“Hey, I’d like to buy some Bitcoin.”
“Sure, Sir, how much would you like?”
That’s how a conversation in a 7-Eleven in the Philippines would go now that every 7-Eleven in the country sells Bitcoin. For cash. For real.
This is all down to Abra, the popular cryptocurrency investment app, selling crypto for cash in around 6,000 retail outlets in the Philippines, including all 7-Eleven outlets. According to their announcement, Abra has partnered with ECPay, the nation’s top electronic payment processor, to bring this service to the masses.
While the world keeps fretting over the fickle nature of the Bitcoin price, major strides are being made in the far east.
“Using new digital tools that open up financial access shouldn’t be hard,” Abra said in their announcement. “And they shouldn’t be complicated. Moving cash to crypto and other digital assets should be simple and fast.”
The Philippines boasts of a crypto-friendly central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which has already granted permits to 13 exchanges in the country. This new development aims to facilitate the growth of a budding crypto-community in the Pearl of the Orient.
Anyone with an Abra wallet in the Philippines just has to walk into a 7-Eleven and head over to the CLIQQ kiosk or have the CLIQQ app installed on their smartphone. The buyer then can deposit a minimum of PHP500 and a maximum of PHP100,000 daily in their Abra wallet. The transaction comes with a 2% fee.
Once it’s confirmed, the buyer has to print a receipt and walk over to the cashier to complete the transaction. In 1-2 business days, cash will be added to their Abra wallet, which they can then use to invest in any of the crypto assets Abra supports.
Buying cryptocurrency in the Philippines is as simple as that. This may kickstart the wider adoption of crypto all around the world. Or so we hope.
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