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When you think of countries with a well-known bitcoin ecosystem, many crypto investors immediately recall the US, Malta, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. However, many pay little attention to the Philippines, a nation that has many cryptocurrency users.
A major financial institution based in the Philippines made a notable move last week that could potentially trigger widespread cryptocurrency adoption in an Asian country.
ATMs Union Bank Of Crypto
According to Philippine media reports, Union Bank of the Philippines, the banking giant that is the seventh largest in the country, is launching ATMs with crypto assets (ATM).
According to the Bank's statement, cited by the media, the company launched its first two-way cryptocurrency ATM earlier this week, allowing customers to buy and sell bitcoins for pesos. Union Bank cooperates with Bangko Sentral NG Pilipinas (BSP), the Central Bank of the country, to ensure compliance of this newfangled offer.
The institution, headquartered in Manila, which has more than 300 branches scattered across Metropolitan areas and rural areas, noted:
In the Bank's ongoing effort to meet the growing needs and tastes of customers, including those using virtual currency, the ATM will provide these customers with an alternative channel to convert their pesos into virtual currency and Vice versa.
On the way to widespread adoption of crypto
This Bank move only highlights the growing industry theme of ATMs that cast the shackles of a traditional financial system that includes payment systems and payment systems like Visa and Mastercard.
According to previous media reports, Bitcoin Depot, a subsidiary of Lux Vending, plans to open 30 ATMs in Chicago in the coming months that support bitcoin, ether (ETH) and other digital assets.
Although these efforts are centered around Chicago, a little-known point on the cryptocurrency map, the hype associated with buying cryptocurrencies through ATMs is a global trend as there are currently more than 4323 such machines in the world. And according to CoinATMRadar, that number increases by 5.6 every day.
Link (Russian) - https://altstake.io/news/filippinskiy-bankovskiy-gigant-zapuskaet-kripto-bankomaty