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Mexican Retailer Famsa Integrates Bitcoin
Another Latin American e-tailer, Famsa, is now accepting bitcoin for online purchases.
By Grace Caffyn
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 11:56 a.m. Published Oct 13, 2015, 10:44 a.m.
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UPDATE (14th October 10:26 BST): Comments added from Alberto Vega, BitPay's Regional Manager for Latin America.
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Latin American e-tailer Famsa is now accepting bitcoin for online purchases.
The chain, founded in 1970, sells a variety of consumer goods and electronics across Mexico and the US. It is processing transactions via Atlanta firm BitPay.
The news follows last month's announcement from MercadoLibre – the 'eBay of Latin America' – that it would integrate bitcoin, and a deal between Mexico's BitPagos and Entrepids to allow e-commerce stores to accept the currency.
Alberto Vega, BitPay's regional manager for Latin America, told CoinDesk interest among online retailers is growing:
"It is a very exciting time for bitcoin adoption in Latin America. We are experiencing a great moment, [with] major growth since the TAR Airlines announcement a few months ago."
Although bitcoin merchant adoption is waning – with many businesses reporting "widely disappointing" sales – Latin America appears to be bucking the trend.
According to BitPay, the region saw a 510% increase in transactions from 2014 to 2015. It sees around 10% of transactions happening in Europe, the region that hosts half of BitPay's merchants.
Disclaimer: CoinDesk founder Shakil Khan is an investor in BitPay.
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