Bitcoin will be accepted as payment in Venezuela’s main airport

Venezuela’s main airport – Simón Bolívar International – is lining up a cryptocurrency payment service.

Freddy Borges, director of the facility 12 miles west of the capital Caracas, said the airport was striving to accept Bitcoin, DASH, and Venezuela’s oil-backed digital Petro currency. More than two million passengers a year pass through the airport.

Borges confirmed the payment process in cryptocurrencies would be established within the requirements of the local regulator, Sunacrip – the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog.

“We must advance in these new economic and technological systems to be accessible,” Borges explained.

“We will activate a button for cryptocurrency payments in the airport platforms and commercial activities, in coordination with Sunacrip.”

Venezuela’s crypto future

The direction of the South American country’s financial approach seems to favour cryptocurrency and digital currency as the Central Bank of Venezuela launched a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that began its circulation on October 1.

The central bank said the decision to create a CBDC will not impact the value of the Venezuelan bolivar.

“The bolivar will not be worth any more or any less, in order to facilitate its use, it is being taken to a simpler monetary scale,” the central bank said.

In August, Venezuelan carrier Turpial Airlines accepted Bitcoin as payment for flight tickets, while Caracas Air, the largest aviation training academy in the country offered discounts to customers who paid in Bitcoin.

The food industry has also taken advantage of the popularity of cryptocurrency in the country as Pizza Hut began accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment in November 2020.

In January 2021, Burger King accepted Bitcoin and DASH as payment in 40 of the nation’s restaurants.