A supermarket in Mexico now allows Bitcoin payments for all their items

[Woodie]

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.

[pawanjain]

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.

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

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. 

[Imran232]

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.

[DdmrDdmr]

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).

[Minor Miner]

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.

[Bollexz1]

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.

[SFR10]

as they offer a 20% discount when paying with it (until end of the year).

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!

Howver, my concern is what might actually discourage people is the transaction fees in doing these payments.

Judging by your history, I have to mention there's a big difference between Ethereum fees and BTCitcoin fees: "See for yourself"

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

Cheeky little bastards!

but is this some sort of partnership with Bitpay and the supermarket?

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

e.g.

• 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.

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?

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

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

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]}!

[Gyfts]

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.

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.

[romero121]

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.

[goldkingcoiner]

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.

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.

[Kemarit]

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.

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.

[Davidvictorson]

Elektra supermarket 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):



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.

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.

[AakZaki]

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.

[DapanasFruit]

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.

[Jating]

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.

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.

[worle1bm]

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.

[LUCKMCFLY]

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.

[LeGaulois]

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

[Sirait]

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 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.

[DdmrDdmr]

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 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 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).