We all wanted 2019 to be the year of recognition and widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies. It seems that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are now really advancing the world by leaps and bounds.
A new partnership has appeared in South America, which allows banks to make cross-border payments directly through the Bitcoin blockchain.
Bitex and Bantotal Initiative
A surprising new initiative belongs to the exchange of cryptocurrencies Bitex and Bantotal, one of the largest banking providers in Latin America. In total, 60 banks in 14 countries are involved in this network.
The Bitex exchange will serve as a cryptocurrency bridge for banks and will allow them to convert fiat money into bitcoins and vice versa. At the same time, Bitex users will not have to perform a complex fiat-fiat exchange.
Advance of blockchain in banking
Bitex marketing director Manuel Bodroit explained how these payments will work:
“If I want to make a payment from Argentina to Chile, then I don’t need to buy US dollars for Argentine pesos, transfer these dollars to the United States and then transfer them to Chile to exchange them for Chilean pesos. I can simply send a payment from Argentina to Chile directly using bitcoins”.
Bodroit also said that “the partnership between Bitex and Bantotal represents an important step in the integration of blockchain technology in banking.”
At the same time, the founder of the Fintech Chamber of Uruguay, Sebastian Oliver, said that Bantotal is an important player not only in Latin America, but also in most of the Pacific region.
Earlier, we also talked about the fact that Gemini US cryptocurrency exchange and Flexa payments startup launched cryptocurrency payments for the largest US retailers.
Also published on Medium.