Ukraine’s Two Largest Tech Retailers Now Accept Bitcoin

August 20, 2022 12:27 pm Comments

The two largest tech retailers in Ukraine, Techno Їzhak and Stylus, just revealed that they would now be accepting Bitcoin as payment for their goods and services.

The two retailers are using a service called Whitepay which serves as the infrastructure that enables the transactions between the customers and the merchants.

With these two giant retailers on board, there are now around over 100 locations in the country that accept Bitcoin which greatly increases mainstream adoption once again.

Interest in digital assets in Ukraine as always been quite high, but demand for such crypto services have skyrockted ever since the start of the Russian-Ukraine conflict.

BitcoinMagazine reports:

Ukrainian interest and commercial use for bitcoin has grown substantially in the wake of the Russian invasion. Previously, the country’s president signed a “On Virtual Currency” bill into law providing a legal framework outlook for bitcoin to function in the economy since legislation prevented the government from accepting bitcoin donations at that time.

The signing of the bill followed an increased demand for bitcoin’s use as a daily currency which was prompted by the influx of bitcoin donations being sent to military aid groups.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister for digital transformation, recently announced that $54 million of aid provided through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was used to provide the intended military support.

Since Whitepay is the service that enables the payments, customers will also be able to use many other digital currencies that are also supported as well.

The company says that it plans to expand the list of digital assets in the future as many Ukraine citizens now utilize digital assets fairly frequently.

In fact, the country has been relying on crypto donations in order to finance defense and government operations which shows how critical crypto is now for the region.

With more adoption underway, it would mean more utility for digital assets like XRP and XLM as they continue to be used as the method of transaction for many businesses.

Bitcoin.com concludes:

Ukrainian crypto holders will be able to pay with digital assets through the appropriate forms at the online stores, or at physical locations through special point of sale (POS) terminals installed by Whitepay. The payment processor will maintain the system and provide customer support.

The Estonia-headquartered Whitebit, a major European crypto exchange originating from Ukraine, has been a participant in such efforts.

Earlier this year, the trading platform signed a memorandum of cooperation with the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide assistance to its Anti-Crisis Center and support Ukrainian refugees through its representative offices abroad.

Other crypto companies have also offered help. The world’s largest digital asset exchange by daily trading volume, Binance, issued a special crypto card for Ukrainians forced to leave their homes behind due to the ongoing military conflict with Russia.

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