Croatia is embracing crypto at an exponential rate. Earlier in the week, Konzum announced it will accept cryptocurrency payments in its online store. This is phase one for Croatia’s largest supermarket chain, the company plans to roll out the service in all of its stores. The country is quickly becoming one of the friendliest for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. One could probably already live on crypto over there, and that is the concept we’ll explore.
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But first, Konzum. When our sister site NewsBTC covered the story, they informed us:
“This move is the first of its kind in Croatia, making Konzum the first and only retail chain in the country to accept crypto payments.
“The introduction of cryptocurrency payments is another indicator that Konzum is constantly monitoring global trends, introducing innovations and setting the standard in the retail sector.” – Uros Kalinic, member of Konzum’s Management Board for Finance and IT”
Then, Kailinic added color to the story and introduced Konzum’s partner in the venture:
“Payment with cryptocurrencies is certainly still in its infancy here in Croatia, but the experience of our partner Electrocoin justifies this investment. Just as our customers use banking applications for electronic payments, we believe that this service will get its share as far as transactions go as well. From year to year we see a decrease in the share of cash transactions, which is logical in the age of digitalisation and coronavirus, when cash payments have been discouraged for epidemiological reasons.”
Besides Bitcoin, Konzum receives payment in Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, USDC, USDT, EOS DAI, Ripple, and Stellar Lumen. This variety is a crucial factor in the story we’re about to tell.
ETH price chart for 12/02/2021 on Cexio | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
How To Sell Cryptocurrencies In The Post Office
Payment with cryptocurrencies might be in its infancy, but for the last two years and change, Croatians have been able to buy a variety of coins at the post office. And, from November on, they can also sell them. That’s right, “more than 50 selected post offices covering all counties in the country” are effectively an exchange office.
“Users also have access to the Crypto Center, a special website that brings together all Croatian Post services related to cryptocurrencies. The website contains an exchange rate list, information on buying and selling the desired cryptocurrency and an interactive map with the addresses of post offices where this service is available.
Crypto-stamps can also be purchased on the website, another novelty with which Croatian Post connected domestic philately with new technological trends, ie the NFT market.”
The post office accepts 11 cryptocurrencies, namely: Bitcoin, Ripple, Stellar, Ether, Eos, Bitcoin Cash, Dai, USDT, USD Coin, Polkadot, and Kusama.
A Car, Purchased With Bitcoin
Almost exactly a year ago, a historic transaction took place:
“The first car bought with crypto at their Zagreb showroom was a Ford Focus. The new owners are a young couple who paid for the car with Bitcoin.
The Karić automobili car dealership joined GoCrypto almost a year ago and was the first on the Croatian market to offer the option of purchasing all car models on offer in cryptocurrencies.”
The Slovenian company GoCrypto provides a simple Point Of Sale solution that’s available throughout the whole region.
Other Exchange Offices
Besides the post office, there are at least three chains of exchange offices that do business with crypto: In Kapital, Auro Domus, and The Bitcoin Store. In this report, an intrepid crypto enthusiast visits all of them and exchanges stablecoins for Croatia’s Kuna with varying degrees of success. For example, The Bitcoin Store offers the best experience but also charges the highest fees. And the author has to go to three Auro Domus to find a person who knows how to do the exchange, and even then the whole process takes 72 minutes total.
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In any case, the point is, there are official exchange offices that deal with various cryptocurrencies and exchange them for Kuna. What a country!
Featured Image: mtomicphotography on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView
