Cryptocurrencies are fast entering mainstream acceptance and daily use.
Elon Musk led the charge – or at least garnered the most headlines – last year when he announced Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) would accept Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) as payment for its EVs. It was a move he temporarily suspended amid concerns over the massive carbon footprint from mining the world's biggest crypto by market cap.
Since then, Musk has been joined by a growing list of major companies eager to welcome customers looking to pay with digital tokens.
Petrol, tobacco and lunch for your cryptos
As reported by The Australian, OTR petrol stations and convenience stores will accept cryptos for payment beginning in July.
OTR, a subsidiary of Peregrine Corporation, has more than 160 outlets across South Australia and Victoria. Peregrine Corporation also will begin accepting digital assets for payment at its C Coffee, Subway, Oporto, Wokinabox, Smokemart, and Giftbox stores.
How it all works
Crypto.com and DataMesh are working with Peregrine to install point of sale terminals able to process payment in cryptos across the company's network. The terminals will convert the digital asset payments into Aussie dollars at the time of sale. That will eliminate much of the volatility risk inherent with the likes of Bitcoin.
Commenting on the decision, Peregrine's executive chairman Yasser Shahin said (as quoted by The Australian):
The growth and mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency adoption in Australia and the rest of the world has been phenomenal, and has offered us a clear opportunity to tap into the momentum of this fast-growing space for the benefit of our customers.
Crypto.com's local general manager Karl Mohan added that other Aussie retailers are also interested in rolling out the option of digital asset payments to their customers. "This is mainstream now, no longer in the fringes," Mohan said.
Indeed, a survey published by Crypto.com in February indicated that 60% of merchants are interested in accepting cryptos as payment over the coming year, while only 4% currently have that capacity.
As for customers, 40% of respondents said they're already using cryptos for transactions with 60% planning to do so over the next year.
