venezuelans to Seek Sound Money

14/09/2019 by Idelto Editor

Venezuelans Don't Trust Their Currency - They Want Something Else, Says Activist

There’s a small team of committed researchers and activists called the Ryver Bitcoin Cash group surveying Venezuelans, and giving them educational resources about the benefits of bitcoin cash. The Venezuelan country has been suffering from rapid inflation and many people distrust the sovereign bolivar. Unfortunately, most Venezuelans are not getting any exposure to digital currency use cases, and according to Ryver’s community manager, Sofia Corona, some people spreading the crypto message are doing it all wrong.

Also Read: Developer Reveals Token Reward Platform Fueled by Bitcoin Cash

88% of Venezuelan Respondents Don’t Trust Their Currency

This week news.Bitcoin.com spoke with Sofia Corona, the community manager of a Ryver Bitcoin Cash group. Sofia lives in Bogata, Colombia and was attracted to the project because “South American countries have a lot of problems.” The Venezuelan people have been dealing with extreme hyperinflation and central planners have destroyed the economy. Sofia joined the group because of the “bad decisions made by governments” and the team’s work is a form of independence for her.

Distrust of the Bolivar Prompts Venezuelans to Seek Sound Money — Sofia and her team members. “Listen to people’s needs, and try to do things with simple terms — [Venezuelans] do not want to know how big BCH blocks are, they want something else besides bad government decisions and bank interest,” Sofia said.

The group has been surveying 100 or more Venezuelan citizens on a weekly basis and asking them all sorts of questions. “I studied in Venezuela and emigrated from there,” Sofia told our newsdesk. “We started the survey because it is the best research strategy and you can share information shoulder to shoulder with the people and face to face.” So far, news.Bitcoin.com has seen two weeks’ worth of survey responses from 100-150 people living in Venezuela and dealing with hyperinflation.

The first week’s survey was comprised of 100 Venezuelan citizens, surveyed by Sofia and the other team leaders Mr. Tank, Jena, and Jorge. The group visited malls and stores with a lot of foot traffic, specifically in Puerto la Cruz, Maturin, Guayana and Venezuela’s gold mining zones. Survey one shows the “participants do not currently rely on the national circulation currency (bolivar) as a method of savings and investment.”

“This situation is caused by high levels of exposure inflation, which causes rapid loss of consumer purchasing power — In the face of this reality Bitcoin Cash emerges as a necessary alternative, at a time when the country opens the doors to the legalization of cryptocurrencies, an option that would allow supporting the wages and economic assets of the citizens of this country,” the report details. Additionally, out of the first 100 people surveyed, 68% did not know of the existence of cryptocurrencies, while 32% felt they did. A staggering 88% of respondents replied that they do not trust the bolivar.

Inflation and Gold Dealers

Sofia remarked that when people explained they did not trust the bolivar, they smiled when asked about it. “Last year the government printed new cash money — This year nobody can use it or accept it because of inflation and low salaries,” she explained. Sofia also spoke about some pictures she shared of Venezuelans waiting as long as six hours to withdraw 20,000 bolivares cash ($0.94). “The banks have limited the people with restricted amounts by day and they do not have enough printed money to deliver to people, so the lines are huge and people waste a lot of time there,” Sofia, said, adding:

They want this money to pay for bus tickets or sell to miners or the mafia — The mafia will pay you 100% value of cash money — Cash money is scarce.

In Venezuela, gold dealers from the mines run rampant in congested areas like shopping centers. Sofia said there are a lot of gold dealers and they are “everywhere and they have the control of the authorities and cash money.” After hearing about the gold dealers, news.Bitcoin.com asked the Ryver group community manager why her team thinks most Venezuelans are not getting exposure to digital currencies.

The Wrong Strategy

“The Ryver team thinks that the South American strategies to spread cryptocurrency have been wrong so far,” Sofia insisted. “Some spreaders here act like supreme people or want to share this technology like it’s the first world. We have contacted people and specialists to do some live talk forums or activities with people and they have very high costs to share the message. So we took it upon ourselves to go to the streets and talk with the people.” Sofia further stated:

Many of these specialists want to copy strategies used in first world events in this region and have another heritage. We need to resolve simple problems, not have amazing events or restrict some people because they think different, we need it so people can feel the power in their hands. Do not make people feel like you are the owner of the brand or the message.

Survey Results:#Venezuela

Do you trust in your currency?

Yes= 12%
NO= 88%#BitcoinCashRyver #BCH pic.twitter.com/L7n9A2Ohp1

— Sofia Corona BCH (@VainilaMarket) September 2, 2019

Sofia continued by explaining that people should educate before giving Venezuelans something they don’t know how to use. “Listen to people’s needs, and try to do things with simple terms — They do not want to know how big BCH blocks are, they want something else besides bad government decisions and bank interest.”

“Share the economic freedom and take the lead by providing them with the knowledge to make their own decisions about the money,” the community manager added. “You can share rocket science with people but it no makes sense if you do not teach them how to turn the power on.”

Petro Propaganda

Sofia also told our newsdesk about the usage of the Venezuelan government’s Petro network as we’ve heard reports from Sunacrip (the Petro’s regulator) that the state-issued crypto is popular. She says that the positive Petro headlines and stories are only for “promotional” purposes. “Nobody uses the petro and only people close with government use it to skip out on U.S. sanctions — Sunacrip is really only for miners — they have installed crypto point-of-sale (POS) systems around some stores, but the POS only accepts bitcoin, litecoin, and BNB, so if you have petros, you need to exchange that,” Sofia asserted.

Genuine Ideas and Helping People Take Control of Their Destiny

Sofia has talked to a lot of people and living in Bogota she’s seen refugees from Venezuela crossing the Simon Bolivar International Bridge daily for goods and services. The community manager said the team is also aware of other projects in Venezuela like nonprofit food drive @eatbch_VE. “They [@eatbch] are a genuine idea and supporters of BCH and we like that we can share their actions, the people need food to think, and to be educated to make their own decisions,” Sofia said.

Following a long discussion with Sofia, she explained what drives her to do what she does. “I believe that we can do something to help the people that have their families far away,” Sofia concluded. “I believe that we can try to build a new way to do things, I believe that the people can take the lead of their destiny, and I will try to help them.”

What do you think about what the Ryver Bitcoin Cash group is doing and Sofia’s efforts? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image credits: Sofia Corona, the Ryver Bitcoin Cash group, Twitter, and Pixabay.

Venezuela.bitcoin.com is also making strides in Caracas, Maracaibo, and throughout the rest of the Latin American country by bolstering Bitcoin Cash merchant adoption in Venezuela.

The post Distrust of the Bolivar Prompts Venezuelans to Seek Sound Money appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Venezuelan Pharmacy Chain Accepts Bitcoin Cash for Medicine and Products

28/08/2019 by Idelto Editor

Venezuelan Pharmacy Chain Accepts Bitcoin Cash for Products and Medicine

On August 26, a pharmacy chain in Venezuela called Farmarket revealed it now accepts cryptocurrencies through the payment provider Xpay, a subsidiary of Panda Group. Arley Lozano, Panda Group’s founder, explained how Farmarket’s pharmacy franchise has 22 stores located across the country and machines will allow people to purchase goods and medicine with cryptocurrencies like BCH, DASH, DAI, and BTC.

Also read: How to Create Non-Fungible Assets and Collectible Tokens With Bitcoin Cash

Venezuelan Pharmacy Chain Farmarket Starts Accepting Crypto Payments

Over the last few months, Panda Group has been relentlessly pushing for cryptocurrency adoption throughout Colombia and Venezuela. In mid-July, the company deployed 10 hybrid cryptocurrency point-of-sale (PoS) machines that also work as automated teller machines (ATM). Four of the devices are situated near the border of Venezuela, so citizens from the region and those crossing the border can utilize a gateway to digital assets. Panda Group also installed the crypto PoS hybrid solution in Bogotá, at La Tortata sweet shop, the well-known burger shop Darwinos in Cúcuta Colombia, and the machines also appeared at the EXMA conference in Bogotá on May 27-28. This week Lozano and his team announced the partnership between Farmarket and Xpay, the solution that powers the PoS devices. The Xpay integration will start at stores located in Caracas and expand to the rest of the pharmacy’s 22 locations across Venezuela.

Xpay helps Farmarket accept digital currencies and lets the merchant choose what percentage of funds they wish to withdraw in crypto or its equivalent in local currency. The PoS processing is facilitated by the Colombian trading platform Panda Exchange. All of the partnerships Panda Group has made this year are part of an effort to continue making strides in Latin America. Farmarket customers stemming from Caracas and abroad will be able to pay for goods and medicine with digital assets like bitcoin cash (BCH). With the Venezuelan economy in disarray, family members travel great distances to buy medicine for areas with poor infrastructure. Panda Group has worked with organizations like Dash Core and Maker Dao (DAI) to push the effort. In March, Panda Group members also helped the ATM company Athena Bitcoin install a crypto ATM on the border of Colombia and Venezuela. The Colombian-based company is also collaborating with Cobru, Gracon, and Pagos Inteligentes. Additionally, Panda associates worked with Bitcoin.com during Bogotá’s EXMA event and Lozano told our newsdesk that Bitcoin.com’s executive chairman, Roger Ver, was one of the first to believe in the Xpay project.

“Panda Group appreciates the contribution of Roger Ver who is our friend, and we thank him and the Maker Dao (DAI) team for being the first to believe in Xpay.cash,” Lozano explained to news.Bitcoin.com.

Digital Pioneers Spreading True Crypto Adoption in Latin America

To use the Xpay device at Farmarket, the customer chooses which cryptocurrency they want to use and a QR code is generated in relation to the transaction. After the customer confirms the transaction, the Xpay system detects it and the receipt is generated. When Panda Group first launched the device at La Tortata sweet shop, the company explained that the machine was a significant achievement for Panda’s operations but also for the Latin American region as a whole. Lozano told news.Bitcoin.com that the firm is always thinking about the needs that exist in the Latin American market. “We are very proud that our brothers and sisters who have begun to use our product Xpay.cash to overcome the adversities of the economy. We hope that those who do not know about the benefits of crypto learn to use it,” Lozano told news.Bitcoin.com on Monday. The Panda Group founder added:

Xpay encourages true adoption in Latin America and we’re proud to be digital pioneers.

Being from Colombia, Panda Group understands the economy of Venezuela and has seen the country fall into decline since 2010. At one time the country was the wealthiest nation in Latin America but the inflation rate is expected to reach 10,000,000% by the end of 2019. There’s been gross economic mismanagement under the Chavez and Maduro governments and deterioration of productivity alongside chronic shortages of food and medicine. Most of the country’s money derives from the petroleum sector and manufacturing, but only special interest groups and political leaders are reaping the benefits. Since the economic downfall, neighboring countries and leaders abroad have had little patience with Nicolás Maduro and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. In mid-April, Donald Trump imposed harsh sanctions against Venezuela’s central bank and Maduro’s regime.

Thanks to organizations like Panda Group and Bitcoin.com, merchant acceptance in the region continues to grow. People can find many retailers accepting bitcoin cash (BCH) via the global merchant map Marco Coino. Moreover, the initiative Venezuela.bitcoin.com has been registering stores in places like Maracaibo and Caracas in order to help galvanize economic freedom in the country. Panda Group also has a merchant map available on the website showing all the Xpay machines located in Latin America.

“The location map shows us more than 20 locations in Venezuela that accept payments with cryptocurrencies through this platform, which can mostly be found in Caracas and Mérida,” explained the Xpay crew this week. “The intention of the team behind Xpay has been focused on getting this service to numerous stores and merchants for both Colombia and Venezuela, in order to provide a more friendly and familiar way to make and receive payments with cryptos, which in turn allow promoting its adoption in everyday life.”

At the same time as Panda Group partnered with the pharmacy chain Farmarket, another store called Xinestesia Bodegón has begun accepting BCH, DAI, BTC and DASH through Xpay as well. After revealing the partnership with the bodega, the Colombian crypto company Panda Group’s announcement concluded:

[Farmarket’s] network of businesses will be the first Venezuelan chain to adopt the payment processor and enter the environment of new financial technologies; In the same way, its integration into the set of merchants that accept cryptocurrencies through Xpay could take shape after a period of preparations.

What do you think about Panda Group’s Xpay devices and the company partnering with the Farmarket pharmacy chain? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image credits: Farmarket, Xinestesia Bodegón, Twitter, Xpay, and Pixabay.

Do you want to help spread economic freedom in Latin America and know of Venezuelan merchants interested in accepting bitcoin cash (BCH)? Check out Venezuela.bitcoin.com today and help us onboard some more retailers. Alternatively, you can also purchase Bitcoin Cash without visiting a cryptocurrency exchange. Buy BTC and BCH directly from our trusted seller and, if you need a Bitcoin wallet to securely store it, you can download one from us here as well.

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Market Update: Economists Envision Global Recession While Crypto Prices Soldier On

26/08/2019 by Idelto Editor

Last week cryptocurrency prices bounced around after a majority of coins dropped in value on August 21. Today on August 26, digital currency markets have gained around 1.52%, gathering $4 billion since the initial slump. Despite the volatility, cryptocurrencies have consolidated and a few speculators believe a breakout is on the cards that could send prices sky-high or plunge below the current support.

Also read: Send Token Payouts With Ease Using Bitcoin.com’s SLP Dividend Calculator

Top Crypto Coins Slowly Move Northbound

On Sunday, August 25, the price of bitcoin core (BTC) gathered steam again after tumbling below the $10K zone. During the late evening trading sessions, BTC prices vaulted upwards $500 in a matter of minutes and many other markets also saw gains. Currently, the price of BTC is hovering around $10,342 per coin and there’s more than $17 billion worth of trade volume today. BTC’s market cap is $185 billion this Monday, which is 69% of the $267 billion dollar market cap of all 2,000+ coins.

Market Update: Economists Envision Global Recession While Crypto Prices Soldier On — Top 10 digital currency markets on Monday, August 26, 2019.

BTC/USD markets are up 2.27% today but are down 3.4% for the week. Following BTC is ethereum (ETH), which is up 0.5% today and down 5.3% over the last seven days. ETH is trading for $189 a coin and has an overall market valuation of about $20.4 billion. Ripple (XRP) is selling for $0.27 and prices have dipped in value over 3.8% in the last week. The fifth largest market valuation is held by litecoin (LTC) which is swapping for $74. LTC lost 3.9% last week but over the last 24 hours, LTC is up 1.61%.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Market Action

Bitcoin cash (BCH) markets have been holding steady and at press time one BCH is swapping for $309. BCH/USD is up 1.31% today but lost 4% over the course of the week. On Monday, August 26, BCH is the sixth most traded coin below EOS and above XRP with $1.37 billion in trade volume. USDT is the strongest pair trading against BCH with 56% of all global trades. This is followed by swaps with BTC (26%), USD (7.7%), ETH (6.4%), KRW (1.9%), and EUR (0.43%). The exchanges swapping the most bitcoin cash include Coinbene ($182M), Hitbtc ($70M), Okex ($50.4M), Digifinex ($46.6M), and Bibox ($38M). Bitcoin cash transactions in the last 24 hours were around 39,310 with a daily average this week just above 40K.

With a Possible Economic Crisis on the Horizon, Will BTC Act as a Safe Haven Asset Like Gold?

As the global economy shudders and prepares to embrace a looming recession, precious metal markets have rocketed while cryptocurrencies have seen lighter inflow. Some digital currency influencers are not so sure BTC is a safe haven asset right now. Speaking in an interview on the financial newswire Bloomberg, Spencer Bogart, a Blockchain Capital executive, is not quite convinced that an economic crisis is on the horizon. “When you think about really severe crises taking place, a liquidity crunch, another global financial crisis, I think that bitcoin will struggle to do very well from a price perspective,” Bogart explained. Despite the possible struggle, Bogart thinks in the “longer term bitcoin will absolutely be a safe haven.”

In another interview on Nasdaq Trade talks, Nelson Minier, Kraken’s over-the-counter (OTC) lead executive, shared similar opinions. “I’m not so sure that it’s a safe haven asset yet, but I do think that it’s starting to act like one. I think that people are starting to portfolio manage, are starting to come in slowly. And when the market is getting shaky you saw Bitcoin rise, I mean, you wouldn’t see that before, it was trading like a risky asset,” Minier said. Just like Bogart, however, Minier remarked that BTC will likely fall into that category, stating “we’re heading that way for sure.”

BTC Price Reacts in Real-Time to Trump Trade War Tweets

On August 23, U.S. President Donald Trump told the American public that the trade war between the U.S. and China would continue to escalate. Immediately after the Trump tweets the price of BTC/USD spiked and well-known macro trader Alex Krüger noticed a chart milestone. “Today was the first time BTC reacted sharply in *real-time* to a Trade War breaking headline or USD/CNY fix,” Krüger tweeted. “As far as I can recall, this, in fact, is the first time BTC reacts in real-time to any event outside of crypto,” the trader added.

…Additionally, the remaining 300 BILLION DOLLARS of goods and products from China, that was being taxed from September 1st at 10%, will now be taxed at 15%. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019

Similarly to gold, some speculators believe digital currencies can act as a safe haven asset in order to hedge against macroeconomic uncertainties. The tensions between the U.S. and China also made the price of gold jump more than 2.4% and the price per ounce of gold (Au) right now is $1,530.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Markets Still Indicate an Upward Trend

According to cryptocurrency price analysts, bitcoin cash (BCH) looks poised to break out northbound. The trader Mehak Punjabi explained on August 26 that the price of BCH may continue to rise higher and could target a price of around $330 per coin. “By comparing the price of BCH coin from its lowest value which was $283.29 on 15-Aug-19 at 05:00 UTC and the current trading price, BCH indicates a bullish trend by 10%,” Punjabi said. “The CMF indicator also reflects that the bitcoin cash price is indicating an upward trend. The 7-day high price of the coin $326.88 points the next target of BCH towards $330.” The analyst added:

Trading in the BCH for a long term will yield great returns and dividends.

Crypto Markets May Experience Extreme Economic Fallout for the First Time

Overall, most crypto supporters are still positive about the long term game but are still uncertain about the current period and whether digital currency markets will remain vibrant during a deep economic recession. Currently, the economies in Latin America are floundering and many countries in South America are dealing with severe inflation compared with the rest of the world. Economic growth in India is falling below average and the country’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has plans to focus on priming lending and foreign funding. Moreover, Time reports that 34% of U.S.-based business economists are concerned that the U.S. will see a deep economic recession within the next two years. Most of the economists who participated in the National Association for Business Economics survey believe that America will see the economy tumble hard by the end of 2021.

With the macroeconomic uncertainty in the air and signs of distress, it is still hard to picture what crypto markets will do during an economic fallout. Bitcoin itself was born from the ashes of the 2008 economic crisis and has yet to experience a global recession of that magnitude. For now, with all the ‘doom and gloom’ happening worldwide, seeing a macro hedge spur from gold markets is normal. Despite over-exuberant optimism, no one really knows if cryptocurrencies such as BTC will act in the same manner if the global economy worsens. For now, it’s a case of wait and see.

Where do you see the price of bitcoin cash and the rest of the crypto markets heading from here? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: Price articles and markets updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not to be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.”

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