Bitcoin Payments Make Debut at Mexican University

A coffee shop located on the campus of Mexico's Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP) is now accepting bitcoin for purchases.

With the announcement, the 8,000-student university becomes the latest to host opportunities for young people to use and learn about the emerging technology.

While the first in the Latin American region, UDLAP joins Canada's Simon Fraser University (SFU), Spain's Pompeu Fabra University and MIT in the US on the list of colleges that host bitcoin ATMs or accept bitcoin for payment in school stores.

The bitcoin processing integration was provided by Latin American-focused bitcoin exchange provider Bitso, which recently raised an undisclosed seed round led by Digital Currency Group and launched a payment processing service, BitsoPagos.

The company expressed its belief that by accepting bitcoin payments, the Café Punta del Cielo location will expose more students to the technology while potentially encouraging other local franchises to accept the payment option.

Jose Rodriguez, VP of payments of Bitso, said in a statement:

"We expect this successful BitsoPagos integration to create the traction for more Punta del Cielo and many other merchants to adopt Bitcoin.”

Founded in 2004, Café Punta del Cielo specializes in the distribution and sale of coffee produced in Mexico. As of 2012, it operated more than 100 franchises in Mexico with additional locations in Hong Kong, Spain and the US.

Café image via Bitso, coffee image via Shutterstock