Bitcoin (BTC) use in Guatemala is on the up. The Latin American nation that borders El Salvador boasts Guatemalan-grown Bitcoin corporations similar to Ibex and Osmo, a number of Bitcoin Beach-inspired projects together with Bitcoin Lake, and now, free BTC tattoos.
A Bitcoin service provider adoption competitors hosted by Osmo Pockets in 2022, a Guatemala-based Bitcoin firm, led to the free ink promotion. Cointelegraph spoke to Piero Coen, the co-founder of Osmo Pockets, and Steven Marroquin, the proprietor of Soul’s Anchor, a tattoo parlor in Guatemala Metropolis.
Coen defined the way it that the mission is to get extra folks to make use of Bitcoin:
“So we ran a competition amongst merchants to see who would process the most volume in Bitcoin sales in 2022. Turns out Soul’s Anchor Tattoo Shop in Guatemala City, who started accepting Bitcoin payments using Osmobusiness back in October, won the competition.”
Service provider adoption is nothing new in Guatemala. In order that they thought of learn how to make issues extra thrilling. They determined that providing free Bitcoin tattoos to prospects is likely to be a Bitcoin-friendly advertising and marketing tactic. “It was a huge hit. All the slots filled up in hours!” He defined.
Guatemalan Bitcoin believers and Bitcoin vacationers streamed into the shop to ink their favourite Bitcoin meme, quote or artwork onto their pores and skin. Steven Marroquin, Souls Anchor proprietor, defined, “It’s been around seven months since we officially accepted Bitcoin and have two to three customers per month.” It is a small quantity, however funds are on the rise, he studies:
“The first months we had only one customer, and even though it’s still a few percentages of our income, probably 1%, we are happy have started accepting it.”
Coen explains that “It’s still super early” for Bitcoin adoption in Guatemala, and “Most business owners are still unsure about accepting and holding onto Bitcoin because of the volatility.”
By permitting prompt Bitcoin to fiat foreign money conversion on the fee service provider terminal, retailers can sidestep the volatility. Prompt BTC to fiat conversion is a rising pattern within the Bitcoin funds house, as corporations similar to Strike–headed up by Jack Mallers–and CoinCorner offer similar solutions. Bitcoin as a method of trade is burgeoning and Coen is optimistic about its future:
“Bitcoin adoption in Guatemala Metropolis is on the rise, daily we see an increasing number of persons are entering into it, studying about it, and stacking up on Sats.”
Rikki, one-half of the Bitcoin Explorers couple who spent 45 days living off Bitcoin only in El Salvador, recently traveled around Guatemala, paying his way in Bitcoin. Rikki told Cointelegraph the level of “adoption of Bitcoin in Guatemala has really surprised us,” referring to himself and his partner Laura.
“Locals are curious, they want to learn about Bitcoin and see it as an important alternative to credit cards whose fees are very high in the country.”
Indeed, by accepting Bitcoin, business can save over 50% on transaction costs when compared to accepting credit card payments, “So the incentives are there,” Coen explained.
Related: As Bitcoin debuts in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala study CBDCs
Rikki added that “orange-pilling” efforts by Guatemalan-based companies, such as Ibex and Osmo, “are pushing to raise awareness of the technology.” The couple also visited the Bitcoin Lake, a Bitcoin-beach-style community project, where a Guatemalan mayor is mining Bitcoin in his office, before getting inked themselves as part of the promotion.
“We found the tattoo idea very cute. It is a company that wants to reward its shopkeeper who has received the most Bitcoin transactions by promoting its business.”
Bitcoin and crypto tattoos are increasingly common, as crypto advocates choose to brand themselves with their coin of choice. However, crypto tattoos can sometimes go very, very wrong.
Take Mike Novogratz, the Galaxy Digital founder, as an example. His Terra (LUNA) tattoo is a fixed reminder that investing requires humility. The LUNA token crashed by over 99% in price in 2021. Thankfully, the Bitcoin tattoos are secure, for now, thanks to a January price pump.
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