Venezuela's Largest Airport to Let Travellers Buy Tickets Using Bitcoin, Other Crypto-Assets

The Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía will soon let travellers pay for tickets using Bitcoin, Dash, and Petro.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 13 October 2021 15:40 IST

Venezuela's Largest Airport to Let Travellers Buy Tickets Using Bitcoin, Other Crypto-Assets

Bitcoin is slowly gaining traction among South American countries

Highlights

Venezuela's main airport is adopting payments in cryptocurrencies
The adoption will benefit foreign tourists from Russia and Europe
The airport sees a footfall of 2 million every year

After El Salvador recently adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, the South American country of Venezuela has announced that it is opening up its largest airport to allow travellers to purchase airline tickets using cryptocurrency very soon. Simón Bolivar International Airport, better known as the Maiquetía International Airport, will add Bitcoin, Dash, and Petro — Venezuela's native cryptocurrency which is backed by oil reserves — as payment options to the two million travellers that pass through the airport each year.

As per a report by El Siglo, the airport will introduce the new payment options in coordination with Venezuela's National Superintendence of Crypto Assets and Related Activities.

Freddy Borges, Director of the Maiquetía airport states that the introduction of cryptocurrency payments at the airport would mark the country's commitment to catch up and adhere to international standards and drive digital currency adoption. According to the executive, the crypto payment option would benefit foreign tourists, including those from Russia and Europe.

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Venezuela has been a country at the forefront of adopting cryptocurrency to bolster its economy and navigate through international sanctions. The South American country situated on the northern coast of the continent was among the first countries in the world to launch a digital currency of its own in Petro. However, unlike traditional Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Petro is not pegged to the native fiat and rather backed by oil reserves.

Well-known food and beverage chain Burger King, last year allowed prospects from Caracas to settle their payments using cryptocurrencies, which include most of the popular crypto-assets in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether, Binance Coin, Dash, and Tether. Pizza Hut also jumped aboard and enable customers across outlets in major cities like Caracas, Maracay, Maracaibo, and Barquisimeto to pay using Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, and Binance Coin.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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