By George Ward
The adoption of Bitcoin in Guatemala is on the rise. Popular companies like Ibex and Osmo spearhead the trend in the Central American nation adjacent to El Salvador. Furthermore, various Bitcoin-inspired projects like Bitcoin Lake have sprung up in the country.
Osmo Wallet recently launched a merchant adoption competition that offered free BTC tattoos. Steven Marroquin, the proprietor of Soul’s Anchor, and Piero Coen, Osmo Wallet’s co-founder, commented on the trend in a recent interview.
Coen proposed a mission to increase the usage of Bitcoin. One such proposal would be a competition among merchants to find the one who would process a tremendous volume of Bitcoin sales in 2022.
As it turned out, Soul’s Anchor Tattoo Shop in Guatemala City, which had started accepting BTC payments in October, won the competition. Coen and his team offered customers free Bitcoin tattoos to boost the nation’s BTC adoption.
The move was an instant hit, with all slots filling up in hours. Guatemalan Bitcoin advocates and other Bitcoin advocates from nearby regions flowed into the shop to get their preferred Bitcoin memes, statement, or work of art imprinted onto their bodies.
Accepting BTC Payments Is Driving Adoption
Marroquin said, “it’s been around seven months since we started accepting BTC payments, and we get two to three clients monthly. Even though the amount we receive in BTC is about 1% of our earnings, we are glad to accept payments with the digital asset.”
Coen notes that “It’s still super early” for a broader Bitcoin adoption among Guatemalans.” He says, “most entrepreneurs are uncertain about accepting and holding onto the leading digital asset because of its instability.”
However, retailers can avoid BTC’s volatility by converting their BTCs to fiat currencies or stablecoins using local crypto exchanges.
Bitcoin’s use as a payment settlement is increasing, and Coen is confident it will remain so for the long term. According to him, “Bitcoin adoption in Guatemala is growing daily. We see more people getting involved, educating themselves, and accumulating more.”
Growing BTC Adoption Among Guatemalans
Rikki and Laura, the famous Bitcoin Hiking pair who spent 45 days in El Salvador, where BTC is a legal tender, recently visited Guatemala and noticed a growing cryptocurrency adoption among residents.
Rikki remarked that people are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about Bitcoin, and the number of people accumulating the crypto is rising. He also remarked that the incentive to adopt Bitcoin is high since it enables businesses to save over 50% on transaction costs compared to credit cards.
Rikki highlighted the efforts of Guatemalan-based companies like Ibex and Osmo to raise awareness about Bitcoin technology. During their visit, the couple also encountered a local mayor mining Bitcoin in his office as part of Bitcoin Lake – a beach-style community project.
This inspired them to get their Bitcoin tattoos as a promotional gesture. Bitcoin tattoos are becoming increasingly popular among crypto advocates as they look to brand themselves with their preferred currency.
However, the risks involved deserve to be noticed. Mike Novogratz, the Galaxy Digital founder, is a reference example, having had to endure the humiliation of having a Terra (LUNA) tattoo. However, the network, alongside its native token and algorithmic stablecoin, collapsed in 2022, with the tokens losing 99% of their value.
Fortunately, the Bitcoin tattoos remain safe, at least for the time being, as the BTC price continues in an uptrend.