Bitso, an exchange that currently has more than 5 million users worldwide, recently announced the launch of a new service in Argentina. It is payments with cryptocurrencies via QR code.

This development takes advantage of the interoperable QR payment system already in place in Argentina. Bitso users will be able to make payments at any merchant directly from their account on the exchange.

According to a senior executive of MercadoPago, more than one million merchants in Argentina have already incorporated the QR code payment system.

Bitso reported that this service will be enabled first in Argentina because it is the country where the use of QR as a payment method is most common in the region. According to MasterCared's New Payments Index 2022, 59% of Argentines have made payments with QR in the last year, which contrasts with 34% of users of this technology in the rest of Latin America.

With Bitso's service, users will be able to choose to pay with Argentine pesos (ARS), bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), USD stablecoins or DAI. In case a cryptocurrency is chosen, the platform will make the automatic conversion to Argentine pesos (which is the currency the merchant will receive), using the best exchange rate. If the payment is made directly with ARS, no charge will be applied.

Cryptocurrency payments via QR code in Argentina are just the beginning. Bitso said its plans are to expand the service to the rest of Latin America, and Colombia could be one of the most promising options.

Santiago Alvarado, Bitso's Senior Vice President of Product, commented: "This launch is testament to our strategy focused on creating crypto-based financial products that are useful in people's daily lives and that overcome the challenges inherent in the reality of Latin America".

As previously explained in TechNews, the adoption of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Latin America is one of the highest in the world, especially in countries such as Venezuela, Colombia and Argentina.

And it makes sense, considering that inflation is a serious issue in this particular region, and many see digital assets as a safe haven. This is the ideal scenario and a good opportunity for companies related to decentralized finance to offer their products in Latin America.

Bitso has approximately one million users in Argentina, who will soon be able to make use of this new feature of the exchange. The QR payment function will be progressively enabled from September 27th, 2022.

Alvarado also said: "The case of Argentina is extremely important because a product with these features will help people protect themselves from the adverse conditions facing their economy, such as inflation and currency devaluation. In this context, it is a payment product that allows Argentines, in a nutshell, to live in crypto, and Bitso to achieve its mission of making crypto useful."