Brazilian Supermarket Chain Starts Accepting Cryptocurrency Payments

Oásis Supermercados, a Brazilian supermarket chain located in Rio de Janeiro, has recently started accepting cryptocurrency payments after asking a local exchange for information, and training its employees on how to do it.

According to local news outlet Portal do Bitcoin, the chain’s clients in Rio de Janeiro will now be able to pay for their things using Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin, according to one of the firm’s managers Douglas Andrade.

Speaking to the local publication Andrade noted that his brother Thiago was the one who came up with accepting cryptocurrency payments, after seeing a video explaining how to do it. After the video peaked their interest, Oásis Supermercados called a crypto exchange to get more information.

The firm reportedly has an annual turnover of $6.5 million and 90 employees, 20 of them cashiers. All of them, Andrade noted, have been trained to accept cryptocurrency payments. He was quoted as saying:

It’s really easy. It’s like a payment by credit card. The client says which cryptocurrency he wants to pay, the operator types in reais and the system already converts to that crypto. Then just scan the QR code and you’re done.

The chain will be accepting cryptocurrencies via CoinWISE, a firm that turns the cryptocurrencies they receive into reais and sends them over three days after the payments were made.

The local news outlet points out that since the system was recently implemented, no cryptocurrency payment has yet been received, although Andrade claims the news has spread and some have already suggested it should start accepting other cryptocurrencies, including NANO.

The firm’s administrator credited a former employee with introducing them to the cryptocurrency ecosystem and telling them how to invest. The move comes as Bitcoin appears to be recovering from a year-long bear market that saw its price drop over 80% from its all-time high.

Notably, as CCN covered, Brazil’s Department of Federal Revenue (RFB) has revealed it’s looking to monitor the activities of business dealing with cryptocurrency, in what it claims to be an attempt to prevent tax evasion and money laundering. Its approach seemingly hasn’t deterred Oásis Supermercados’ owners.

Cryptocurrency exchanges in the country have been facing difficulties in the past few months, with Huobi even dismissing 6 of its 10 employees in the country. A glimpse of hope came, however, after local exchange Bitcoin Max won a standoff to see its account be reopened.

Featured image from Shutterstock. Oasis image from the company’s Facebook page.