A Bank In Argentina Is Now Using Bitcoin for Cross-Border Payments
Cryptocurrency trading startup Bitex has trialed a cross-border payments system using bitcoin with an Argentinian bank.
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Argentina's Banco Masventas has revealed that starting Monday it will enable customers to send cross-border payments using bitcoin.
Bitex chief marking officer Manuel Beaudroit told CoinDesk that the startup believes this marks the first time that a domestic bank has adopted bitcoin for cross-border payments.
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In statements, Jose Dakak, principal shareholder of Masventas, credited the move to a broader drive by the bank to enhance its digital, smartphone-based services, as well as to lower the bank's cost of service.
"One of the actions was to contract Bitex as a strategic partner in the implementation of the Bitex platform for payments and collections operations for our clients abroad," he said.
While no real-world transactions have been launched yet (the service began today), the bank will soon use bitcoin for real customer transactions, Beaudroit said.
He told CoinDesk:
Argentina flag image via Shutterstock