KFC is giving new meaning to the word Dine’n’Dash. KFC accepts Dash as a form a payment in Venezuela, joining the ever-growing list of fast-food chains that accept crypto in the country. Other fast-food businesses that accept crypto in Venezuela include Papa John’s Pizza and Subway. The markets are down, but we’re seeing actual adoption and utility in Venezuela! Even with this news, people are still saying cryptocurrency won’t go anywhere!
KC will start accepting Dash at its store in the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, before expanding its crypto-accepting program to 24 other locations across the nation.
Alejandro Echeverria, the co-founder of Dash Merchant Venezuela and Dash Text, has been working hard to partner with KC for the last 3 months. This is just a part of a bigger plan to promote widespread adoption of Dash in the socialist South American country that has experienced a massively devaluation of its currency. According to Echeverria, there are already 2,445 merchants in Venezuela who accepts Dash as a payment.
Venezuela Dashes Forward
“The Dash movement is spreading and growing fast in Venezuela. First it was food trucks and small family businesses that started to adopt Dash for payments. Now we’re attracting more established businesses” says Echeverria in regards to Dash adoption in Venezuela.
In November 2018, Echeverria launched Dash Text, a SMS-based cryptocurrency transaction service that does not require a smartphone or the internet. We’ve reported on this before.
This is particularly useful for those in areas that cannot access the internet and do not have smartphones. This makes Dash much more accessible – 60% of Venezuelans don’t own a smartphone.
Dash Merchant Venezuela is pushing to advance cryptocurrency in the country due to its hyperinflation of its currency, the Bolivar, making it near-worthless.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that Venezuela’s annual inflation rate will soon reach an astronomical 1,000,000% as the country’s oil production plunges.
10,000 Dash Merchants in 2019
Echeverria hopes that Dash will emerge as a common and every-day currency for Venezuela – used to store value and as a means of payment. He has big hopes for 2019 – one of which includes having 10,000 merchants in Venezuela accepting the cryptocurrency.
In August 2018, the price of Dash spiked 20% amidst reports that adoption was rapidly growing in Venezuela. Venezuelans reportedly favor Dash over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies due to its faster transaction confirmation times.
Bitcoin transactions take an average of 10 minutes, but during peak time, can take up to an hour. Dash transactions, however, average 2.5 minutes thanks to its masternode system. This allows Dash to offer an Instant Send feature – essential for rapid transactions used by merchants.
This isn’t the first time that KFC has flirted with cryptocurrency. In January of this year, KFC Canada launched the Bitcoin Bucket, which allowed customers to purchase a bucket of chicken with Bitcoin. It sold out within an hour.
On Twitter, KFC joked about the marketing stunt, saying: “KFC Canada presents the Bitcoin Bucket. Sure, we don’t know exactly what Bitcoins are, or how they work, but that shouldn’t come between you and some finger lickin’ good chicken.”
We’re seeing tremendous amounts of utility and adoption for Dash. We will continue to see adoption and utility in high-quality projects in the future – we believe cryptocurrency is here to stay. We know that financial institutions want to get into the market. We know that governments are anxious to make it safe for investors to enter the market. And we know that millennials are probably going to be a driving demographic for adoption. What do you think? Will adoption be successful? Let us know on our Facebook Page!
