Tomorrow September 27th, Ripple partner Bitso will launch its new payment solution in Argentina. The product will allow users in the Latin American country to access the region’s first QR code payment system powered by XRP and other cryptocurrencies.
Bitso is one of the largest exchanges in the region with over 5 million users. In Argentina alone, the platform added more than 1 million customers who will be able to make cryptographic payments with QR code in certain regions starting tomorrow. The product will be rolled out across the country in the coming months.
Ripple and Bitso provide new use cases, inflation-protected Argentinian customers
According to a press release, Bitso’s new payment solution will offer its customer a solution to remove the friction and cost of the process of making daily payments. Users will be able to access the payment product by accessing the exchange’s mobile application.
According to the announcement, users will have two payment options: fiat currency or cryptocurrency. If they opt for the latter, the transaction will be free and processed directly in the local currency. If they decide to spend their cryptocurrencies, the app will automatically convert the digital asset into local fiat currency.
It seems like a convenient alternative for people who own crypto and are looking for a seamless and low-cost way to incorporate it into their daily lives. Argentina has one of the highest inflation rates in the world, approaching 80% year-on-year.
In contrast, the latest inflation metrics in the US, some of the highest in decades, peaked at around 9% and currently stand at around 8%. Argentine inflation could reach 100% by the end of 2022, according to some reports.
In this regard, people have turned to cryptocurrencies, digital assets and other hard assets to hedge against inflation and circumvent official exchange rates. Ripple’s partner Bitso has identified this situation as an opportunity to launch its new payment solution.
Additionally, Bitso claims Argentina has some of the highest QR code payment adoption rates in the world. Data provided by the exchange platform claims that 59% of Argentines have used QR codes for payments, regional averages stood at 34%. By 2023, 83% of people expect to use this payment method.
Santiago Alvarado, Senior Vice President of Product at Bitso, had the following to say about their new product:
This launch is a testament to our proactive approach to creating cryptocurrency-based financial products that are useful in people’s daily lives while providing a solution to the challenges inherent in Latin America’s financial landscape. This is a particularly important product offering for Argentina, as it offers users protection against adverse economic factors such as inflation and currency devaluation.
Ripple supports Bitso’s growth in Latin America
In addition, Alvarado claims that the new product will fulfill one of the goals of Ripple’s partners: to provide new use cases and make crypto more useful. The exchange platform started working with the payment company in 2018 to improve the payment channels available to its customers.
Since then, Bitso has been able to consolidate its position in Latin America, becoming one of the largest providers of liquidity for remittances in Mexico and other countries. In this regard, the adoption of the Ripple On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) payment solution, which leverages XRP, has been instrumental.
In 2020, Bárbara González Briseño said the following about Bitso’s cooperation with the payment company:
We want to connect all of Latin America in a single network where everyone can transact instantly and profitably, whenever they need to. Ripple shares our vision of using its innovative technology to create an accessible and valuable frictionless exchange for our partners and their customers.
