Paxful Brings Crypto ATMs to Colombia [Read More]

On September 5th, peer-to-peer crypto marketplace Paxful partnered with blockchain firm CoinLogiq to bring cryptocurrency ATM to Colombian cities. In a press release, Paxful announced its latest alliance with CoinLogiq for the opening of 20 new crypto ATMs in Colombia. The crypto ATMs will be available in shopping hubs and points of interest all over the main Colombian cities, such as Bogota and Medellín. This will be achieved by integrating the Paxful kiosk feature with CoinLogiq hardware, enabling users to purchase BTC using cash, credit, and online debit transfers. Users will also be able to send and receive money using cryptocurrency via the ATMs. Addressing the partnership, Ray Youssef, CEO, and co-founder of Paxful, stated: “Latin America has real heroes in the CoinLogiq crew. They genuinely care and are focused on real use cases.” He went on to say that such a joint effort is what makes bitcoin real and a part of people’s daily lives. Rising mass adoption of cryptocurrencies Colombia currently has 46 bitcoin ATMs, nearly triple the number of all the other terminals located in South America. While traditional currencies are still the most commonly used payment means in the country, the use of cryptocurrencies has risen steadily. The Republic Bank in Colombia is already part of the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), to provide better security to the growing number of folks who already use these cryptocurrencies. Additionally, Paxful conducted a survey of random Colombian internet users and found that approximately 80% of respondents are open to investing in digital currency. This data is confirmed by the Global Digital 2019 report, which reveals that 7.7% of Colombians have already started investing in digital currencies. Demand for crypto in Colombia is thought to be partially driven by refugees from neighboring Venezuela. In fact, a thriving industry of crypto exchanges and ATMs has sprung up along the border, providing services for Venezuelans to exchange their hyper-inflated currency and send remittances back home. Paxful and CoinLogiq’s growing partnership CoinLogiq CEO, Dwayne Golden Sr., suggested that the partnership was just getting started and was vital to the mass adoption of crypto. He said; “I am now even more convinced that mass adoption will not happen without the influence of the kind of synergy that can now exist as a result of this Paxful and CoinLogiq joint venture.” Paxful’s manager for Latin America, Magdiela Rivas, also hinted that the partnering companies are also working to place 25 new cryptocurrency ATMs in Peru.