Putting Bitcoin into the hands of as many as possible is the right way forward, but there are a lot of challenges ahead. In the Western world, Bitcoin users have been somewhat spoiled thanks to overwhelming support from merchants and businesses. But over in Asia, and more particularly Vietnam, the Bitcoin landscape is vastly different. A recent partnership between Coinify and Bitcoin Vietnam brings the country’s first digital currency payment processing platform to Vietnamese users.
Coinify and Bitcoin Vietnam Join Forces
Bringing digital currency payments to the masses is one thing, but finding a business willing to accept and process Bitcoin transactions, is a completely different matter. Up until this point, there was no way for any company to process Bitcoin payments through a local platform. That situation has come to change, thanks to a collaboration between Bitcoin Vietnam and Coinify.
With the country’s first Bitcoin exchange and the leader in blockchain merchant processing teaming up, good things are bound to happen sooner or later. Maturing the Bitcoin ecosystem in developing markets is of great value to the digital currency community, and there seems to be a growing demand for these services in Vietnam.
Coinify ApS CEO Mark Hojgaard stated:
“Bitcoin Vietnam has, as the first mover in Vietnam, paved the path for bitcoin adoption via the brokerage, exchange and remittance solutions they offer to Vietnamese people living within and outside the country. We are happy to join this dynamic company in strengthening the existing infrastructure and provide the Vietnamese market with professional blockchain payment processing.”
The newly formed partnership between both entities will see the rollout of blockchain payment processing solutions for merchants in the form of a multi-stage approach. Coinify allows Vietnamese merchants to receive payments in either Bitcoin or any of the other 16 support digital currencies, which will then be converted to Vietnamese Dong. Coinify also guarantees all of the collected payments will be paid out on a regular basis, once the minimum threshold has been reached.
Not only will this allow Vietnamese merchants to offer more versatile payment options to their [potential] customers, but they will also be able to reduce fraud risks. Unlike its credit card counterpart, Bitcoin transactions can not be charged back, eliminating any payment risk for the merchant in question.
Integrating this new blockchain payment processing solution can be done through a custom API, and there will also be dedicated plugins for internet shops. Retailers who prefer to use a point of sale device will be able to accept digital currency payments as well, thanks to a custom tailored application that will suit the needs of individual brick-and-mortar businesses.
A Big Step Forward For Legitimizing Digital Currency
It goes without saying the efforts made by Coinify and Bitcoin Vietnam will help put Bitcoin on the map. There are still a lot of consumers who are wary of digital currency in general, and efforts like these will hopefully change that situation. Furthermore, Bitcoin offers a viable alternative to a legacy system that can not satisfy the needs of consumer sin Vietnam these days.
Bitcoin Vietnam CEO Nguyen Tran Bao Phuong explained it as follows:
“The spillover effects of international cooperation and mutual exchange of knowledge will allow the domestic industry to grow and prosper along this way; paving the path for further international integration of the Vietnamese economy. We believe, that this is a great – and necessary step forward for the development of the domestic market to provide Vietnamese merchants direct access to such technological topnotch solutions which will help them to accept payments in a much safer way while opening up their services to a truly global audience.”
Bringing trust to the Bitcoin startup scene in Vietnam is a key element of gaining more momentum for digital currency startups. As more countries create their solutions to process this type of payment – both online and in-store – it seems to be only a matter of time until Bitcoin becomes a mainstream payment method.
Source: Finextra
