Vienna (AFP)
The leading Austrian mobile operator, A1 Telekom, will propose by the end of August to its customers to pay their purchases in cryptocurrency, posing as a "pioneer" European in this area, have we learned Thursday at A1.
"This is still a test, but if it proves conclusive, what we believe, we will expand our offer," said Jochen Schützenauer, one of the spokespersons for the group, historical provider of internet access and telephony in Austria.
For now, only a handful of A1 stores are equipped to test demand, while more and more Asian and American tourists are favoring the dematerialized currencies, still little known to the general public in Europe.
The Austrian company, which provides telephone packages to 5.3 million people in this country of 8.8 million inhabitants, presents its approach as a "pioneer" in the field of telephony in Europe.
While there are more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies on the market, A1 plans to accept only the most widespread of them, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin or Dash.
A cryptocurrency is totally virtual and uses cryptography to secure exchanges. It bypasses traditional financial and monetary institutions.
In recent years, more and more shops and restaurants and some online commerce sites have begun to accept these alternative currencies, without these being established as a massive mode of consumption. New Zealand recently published a tax guide that allows companies to pay their employees in cryptocurrency.
"Liquid payment is an outdated model," says Markus Schreiber, A1's marketing director, who ensures total transaction security.
At the G7 summit in July, member countries' finance ministers warned of the risks to the international financial system of ambitious digital currency projects, such as Facebook's Libra.
© 2019 AFP