The cryptocurrency ATM, locally dubbed as La Bitcoinera, is now accessible in Honduras. The first machine dispensing virtual currencies began to be operational last week.
We feel delighted to learn about and share this new report with our readers. We think it clearly demonstrates Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency backers’ vision. That is, widespread crypto-asset availability, usage, and acceptance will inevitably spill over gradually to the rest of the world.
According to the August 30, 2021 report posted online by Singapore-based business and financial news source The Business Times, TGU Consulting Group is the Honduran company that installed La Bitcoinera in an office tower based in Tegucigalpa, the Central American nation’s capital.
The cryptocurrency ATM permits cryptocurrency users to purchase crypto-assets using the Honduran lempira, the country’s national currency. Among these cryptocurrencies available are Bitcoin, which trades at US$49,347.44 at the time of writing, per the trading price information published on CoinGecko.com, and Ethereum, which is currently worth US$$3,263.98.
Cryptocurrency users can transact in La Bitcoinera by first scanning an official identification. Then, they will need to input personal information like a phone number.
Juan Mayen is the 28-year-old chief executive officer of TGU Consulting Group. He led the effort of bringing La Bitcoinera to Honduras.
Mayen hopes to educate citizens about cryptocurrencies through the first-hand experience. He remarked that there is no automated method to avail of cryptocurrencies in Honduras until now.
Additionally, the TGU Consulting Group CEO explained that Honduran cryptocurrency users would have to buy crypto-assets peer-to-peer. They would need to search for an individual willing to engage in cryptocurrency transactions and meet in person.
Mayen added that cryptocurrency users would have to carry a specific amount of money, and this scenario is very risky and inconvenient, considering the existing environment in Honduras. He cited that if the La Bitcoinera service becomes popular, more units of this cryptocurrency ATM will get installed.
The TGU Consulting Group head pointed out that numerous software developers in Honduras nowadays already get paid in virtual currencies. Mayen added that these digital assets would also be an affordable choice to send remittances.
Hondurans based overseas, mainly in the United States, sent US$5.7 billion in remittances last year. This figure is approximately 20 percent of the Central American country’s gross domestic product.
We want to congratulate Honduras and the group involved in installing the first-ever cryptocurrency ATM in the nation. We think they made a laudable effort of responding to Bitcoin supporters’ desire after witnessing neighboring El Salvador metamorphosing into the first country to establish Bitcoin as legal tender last June.
Moreover, we understand Mr. Mayen’s sharing of the current disconcerting and hazardous cryptocurrency trading scene in Honduras. We think La Bitcoinera will make numerous Honduran cryptocurrency users satisfied because this cryptocurrency dispenser would make their lives easier.
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