As someone who has grown up in Venezuela, I had the incredible opportunity yesterday to do something that many of us here never thought would be possible: I paid for my purchases at a supermarket with Bitcoin. I had already picked up some fresh fruits, vegetables and chicken from the farmers market, and it was time to pay for the groceries.
When I walked up to the cashier, I told them that I wanted to pay with cryptocurrency. Their system then showed me a selection of different coins, with the amount shown in Bolivares (Bs.) which was 725 Bs., which is approximately 30 USD at the current exchange rate of 1 USD to 24.2 Bs. The cashier mentioned that they would soon be adding Bitcoin Lightning (BTC LN) as well.
I settled on Bitcoin, and the system then showed me the amount in Bitcoin. At the time, Bitcoin was very volatile and was trading around 27,200 USD, so using that rate, I paid around 34 USD for my groceries. It seemed like a strange amount because it was around 4 USD more than what I was expecting to pay. I suspect this was due to a fixed fee, as it wouldn’t make sense if it was a 10% fee.
Finally, the system showed me a QR code which I had to scan. After scanning it, I had to wait for at least one confirmation before the cashier could press the ‘payment received’ button. It took a few minutes, but eventually I got the confirmation and the cashier checked a blockchain explorer to make sure that the payment matched the amount. After that was confirmed, the payment was complete.
It was an incredible experience being able to pay directly with Bitcoin in a supermarket. This is a huge step forward for cryptocurrency adoption in Venezuela, and I am excited to see what other possibilities the future holds.