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Bitcoin (BTC) adoption just got a major boost in Nigeria’s hospitality industry. A luxury hotel located in Lagos just announced its decision to accept the world’s largest crypto by market cap as payment.
George Residence will start accepting Bitcoin as payment starting this weekend, according to the Nigerian news publication 1st News. George Residence, which offers luxury hotel and premium apartment suites in Lagos, is described as one of the frontline players in the country’s hospitality sector.
The hotel will accept BTC payments through the regional crypto brokerage, Coinvest Africa. The new payment option would also make George Residence the first hotel in Nigeria to accept crypto as payment.
Aside from announcing that they will start accepting BTC as payment, the company also revealed that they have already adopted the crypto as its primary reserve currency. “We have allocated around 50% of our cash reserves to Bitcoin,” CEO Yanju George said. “We hope to increase that as time goes on.”
The hotel’s decision to use BTC as a reserve currency is likely driven in part due to concerns about the increasing inflation in the country. “Bitcoin is the currency of the future and it is only right that we are strongly positioned so we do not get left behind,” the CEO added.
According to Cointelegraph, the inflation rate in the country has been in the double digits since 2016. It recently peaked at 17.33 percent, the highest since February 2017, due to the coronavirus pandemic affecting the economy.
Inflation is also one of the factors driving the rise in crypto adoption and trading in Nigeria. Data from the peer-to-peer trading platform Paxful revealed that Nigerians have traded over 60,200 BTC since 2015.
With the growing crypto adoption in the country, it appears that there is also a rising demand for such a payment option in the hospitality sector. “Bitcoin permits our guests a faster and more secure way to enjoy the comfort we offer,” the CEO said. “Our residents desire simplicity, and we are excited to be able to offer that to them.”
