Cryptocurrency is slowly gaining recognition across the globe.In September 2021, El Salvador became the first nation to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender alongside the US dollar.The Central American country also plans to create a Bitcoin City, which will act as a crypto hub for the country.Somewhat following in the same lines, Honduras has now come up with the “Bitcoin Valley” project.Located in the tourist enclave of Santa Lucia, Bitcoin Valley will let visitors pay for services and products, like a glass of slushie for example, from local businesses with crypto coins.
Santa Lucia is located 20 minutes away from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.
The Bitcoin Valley project targets 60 businesses to get detailed training on everything crypto and then adopt it to promote their products and services.As per a report by Reuters, big- and small-business owners are already adapting to the trend, accepting crypto as payment for their services.
“It will open more opportunities and attract more people who want to use this currency,” Los Robles shopping square manager Cesar Andino said.
ALSO SEE: EXPLAINED | Bitcoin City: What Is It? How Will It Benefit Citizens? Can You Invest?
The project, jointly developed by the Blockchain Honduras organization, the Guatemalan cryptocurrency exchange consortium Coincaex, the Technological University of Honduras and Santa Lucia’s municipality, hopes to spread the crypto payment practice to nearby areas and more enterprises.
“Santa Lucia’s community will be educated to use and manage cryptocurrencies, implementing them in different businesses in the region and generating crypto-tourism,” Technological University professor Ruben Carbajal Velazquez told Reuters.
One primary downside of doing business with crypto is the extreme volatility that affects the prices of digital coins.To avoid such challenges, Bitcoin Valley will let merchants receive instant payments “in the local currency, eliminating cryptocurrency fluctuation risks,” as per Block Chain Honduras organisation founder Leonardo Paguada.
The crypto adoption isn’t going too well for El Salvador, as despite criticisms from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and several credit agencies, the nation kept on adding BTCs to its national reserve.However, owing to the recent crash in BTC prices last month and the overall crypto market cooldown, the country’s investments are losing value , estimated to be over $50 million.
ALSO SEE: ‘Patience Is The Key’: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Has This To Say To Investors
El Salvador’s pro-crypto President Nayib Bukele, however, seems unfazed by the crypto bloodbath.On June 15, he took to Twitter to share the news of El Salvador Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya saying the decrease in Bitcoin investment doesn’t even represent 0.5 percent of the country’s national budget.
Bukele wrote, “You’re telling me we should buy more #BTC?”
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