Bitcoin Forum

Elektra supermarket (https://www.elektra.com.mx/) in Mexico recently started accepting Bitcoin payments and is encouraging their clients to do so, as they offer a 20% discount when paying with it (until end of the year).

Here's the promo banner (in Spanish):

https://i.imgur.com/BlgfehR.png

Now people in Mexico are able to buy groceries, and retail in general using Bitcoin directly.

An interesting thing to consider is that the parent company, Grupo Elektra, has operations in these countries: Mexico, US, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Panama, and El Salvador.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupo_Elektra

That means that they already accept Bitcoin directly from at least 2 countries: Mexico, and El Salvador. Some of the other countries in that list could potentially be the next one.

How are their customers able to pay in Bitcoin? Is there a local wallet app in the country that is popular that could be used for the grocery transactions between customers and the store? I am asking because if transactions are all done on-chain, I might end up paying a bigger amount for fees than the groceries I'm buying. I might end up paying more for my transaction to be confirmed than the packs of coffee I'm buying. Or are they possibly making use of lightning network?

The supermarket is using Bitpay, you can pay with any wallet you want.

I'm not sure if Bitpay accepts lightning, but note that you can always order online, so waiting time for on-chain shouldn't be a problem:

https://i.imgur.com/OG7im0T.png

In any case, fees are very low on-chain, for example this recent transaction for more than $3k just paid 7 cents in fees (https://mempool.space/tx/ca51d94ad8a52d962d66d8f1dada6fcb0dabdfcbed80a142fc80c9ba4036e03a)

Also, their clients paying with Bitcoin are getting 20% off until end of the year, that's a great discount.

This is a big promotion and I think it's a good thing both for the crypto market and the people who don't know what bitcoin is because they'll be curious about it and start to do their own research. I think they beginning to see the good result of implementing it on their store and I'm sure if they succeed with this one, the other companies will also follow their track. Bitcoin lovers in Mexico should support this kind of event to further promote it to others.

Any Mexican could chime in here? Why is this supermarket pushing bitcoin too much to the point that they're giving a good 20% discount? I don't see the incentive for them to do something like this in a business point of view. Unless they own a wallet+exchange software like Coinbase/CashApp/etc; which I'm pretty sure they don't because they're using BitPay.

Here's what people from Mexico think about this:


Reading the parent's company wikipedia page it seems that they're mostly a financial services company, processing a lot of remittances, loans, etc. Basically if you go and buy there you can get a "mini-loan" on the spot, for example you end up paying the TV for months instead of just one payment:




My guess is that probably they want to acquire a lot of Bitcoin first by exchanging their stock instead of paying cash, to then create some kind of financial service based on bitcoin for the money transfers (maybe to compete with Strike and others).

This reddit comment kinda matches this idea, they want to keep bitcoins for themselves:

Interesting. But still though, a 20% discount is a really hefty amount. I'm guessing they can do this simply because their profit margin is significantly more than their potential loss from the 20% discount, but still. If the goal was to hold the BTC, this is quite a bold move from them. Probably goes second to MicroStrategy in terms of confidence with BTC.

It's interesting to know how they have implemented the bitcoin payment architecture in their store. Unfortunately I don't read Spanish so unable to read the details in their promo banner. Is it a normal on-chain transactions? Or they have implemented LN? I wonder how they are tracking the transactions and also how many confirmations are they looking before a customer can walk out from their stores with their purchased goods!

But this is really positive. Using bitcoin for daily purchases slowly becoming possible in some parts of the world.

That's a good one. Trying to encourage more people to be interested in Bitcoin in particular and crypto in general.
Howver, my concern is what might actually discourage people is the transaction fees in doing these payments.
But, I like their concept, the discount is quite tempting.

since they are accepting also In El Salvador meaning this business originated in El Salvador and not in mexico?

also if this is a physical store then Yes this is a great achievements for cryptocurrency having 2 countries accepting Bitcoin directly from their wallets.

but Congratulations to the people who will  use this offer as 20% off also is indeed to be taken .

This is a good development that supermarket in Mexico is going to accept payments in Bitcoin. Moreover, the supermarket is also giving a 20% discount to its customers. On all shopping from this market, the payment is being received directly through Bitcoin.
If private institutions and markets will step forward to promoting bitcoin or cryptocurrency in the shopping mall, supermarkets, etc, it will fell a positive impact on the bitcoin user & bitcoin families. They will be facilitated, comfortable for its utilization.

Well, even if in the end the customers don't use it much because the customers are low income or if in fact the company is doing it as a business move, this is of great importance. Can anyone imagine going to Wall Mart or your country's equivalent and seeing that Bitcoin payments are accepted? It is very important for mass adoption.

On the other hand, I still think that even if customers were wealthy, I don't think Bitcoin payments would be in the majority. What are peopel going to do? Save in fiat currency and spend Bitcoin? I think that only those who receive all their income in Bitcoin would pay in bitcoin at the supermarket, which is almost nobody nowadays. There are also other cases, people who bought a long time ago and spend small parts of it.

But all in all, good news and I hope we see many more like this in the future.

They did what it is supposed to be. They are adopting Bitcoin in the first place and so they have to allow their people to enjoy it. Like being accepted in big establishments like in supermarkets, that is something it leads to encourage small business to offer the same. It gonna be a chain of crypto development and this is what it mean to be and to be consider as a currency, finally happen in Mexico. And we supposed to see it in the other countries who have been promoting and accpeting Bitcoin.

This is how it is going to happen, not with El Salvador where people are suddenly forced to do it. In Argentina also I read some places are doing the same as the currency is just going nowhere with super inflation.

When people make the choice it will be because they have opened their eyes. Any Mexicans in this forum? I would love to see them and talk to them about experiences :)

It is good progress for crypto as that can get more attention from people if they read advertisements. Besides that, it can make them curious about what it is bitcoin and hopefully, that can make them start learning more about bitcoin before they use it. They will be aware that they can now use bitcoin or other cryptos to buy something at the supermarket. Hopefully, that can run smoothly and people can accept the new option to pay for any product in a supermarket in Mexico.

Every time i enter Malls and supermarket i am trying to look if there is at least one establishments that literally offers accepting bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies because i keep on reminding myself that it is better to help circulate crypto than keeping it on hold.

In a outside the city small business i come to find one that accepts bitcoin but never that i found another.
so this for Mexican is a Blessings because they can easily use bitcoin while even buying dozen of eggs or even Mineral water.

I’ve being going over their TOS for paying with bitcoin, and there are a couple of things to point out:

-   Not all products are payable with bitcoin. Only those for which payment is available with bitcoin will be selectable as a means of payment.

-   If you underpay, purchase will be aborted, and you need to contact Bitpay for a refund.

-   If you overpay, the purchase will go through, but you will need to contact Bitpay to get back the amount that exceeded the price.

-   If you give back a product, refund will be in fiat (pesos)

See: https://www.elektra.com.mx/terminos-y-condiciones-bitcoin (in Spanish -> Google translating the link does not seem to render a visible translation).


As to the TOS for the Bitcoin promotion itself, I’d point out the following:

-   Purchase must be in the range of 5K pesos (240 USD aprox.) to 57K pesos (2750 USD aprox.)

-   The promotion has an allocated fund of 1M Pesos (a bit over 48K$)

See: https://www.elektra.com.mx/terminos-de-promociones (In Spanish)

If the store accepts digital payments by Bitpay, the goal may be to move away from the inflation of the local currency by obtaining the dollar in the bank account, not the Bitcoin itself.
Bitpay's transfers are made by depositing money into your bank account and then it may be an indirect way to transfer money to them instead of the traditional methods.

I don't know but if they want to keep the bitcoin hiring a tech developer who will set up a payment channel using BTCPay Server would be better.

Adoption is growing every day despite some efforts of people who are against this.
Good move from some smart people who live in Mexico, and I doubt their government has to do anything with this, including preventing this deal from happening.
Giving 20% discount for paying like this is like a cherry on top, and I wonder if this offer is for online and offline in person shopping.
Croatia did something similar few weeks ago when one of the largest supermarket chain Konzum accepted purchases with cryptocurrencies, but for now it's only for online orders.

This is such a great strategy to encourage the public to adopt Bitcoin and introduced many more cryptocurrencies to them. Kudos to the Elektra supermarket for this bold move, I wish for the positive an successful outcome of this. I have a question tho, correct me if I’m wrong, but is this some sort of partnership with Bitpay and the supermarket? Because the way I see it, Bitpay would most likely will have the control when it comes to transactions made with Bitcoin.

ya.ya.yo!

Great to hear this kind of news as usual. They might have their own ulterior motives behind this scheme, but I am just happy that BTC adoption keeps rising slowly and steadily which is what primarily matters at the end of the day.

The payment speeds could trouble them, but the fees aren't really an issue anymore unlike ETH fees which are still horrendous currently.

The business is Mexican, it has subsidies in other countries, this move has nothing to do with Salvador legislation, the current offer is for Mexico, and the division Salvador accepts BTC because it must do there like any other business operating in the country.


Wait a minute, so if a bit less than 100 poeple max out their purchases, getting each 550$ in discount that's it?
Isn't there another zero?  ;D For a business with a revenue of 80 billion, they could have pushed a little more money into this!
https://www.elektra.com.mx/promociones-bitcoin?page=1
It's this only for games and controllers?

Anyhow, it's still a promo, it's still a store where you can buy some stuff with BTC and a way to save some $, still a net positive.

must be very fun for those who can shop for their needs using their bitcoin assets as a means of payment. unfortunately, I have not been able to enjoy such an experience. because in my country it is hindered by regulations.
but when more and more countries are starting to open up to this payment instrument, of course, I have faith that one-day bitcoin will be accepted in all countries as a means of payment.
the issue of cost which I think will no longer be a topic for now. it's possible that the speed of transactions can be annoying and create long queues at the cashier. although I believe in its application in supermarkets or other stores, it should have prepared a special payment counter with bitcoin or other crypto transactions.

What is more interesting is that their government is actually accepting all of this! I am just loving the concept of public domain acceptance of bitcoin and is also approved by government means a lot. I mean all of the government should learn from this for real. What’s interesting is, most of countries who are either dominated by developed countries which are nearby and not taking much interest in their development. Anyways, the point is they are at least starting it somewhere. This adoption might look very tiny at first glance but this is alternatively bitcoins smart advertising. As they say you know, things which are best does not need to be advertised but they do get attention indirectly. That’s what it is!  Kudos to them.

Hey!
 
Am I the only one to think the following:
Since BitPay requires a KYC verification, who's interested to send the personal documents to verify the ID? And to do this, just to pay a retail store? Only a few. On top of that, not everything can be paid with BTC?
There are already more and more people who refuse to finalize their online purchases when they see Bitpay, so imagine IRL...

Its target is people with a low income. If they have no money basically, what makes you think they suddenly will have money to buy BTC?

Sound attractive on the paper, but in reality not so much and rather not very convenient for everyday life. It smells a future flop.
It's like going to the bakery and being asked for your ID card if you want to pay in BTC. You can pay for the bread with BTC but not the cakes and pastries.

Well I think if they are not allowing any payments through bitcoin then it might be possible that they are having their own crypto coin.
They might be using this strategy to popularize their currency among their customers.  In this way the customers would buy that currency and would be able to purchase different items from the store.
This could be a great trick but it could also harm their sale if people started going to other store.

Not only you, many users especially gamblers, whose money came from sports betting or online casions do not like to share their personal Identity to 3rd party organizations.
Personally, I do not like to verify KYC. But Bitpay is good, they work as an escrow service, Sometimes we have to use such types of services.


They don't have to buy suddenly. Poor or rich everyone has a savings account to save money for the future, so they can buy Bitcoin occasionally instead of gathering money in a bank account.

It is an initiative, maybe it will develop more in the future and KYC requirements should be terminated for small purchases.
 

If you ask me I would say there are much more places where you can use your bitcoins to buy stuff some of them are online and easy to find and access for many people but others are offline and traditional shops where they use many possible methods to accept and allow using bitcoin for their clients because the huge demand from people who are looking to spend their bitcoins directly instead of exchange it to other currencies in the other hand this can be profitable for the marketplace to do not get tracked by the government and pay less tax to them.

I have always said that if someone wants to offer Bitcoin as a payment option, then they have to give some incentive to get people to pay with it. The 20% discount is a very good incentive for people to pay with Bitcoin, so adoption will grow very quickly.  ;)

I hope this will flow into adoption in other countries too, because El Salvador has sparked a new revolution ...and if they are successful.. then other countries will follow their example.  ;)

Elektra Mexico belongs to Ricardo Salinas (https://twitter.com/ricardobsalinas), whom, at least a year ago, was the second richest person in México (https://decrypt-co.translate.goog/es/48727/segundo-hombre-mas-rico-mexico-tiene-bitcoin?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es), and apparently had, at the time, 10% of his liquid portfolio (not total portfolio) invested BTC. That probably accounts for part of the motivation for accepting bitcoin at his stores.

The important thing though is to distinguish the promo from the form of payment per se. The promo does have some limits as mentioned previously on this thread, but I figure payment with bitcoin on any other item is less constricted (some products are off-limits to payments in BTC as per their TOS).

It is hardly worth agreeing that Bitcoin's transaction speed and transaction fees suit everyone. But the decision to accept bitcoin as payment for goods and services is one thing, but whether there will be many who want to pay with bitcoins is another. I would like to know how often citizens will pay with bitcoins in this trading establishment in Mexico. I think there will be few of them. After all, bitcoins are mainly bought in order to have a profit some time after the growth of their price.

Fortunately these are the few that would enjoy the good decisions they make today in the later feature and raise questions in the minds of other competitors on how they got to grow so fast in the space of few years. This is because, there is a possibility of hodling while the profit keeps multiplying as bitcoin appreciates.

It's  certainly some good news to every crypto enthusiast and Mexicans who are looking out for some way to spend there bitcoin and feel the currency vibe of it. Its cool, hopefully others would learn.

This is a really good news, and this shows the progress of the cryptocurrency community. At first it started with bigger institutions and companies, now it’s coming down to the smaller ones and the medium businesses. The adoption of Bitcoin keeps on spreading every time, and by next year the rate of adoption would be really huge. Just like someone pointed out in the forum the other time that by next year the adoption of Bitcoin is going to be about 1 billion people.

It is quite possible that we can achieve that with the rate at which the adoption is going. It's just spreading really fast, and if it should continue like this, then the rate of adoption should be very much higher by 2022. I really can’t wait to see the much progress.

One of the benefits of bitcoin is for transactions like this. interesting to know because not many countries have implemented it and of course it will help bitcoin to be better accepted by the public. that way, bitcoin will also develop better there. many countries have accepted bitcoin but they have not been able to use Bitcoin as a transaction like this. but after this it might be possible to follow it so that people are more familiar with bitcoin but indeed this is more focused on countries that can manage and use bitcoin well. whatever it is related to Bitcoin if it makes a good impact then I'm happy to see it.

Good initiative by them. They are aware that bitcoin has a huge potential to attract more users eventually. Giving a huge 20% discount on top of that means that they are actually serious about accepting bitcoin and wants more user to use it. I am sure more online stores and shops will eventually follow the same step.
They can use their own wallet. The fees right now is very reasonable and not that high at all. It would be totally worth it for them to pay the fees since they will be getting a huge 20% off. Would be an issue when the network gets congested, yeah. But I guess they will be adding more currencies soon.

THAT is the best incentive to convince HODLers/Bitcoin users to spend their coins. Because if it isn’t used as a censorship-resistant, peer to peer tool to buy Heroine from the Dark Markets, what’s the use? HODLing Bitcoin will be better, and use fiat where it can be used.

So, he invested in Bitcoin last year! very brave and yummy!! maybe this early bird is able to catch the right song of institutional investment.
Last year the height price of Bitcoin was $29K. MicroStrategy invested in August and then TESLA, after their announcement the price jumped to $29K in a sudden, many people thought $29K
is the limit of Bitcoin and max it can go $30k for a little while. But still, I can remember BTC has made new ATH in every week during Q4 of 2020 and Q1 of 2021. Investors at that time had passed a glorious moment.

Now we are in the exact same time when BTC was pumping last year. So, the expectation is high, maybe he guesses something that's why he open Bitcoin payment at his stores.

A great idea to force costumer to use bitcoin as well. Lol and for sure it will spread within the country wherein so on some stores will adopt  bitcoin because of that reason. that's what it is, i mean that's how the adoption start as it will become the common way when it come paying bills and etc. Big thumbs up to them.

How I wish we could all see that here in the Philippines and the rest of the world. I had envisioned that one day it’ll happen here in our country. There was a time before the pandemic began, I had proposed to my dad that we would accept crypto payments for his planned milk tea business. However, he was still skeptical and just stick to his own plan. However, the milk tea business he planned backfired due to various circumstances.

I don’t really wish to start my own small traditional business, but I really want to see these businesses like supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores to start accepting cryptocurrency payments here now and then.

I don't even believe in a rare case of bitcoin payment in a Mexican supermarket because bitcoin's current default function is no longer in the sense of payment, it is in the sense of future and investment, a user who owns bitcoins cannot be without such rudimentary updates and based on the theory that everyone knows what they are using, plus a greedy personality and aversion to losses, spending in the country's currency will have absolute frequency while bitcoin is kept at zero. Such a supermarket is just a marketing skill, bring noise in the community to gather consumers

Great to see more countries opening doors for bitcoin and now we have Mexico registering its support for cryptocurrencies which is a big thumbs up! Am just hoping that the government does not bring laws that will try to suppress this technology in the long term when people keep showing interest for bitcoin and other digital currencies.

This is really amazing. The 20% extra discount for BTC payments is what really excites me. They are basically encouraging people to use bitcoins which is indeed a good thing.
I wish I could get this offer at a store in my location. I would be more than happy to use bitcoin payments.


Although bitcoin is currently being used more like an investment to make profits it's main motive was to be used as a P2P payment method.
Keeping that in mind and having most of my money into crypto I would choose BTC to pay and receive the extra discount.
May be I would buy that particular amount of BTC back and be happy with the 20% discount.  ;D

This is how One day, the whole world will accept bitcoin. Everywhere we go, every grocery store, every payment section, we will see bitcoin payment options like our currency, and they will not ask for money; instead, they will simply say "please pay with bitcoin," or the customer may request the bitcoin QR code.And I believe that this will happen, guaranteed. We just have to wait for that day. I know it will take time, but it will happen. And the bitcoin price that day, you can't even imagine it.

Apparently, the idea is not to stop here. I’ve been going over a twitter thread of his on the topic (see https://twitter.com/RicardoBSalinas/status/1471563667439120384), and when being asked about payments using the Lightning Network, Salinas said that it’s planned for Q2 2022 (see https://twitter.com/p_n_rodriguez/status/1471566879902908416).

Salinas also answered affirmatively to a question regarding whether Elektra was going to hold BTC on their balance sheet (see https://twitter.com/Mgsmith4Smith/status/1471569767337054212 and https://twitter.com/CGDMedici/status/1471576030162956294).

Ahh cool,

That means Ricardo is planning to improve the Bitcoin payment system at his store for the long run.

As you said before, he invested 10% of his liquid portfolio to buy Bitcoin last year at this time, Q4 of 2020, right?

Now, I'm 100% sure Ricardo is guessing another mega bull run like Q4 of 2020. He is planning to open LN channel cause he truly wants to adopt Bitcoin payment gateway for both big & small purchases. I think those limitations about using promo will be reduced in the near future and they will open Bitcoin payments for all products in his store.

The bad mindset of some wanting bitcoin down just can't happen because the adoption keeps spreading and advancing. Bitcoin is undoubtedly too late to put a stop to.

Based on what I've read ^{[including your succeeding posts]}, once that promo ends, I don't think they'd be experiencing a significant number of BTCitcoin transactions in their chain stores!

Judging by your history, I have to mention there's a big difference between Ethereum fees and BTCitcoin fees: "See for yourself (https://mempool.space/)"

Cheeky little bastards!

I couldn't find an official statement, but on some websites, they've listed it's the result of a partnership:

e.g.

• Quote from: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2021/12/20/elektra-nexon-partners-with-bitpay-to-support-cryptocurrency-payments-on-their-platforms/
  Elektra is one of the biggest retail chains in Mexico, which recently partnered with BitPay to give its customers a choice of making payments in Bitcoin rather than fiat currencies.

---

You're not alone... It doesn't make much sense!

IIRC, back in the day, there was no KYC process for small orders, but sometime in the past few years, they decided it was needed ^{[in other words, I don't think that situation is going to improve]}!

Perhaps they have gotten smart and recognize that traditional currency is no longer of use to them? Mexico's inflation rate over the past year has increased pretty dramatically. It's nearing 8 percent at the current moment, and Mexico's economy is so dependent on the US, and the US isn't doing so great either with their currency or economy.

A 20 percent discount today will about pay itself off with BTC in merely a couple of years if the inflation in Mexico stays at what it is. And that's under the assumption BTC's price is now below what it is today in 2 years.

Almost every company that is into cryptocurrency acceptance is making it through a third party or a mid venture. Same is happening with the supermarket here, in most firms bitpay serves as the middle person.

The prime need for which bitcoin is being innovated isn't taken into account, but companies keep into account the changing trend and people's willing to use cryptocurrency. This is what makes more ventures accept crypto into business through some means than direct acceptance.

I think this development in the south american region is amazing- The region of South America is where governments are known to have been led off-course by CIA operations and having dictator governments installed, which have only been sucking money away from the people. Bitcoin is definitely a great way for the people to take back their own power and money.

But let's not get ahead of our selves here, this is just one store and it's in Mexico.

If this is a US based and big store, maybe it's enough to bring significant hype around it. But I don't think this is enough to push the price or even bring it closer to adoption though. It might take years to accomplished it and we need some big name stores to spear head, maybe like Amazon or some big retail stores in the US to bolsters Bitcoin image as payment scheme.

This is a simple strategy to beat the competition and stay ahead. And sometimes, beating the competition means being the first. And in this niche, they are certainly the first. When BTC gains wider approval, they're almost going to "control" a huge chunk of it. Well, let's see how it goes.

very good promotion, of course the euphoria of the people who shop will be increasingly crowded. If people in Mexico are familiar with bitcoin, it will be very easy to run it.
Adoption continues to grow and continues to receive attention.
but adoption must be done if the government allows it. Don't go against existing regulations. The 20% discount given will certainly add to the attraction for shopping using Bitcoin payments. Take advantage of the right moment.

This is going to be an interesting move to accept Bitcoin for this supermarket chain operator and one of the things that they are doing well is offering that discount of 20%. The point here is that for people to be using their BTC to purchase everyday items there must be an incentive for them to do so, otherwise many people can find hodling for speculation to be more attractive. Hope we can get back to this Elektra supermarket and see how much business they did with the use of Bitcoin because if this can be successful then other merchants can be following the same move.

Hopefully, this is going to be a win-win situation for us bitcoin enthusiast and for the supermarket itself. Imagine the hype in Mexico if people are going to realised what the supermarket is doing, giving discounts for them whenever they uses their precious BTC.

Not sure how big bitcoin is in Mexico, and maybe this will really push it there and who knows they can be the next government after El Salvador to totally accept bitcoin as legal tender in the next coming years.

That's really interesting to see big super market chains accepting bitcoin as payment part from customers and you could directly pay through bitpay and have your groceries delivered to you with ease.Most important part is people also liking it in Mexico and they have branches all around which could boost their sales even further with additional discount offering as part of this new addition.Few months back I heard wallmart installing btc ATM's at some locations and many more stores are accepting bitcoin at this time which is clear sign to increased adoption.

Using third party payment processor actually serves both party needs like customer can pay through bitcoin and the seller will receive fiat from them through bitpay but still it initiate btc transactions and adoption among people which is most important part.

This is very good that Mexico is joining through the markets and supermarkets to accept BTC, for its part in Venezuela they are also doing their part, there is a chain of stores called TRAKI where they accept payments in BTC, USDT, TRX, and This brings very good development because an economy is being exploited that for many is not tangible, and that few understand, however, I think that those who accept Crypto should not pay taxes to governments, because for that reason BTC was created, In the case of Venezuela, what is regulated is the mining activity and that because the energy from electric fluid is very cheap.

Because we, (companies included) use cryptocurrencies, it doesn't mean we shouldn't pay taxes. In this case, it would be too easy and nobody would pay any. "Hey guys, everyone should use crypto, so no more taxes. Yahoo!" You can't run a country like this and that's a crazy idea.
People are funny, they want the best infrastructures, best hospitals, free schools, and all the socialist stuff, etc but don't want to pay any cent in taxes. It could be possible if the money comes from the sky but that's not the case.

And NO, I don't know from where you got this idea but Bitcoin wasn't created to allow people to not pay taxes. I challenge you to find any post from Satoshi where he is talking about such.
There is a difference between a digital currency and its decentralization, and your duties as a citizen

this is still a big question mark in me, as far as I know Mexico is not very friendly to bitcoin but why do they allow a supermarket located in their country to accept payments with bitcoin. hopefully with this news, a domino effect occurs, all businesses in mexico are willing to accept payments with bitcoin.

I’ve read a couple of times on this thread that Bitpay requires KYC, but I’ve also read elsewhere that this happens when the purchase is for a value of over 3K$ (or a refund of >= 1K$). This article (https://www-xataka-com-mx.translate.goog/criptomonedas/elektra-se-convierte-primera-tienda-linea-mexico-que-acepta-bitcoin-todo-que-hay-que-saber-como-funciona?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es) describes the purchasing process, and there is no KYC implied. Nevertheless, bitcoin payment seems to be only available through the store’s website, not in person (as far as I can see), so you’re basically going to provide most of the KYC information to the store as it is (Bitpay will keep at least the email, IP and browser info and email it seems: https://bitpay.com/about/privacy/).

Note: This article (https://www-xataka-com-mx.translate.goog/criptomonedas/elektra-se-convierte-primera-tienda-linea-mexico-que-acepta-bitcoin-todo-que-hay-que-saber-como-funciona?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es) includes some explanation as to how Elektra is managing to accept bitcoin as a payment method in the country (by shifting the legal responsibility over to Bitpay, which I figure is part of the legal deal here).

So even if we say, they don't require KYC, you are still providing some of your details like your name & shipping address because you are purchasing online. I thought at first, you can directly pay in the supermarket. But I can understand if they will integrate btc in online purchase because some merchants are indeed starting to include btc in online payment via third partly like bitpay.

However, I hope bitpay is charging reasonable fee here. Because last time that I was supposed to pay my domain site via bitpay, the fee was quite expensive so I just used my debit card instead.

It's strange that I don't see many users of this forum claiming to be from Mexico, will it be that Mexico has a large bitcoin community so that there is enough demand for this supermarket to have accepted bitcoin as a payment method. I would like to hear if anyone knows if after this news there were many people who bought things in this supermarket using bitcoin?

If you use a third party for bitcoin payments like bitpay, it will be costly because companies like bitpay will charge you extra cost. The best way is to integrate the bitcoin lightening network into the payment system.
As far as kyc is concerned, its not a big deal, why would you like to hide your identity if you are just buying your grocery from bitcoin and bitcoin is not illegal in your country. 

Well, for me its not surprising as many have started to be aware about bitcoin and i think Mexican people are now engaged in bitcoin since their own supermarket has started to accept bitcoin as a mode of payment. This is a definitely a great strategy to promote bitcoin not just for Mexico alone but also for its neighboring countries. If this promotion will succeed, i think in the next months other big countries might also open their doors for bitcoin and get involve with bitcoin as a legal currency that can be a good payment system.

This is refreshing to see that the market accepts BTC in the wallet that I primarily use. Though I do not have any plans on visiting Mexico anytime soon, this move may soon inspire other markets to integrate this idea and accept cryptocurrencies as a form of alternative currency to their products/services.

Unlike any other local wallet/exchanges, I do think that BitPay offers convenience and reliable transfer fees. Unlike the local exchange that I use to keep my other BTCs, the fees are absurdly high which somehow demotivates me to use it without any incentive providing on their part to us.

This is interesting see super market allow payment in bitcoin which will also influence other people to do likewise. The rate at which people are adopting Bitcoin these days is surprising  and I know in the main time, many will start adapting to bitcoin method of payment.

There's no point hiding your identity when only buying grocery items but the problem here is when they found out you have some huge amount of BTC in your main wallet. that will cause some serious problems to others especially those residing in less protected countries where criminals can hire some policemen to raid your home and plant some evidence just to extract those BTC from you. It's best to have multiple wallets and do things right to avoid such kinds of problems in the future because when you are transparrent someone is always watching you.

Same question in my part here mate, do mexican really a Bitcoin supporting people as a Supermarket can adopt accepting bitcoin as payment? because if not then the main purpose of this Supermarket is for the people to at least have knowledge for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies of course.
if this thing happen in my country? then surely i will be a weekly user of bitcoin because i wanted to live cashless and bitcoin will help me achieve this .

It's a courageous move from this establishment to offer a promotional discount to their shoppers by using bitcoin as their payment option. A 20% discount is a huge discount especially if the buyer has a large total of shopping value. I wonder what were the terms and conditions they have set. Maybe there is some sort of capped and minimum spend for this promotion because if there isn't any, I think they will have losses instead of gains. Considering the amount a person can save by paying with bitcoin, they will shoulder it if it wasn't implemented right. So I suppose they have thought thoroughly and calculated already the possible margin of profit and losses before doing this because the duration of the campaign is also quite long.

This kind of action done by small enterprises and establishments will definitely create a ripple effect just like how it started from El Salvador accepting bitcoin as payment and eventually making it legally as their legal tender. I've read that the transaction fees were really negligible and it was a good thing because they won't have to spend a large amount of money over a processing fee unlike before and in other platforms wherein the transactions fees are high and such a pain in someone's pocket. In addition, by doing the promotional campaign, people would be curious about bitcoin which could make them search about it and use it themselves. I hope there would be more and more countries and businesses that would be open about the idea of giving their customers an option to pay in crypto. This could create a positive effect on their citizens and their economy in general, most especially if done continually.

Even if that is good news for adopting bitcoin, it needs time to make people use bitcoin to buy in the supermarket. I think they still prefer to use fiat money as usual, especially for people who do not know Bitcoin. But yes, it can increase people's curiosity about bitcoin, especially if there are advertisements about how to use bitcoin in a local store. The adopting of bitcoin will continue and grow as soon as possible, especially if that supermarket can give a discount for people who use bitcoin.

It's another case, but yes, it will not be safe if you are residing in a place where securities is not that good.

Once criminals realize that you are holding a huge amount of money into crypto, they will chase you. It's always best to have
additional wallet to secure your fund.

You are protecting not just yourself but your investment, too. Good to see that there's an initiative with OP's post.

Wow, supermarket accepting bitcoin as payment plus 20% discount looks amazing! That is the perfect incentive to people start adopting bitcoin or for those who are adopters already to start using their coins! I congratulate group Elektra for the initiative!

I wished something similar disponible in my country. I dream about paying for my supermarket daily expenses with bitcoin, especially if there is a generous discount involved.

After reading these news I'm hopeful this measure is going to be reproduced by supermarkets companies from another countries as well (mine included).

I don't really know the situation around regulations for Bitcoin and cryptos in the country where Elektra supermarket but I feel like it is crypto-friendly and that's why they can accept Bitcoin for payments. So it would take a while before other countries follow suit as the regulatory situation for Bitcoin becomes clearer. In my country, commercial banks are authorized to close accounts that indulge in crypto not to talk about a business accepting bitcoin as payment for goods.

I have doubt that the owner of that supermarket is also a crypto enthusiast or Bitcoin holder who is inspired by holding Bitcoin.  Because if not, that is quite hard because people should understand how the price will fluctuate and how it will have an effect if they are holding Bitcoin and suddenly dump.

Adopting Bitcoin now was continuously spreading and there are more institutions, companies, and individual investors.  I didn't surprise if one day, there will be someone who follow that sage.  Bitcoin is very useful, not only storing value and Mexico was proved that using it's also good upon making transactions.

Most likely, the supermarket owner is crypto enthusiast and knows the real value of bitcoin will become bigger as years go by. So the promotion will definitely help for its fast adoption as people will be more curious about bitcoin and how to own and use it for good. Although fiat will not be totally replace by it, but it will develop more awareness on the people and once they will start using it, they'll probably use it again because of its convenience and very fast transaction.

We've all been using fiat for too long in our day-to-day transactions, so I agree with you, it still takes time for people to want to use Bitcoin as payment.
It is possible that more people still choose to use fiat than Bitcoin. At least the supermarket did a very good thing by giving a 20% discount if using Bitcoin,
that's a pretty interesting promotion so that more people are interested in using Bitcoin and hopefully the promotion goes well. It's a good start if there
are supermarkets that accept Bitcoin payments, at least this makes the adoption process even more improved. Positive things like this are very necessary
and can make Bitcoin more popular, then more and more people will start to be interested in learning Bitcoin. Because we know there are still very
many people in this world who don't know Bitcoin.

It's quite understandable and acknowledgeable that many institute will adventure into cryptocurrency and also accept their the uses of it, the massive adoption of cryptocurrencies is making all business sector to embrace exchanges of goods and services with cryptocurrency and more especially bitcoin, i believe that since a super market in Mexico can run shopping wiy Bitcoin for transaction and rumors Carrie's around other potential and capable supermarket will also follow their finger print.

Good news.

Fees in transferring isn't that much so it's really an ideal move that they've made. We wish that there will be more supermarkets that will do the same for this year.

Especially those that are very popular, they've got nothing to lose since they'll just have to use a third party service which will convert bitcoin's paid to them.

Indeed a good news and I think that introduction of bitcoin as a means of transaction to the market is the best thing to do because when people adapt, they will eventually get used to using bitcoin or any other crypto for buying or selling goods and then when that happens, it gets adopted easily and even with the government trying to fight it, people will defend it as they're familiarized to it already.

Maybe the owner is a crypto user but not a crypto enthusiast because if he is a crypto enthusiast, he will suggest his employee have a crypto investment. He can start a workshop to introduce bitcoin to his employee first and then people around his circle and then begin to accept bitcoin for his business. Most people can not yet accept the volatility of bitcoin price and most likely, they will use bitcoin as their investment instead of using it as a payment system.

It will be more good news if those people can use bitcoin for both ways, payment system and investment system because that means bitcoin will spread among them and their circle. Yes, the adoption of Bitcoin has now become fast compared to a few years ago because of the impact of the bitcoin price itself. So people see bitcoin as a new way to them.

Indeed. With many promotions about bitcoin, that will make people realize that they now have a different payment system besides the existing payment that they already used before, which can also work as their investment. But still, it needs more introduce to those people to open their mind because it will not easy if they already used the usual way for years. Giving a discount can attract them to have a curiosity about what is bitcoin, so we hope that the Supermarket has a place for people who want to know more about bitcoin. It will help them understand how bitcoin works and what benefits they can get from it.

This really sounds great! Hopefully in the coming years bitcoin will be accepted around the globe by all countries.

so basically this is just a pilot store? because since they have plenty of young stores in time they may adopted the same concept for the following stores?

this is great to know and i will always respect such decision , now we can see more example for other countries and business to adopt if this proven to be worth a try and conduct.
surely this will mate , because the world is now adopting electronic payments and bitcoin or crypto is the best for this one .

More good news in the business arena is happening relative to bitcoin. Here it has provided with the year end offer of 20% on paying with bitcoin. Now as the new year have begun this offer might've ended. Possibly there'll be new offers for now. The initiative taken to increase the usage of bitcoin on daily life is really appreciable. Maybe someday the supermarket will start accepting bitcoin directly than using mediums like bitpay.

Walmart have installed more bitcoin ATMs around to increase the adoption of bitcoin.

This is definitely one of the good news that everyone wanted to know. I know this kind of news or information is kind of rare as of now because crypto is struggling to enter legal adoption in many countries that's why hearing or reading this kind of news boost up the potential that sooner or later we will gonna experience also to pay our bills in a grocery store with the use of our crypto assets. I am very optimistic that there will be more good news to come in crypto and I can't wait every good news to unfold.

Yeah right, with news like this and a good social hype will allow crypto to gain more interest from the business sectors.

We all waited for this time to come true as paying our groceries using our crypto is really a big achievement for crypto lovers
it a good sign that progress within this industry is really developing for more.

I like this to take place from where I live. So far it's just an online process indirectly that I can process, but hopefully
the soonest it will be adopted..

This is very good news for us.i hope many good news will come soon in crypto area.I hope the supermarket will be accept in bitcoin in directly payment in future.Bitcoin is most popular and most valuable coin in crypto market right now.I think evry coin depends on bitcoin price. I think that is wonderful process.

this shows that bitcoin is starting to be accepted by various groups, although it has not yet been fully realized, of course, for a perfect adoption process, a very long process is needed, but what is one supermarket in Mexico doing about purchasing transactions using bitcoin in one of these supermarkets.this is an extraordinary thing considering that currently bitcoin is in dire need of adoption, for example, as happened today with the acceptance of bitcoin as a transaction at the supermarket, we hope that this can run in the long term

one positive thing for the development of bitcoin, hopefully at another time other countries can follow in the footsteps of mexico and elsavador for payment problems that can be done with bitcoin, through bitpay or something else

When I said that Mexico is probably one of the next countries to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, I got laughed at. Well, not really laughed at but rather scoffed at....
If a supermarket can offer Bitcoin as a payment choice, and has absolutely to face zero legal repercussions, then thats a very good sign. And I think we will be seeing a very nice spread. This might be the 100k event we have been waiting for.

That being said, 20% bonus? That seems like a bit of overkill. Can they really afford such a large rebate for their business? Well, whatever. It definitely will make more bitcoiners. Win win.

Yeah, it’s really nice to see a store that is accepting Bitcoin as a payment, as it is not every store that would be able to accept Bitcoin as a payment method because they know how hard it would likely be for them to be able to accept Bitcoin even after its existence for more than a decade.

I mean it’s not an easy thing to do because the volatile nature of Bitcoin is not easy to handle when you’re accepting it as a payment method from your customers, when you are not even sure about where the market would be going to next, and you don’t know if it would go down or up. So, it’s really good to see that there are so many businesses ready for it.

Really, is this for real? I mean, wow this is one of the achievements that the community of bitcoin in Mexico should be glad and in fact this is what I am looking forward too here in my country which I don't know if it would be possible in near future because our government bodies are still don't open for the possibility of legally adopted bitcoin as a legal tender. Truly, it is so good to know that despite of many negative news about crypto reading this kind of news can boost up the possibility that soon the world may adopt bitcoin wide arms.

This is a vision which satoshi has given us that world should have a global currecny that is bitcoin. It is just a matter of time when everyone will think like this.


This is another good news for the bitcoin lovers. Every now and then, we hear the bitcoin being used in shops and restaurants and this number is increasing every day. Currently bitcoin transcation time is a bit slow but with theintroduction of lighting network, this hindrance will be resolved also.

Yup, the same is happening in a big chain of supermarkets (the biggest actually) in my country. But as I wrote in some other post on the forum, I always saw, and have seen people more knowledgeable than I refer to BTC as a store of value, more in line with gold. So As I see it, more people think of BTC as a long-term investment they don't want to touch. What would be a better option is allowing crypto payments in general (not all coins, just the biggest alt's). That way people would maybe treat does coin as a day-to-day exchanging option and just leave BTC to accumulate value as an investment. maybe ETH could be the one to break out that first barrier and then the rest would follow.

We will hear more and more news about Bitcoin adoption, because the popularity of Bitcoin continues to increase, especially after El Salvador legalized
Bitcoin as a legal tender. Like giving some merchants the courage to accept Bitcoin payments, I have heard of several shops, hotels and restaurants
adopting Bitcoin. Now there are supermarkets that accept Bitcoin payments, of course will have a positive impact on Bitcoin. But unfortunately there are
still many countries that prohibit using Bitcoin as a means of payment, this prevents the Bitcoin adoption process from growing faster. I hope that
in the future the majority of countries in the world will allow Bitcoin as a payment alternative, if that happens, many big companies will start adopting Bitcoin.

Well, those who keep up with the times always win. If all competitors are still thinking about it, then someone is already implementing and getting additional profit not only from new customers, but also because the news itself has a good chance to increase demand in this supermarket! Until this becomes a mass phenomenon, those who are the first in their industries to be able to prepare such options for paying for goods and services will certainly defeat their competitors in the market!

Of course today Many people want to use Bitcoin as a means of payment. But it seems to me that we should consider Bitcoin first of all as a protective asset for our savings, as well as a very expensive asset for accumulating our savings. but cryptocurrencies such as CRATD2C, and others, will be used in everyday life, not only as a means of payment, but also to facilitate business.

But, let's not forget that there are also people that hoard top alts more than they hoard bitcoin because top alts do also have a potential and they also follow the move of btc, when btc move up, so as them. You better say that they will add the altcoins that are not really that important such as meme coins like doge and shib because people wont mind spending lots of them as their future is not that bright enough.

Having an altcoins or tokens as a payment method is better than btc because another thing that stops people from using their btc is because of the high transaction fees and also the slow processing of the transactions.

it is a very good thing where a supermarket in Mexico accepts bitcoin as a means of buying and selling transactions at the supermarket, we hope that acceptance of these transactions can continue in the long term considering that currently bitcoin really needs an adoption process or a transaction like that, we really I hope that the transactions carried out by the supermarket can at least make bitcoin better, especially in the process that bitcoin prices can return to being stable as before

Mexico is one country that still refuses to use bitcoin as a legal payment in that country, because as far as I remember June 2021, the richest person in Mexico Ricardo Salinas who is the owner of Banco Azteca wants to create the first bank that accepts cryptocurrency in Mexico, but it seems that Ricardo Salinas desire get a strong rejection from the financial authorities and also the mexican government, and I think from this refusal it seems that Ricardo Salinas will stop his desire to see bitcoin adoption in mexico, to be honest I'm very surprised apparently Ricardo Salinas still wants to develop the use of bitcoin in mexico, by accepting payment for goods using bitcoin at one of its retail businesses, namely elektra.

Source :
1. https://twitter.com/RicardoBSalinas/status/1409048815722696708?t=VJ0cXSjbXWcOWLs3rRS6Mw&s
2. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/06/28/mexican-billionaire-salinas-says-he-wants-to-give-his-bank-clients-access-to-bitcoin.html

The good thing about Bitcoin is that it can be used as a store of value and also as a currency and medium of exchange.

I do not live in Mexico, but if the mentioned super store is a big one then it is a very good thing. I am sure by this announcement, the sale of this super market will increase and the other stores in Mexico may follow the same and allow bitcoins as a payment gateway.

I think a lot of other businesses will jump onto that bandwagon sooner or later. Considering how popular cryptos are, it is likely a matter of time.

If one business receives good numbers of users, it will affect other store to start embracing and adopting this system.

Like what you have said, the good thing here is there are other ways to use your Bitcoin aside from store of value
we can see adoptions and interest from institutional investors and businesses.

We might see more places to use this chain and be friendly with other valued cryptocurrencies..

Well --it will be fascinating to see if bitcoin can be utilized for everyday purchases. I wonder how Mexico implements bitcoin payments in their country and how it works. I hope that it will gradually become possible in various parts of the world, causing people to become more intrigued and will learn to adopt it. It's a fantastic step forward, and I'm hoping for a great outcome it could be the same in El Salvador that regulates bitcoin.
However, this could be a great step forward.

That's right, bitcoin does need to continue to be given trust in any transaction needs in any form so that it can make trust in bitcoin continue to grow. because with many institutions or anything willing to accept payments with bitcoin, the level of trust will increasingly be able to make every investor excited again to save their funds in bitcoin. so there is a tradeoff to be received from this state of affairs for bitcoin.

It seems that Elektra is not going to be the only shopping center to accept bitcoin in Mexico: Gicsa Group has announced an Alliance with Bitso to extend the possibility of the locals to make payments with bitcoin, using Bitso Transfer.

They’re starting small, applying from tomorrow onwards to the Go Karts tracks of four shopping centers within the country, but plan on expanding the payment method to other businesses within these centers, and the scope of stores.

I’m still not sure if this is going to require the customers to make mandatory use of Bitso Transfer for BTC payments (I figure so, but still I’m not 100% certain), and it would be a shame if it payments with BTC were to be delimited in this manner. I guess we’ll see more on the matter in days to come ...

See: https://www-sentidocomun-com-mx.translate.goog/articulo.phtml?id=105651&_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=wapp

When I tell people that Mexico is one of the next Bitcoin legalizers, then people start scoffing and rolling their eyes at me. But here we are, with definite proof that Mexico is headed towards a Bitcoin filled future. And the more people in Mexico adopt Bitcoin and start spreading the word about Bitcoin, the sooner that bright future will arrive. 100k is now a bearish estimate for 2022.

Lets go Bitcoin! ;D