Bitcoin has become the talk of the town as the flagship cryptocurrency has smashed past $50,000. The growing demand for bitcoin has also seen it being used as a means of payment and the private sector has always been ahead in this regard. According to recent reports, some residents of Portugal will now be able to pay for electricity in Bitcoin starting from February.
Luzboa, a small energy trading company in Portugal, is set to start accepting Bitcoin as payment for electricity according to a recent announcement from company president Pedro Morais Leitão. The news was shared with Portuguese publication Expresso on Wednesday, and the new payment option would be available this month.
Per the executive, the energy company is developing a Bitcoin wallet which will be released in the coming days. This wallet will allow residents to pay for electricity under a new payment system known as “Bit Spot.” Leitão continued that the firm plans on instantly converting the Bitcoin into euros to protect its business from unstable prices.
“We are aware of currency volatility, but we are prepared to take some risk,” he said.
He went on to explain that the main motive behind this move is to “capture a niche market” rather than making its customers move into Bitcoin payments.
“There is a new generation with an interest in cryptocurrencies. We are looking to give an opportunity to use new means of payment,” he added.
Luzboa is headquartered in Viseu, a city in the Centro Region of Portugal. The company has approximately 5,000 residential customers. The company is backed by Nexus Energía Group, the fifth-largest independent energy company in Spain and the largest shareholder of Luzboa.
Meanwhile, Portugal is on its way to becoming a crypto-friendly nation with zero taxes for crypto traders and miners. The nation has seen several crypto businesses set up shop ever since the Portuguese finance minister announced back in 2017, that retail trades of Bitcoin were not taxable.
Bitcoin adoption grows
Bitcoin on the other hand continues to draw in institutional money. As The Daily Chain recently reported, financial advisory and investment giant, The Motley Fool, became the latest to announce plans to invest in BTC.
The news comes a week after Tesla announced a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin, and a day after Microstrategy increased $1 billion in BTC by $690 million.
