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Cryptocurrency adoption is picking up in Latin America. For instance, El Salvador recently granted Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender status while a Paraguay lawmaker is also planning to introduce the country’s own Bitcoin bill soon.
Even educational institutions are starting to join the trend. Paraguay’s Universidad Americana will start accepting crypto as payment starting in August, according to Coindesk.
Universidad Americana’s general director Camilo Jiménez Agüero said that accepted cryptos will include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Dash, and XRP. Around 60 percent of the university’s 17,000 students study virtually.
However, the university’s crypto payment setup is unlike other businesses where crypto is immediately converted into fiat upon payment. In Universidad Americana’s case, it can decide after receiving the crypto payment to either convert it or retain it as crypto.
The university’s IT team worked with a local crypto firm to develop its crypto payment project. After its announcement on Twitter, Universidad Americana received queries from other educational institutions asking if it could provide assistance in implementing their own crypto payment systems.
Universidad Americana has an edge over its peers when it comes to crypto payment systems as it offers courses on blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The university’s main campus is located in Paraguay’s capital, Asunción, while it has branches in Encarnación and Ciudad del Este.
Adoption of digital payments has surged during the pandemic, according to Jiménez Agüero. Seventy percent of the payments received by the university are digital. “The challenge is to expand the adoption of crypto and migrate to more efficient payment channels,” he added.
Inspired by El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender, a pro-crypto lawmaker has plans to make Paraguay a global crypto hub. Carlos Antonio Rejala, the deputy of the Hagamos Party, revealed that he is working on Bitcoin legislation that he plans to present in Congress next month.
The proposed bill aims to legalize the use of cryptos such as Bitcoin as a means of payment. “Since we announced that we are working on a bill that legalizes in Paraguay the use of digital assets, better known as digital currencies, or its most popular version, bitcoin, as legal tender for any type of commercial transaction, various Paraguayan companies have already joined and took a step forward towards the new era of transactions, which makes us proud,” he said.
