Mexican Retailer Famsa Integrates Bitcoin

UPDATE (14th October 10:26 BST): Comments added from Alberto Vega, BitPay's Regional Manager for Latin America.

Latin American e-tailer Famsa is now accepting bitcoin for online purchases.

The chain, founded in 1970, sells a variety of consumer goods and electronics across Mexico and the US. It is processing transactions via Atlanta firm BitPay.

The news follows last month's announcement from MercadoLibre – the 'eBay of Latin America' – that it would integrate bitcoin, and a deal between Mexico's BitPagos and Entrepids to allow e-commerce stores to accept the currency.

Alberto Vega, BitPay's regional manager for Latin America, told CoinDesk interest among online retailers is growing:

"It is a very exciting time for bitcoin adoption in Latin America. We are experiencing a great moment, [with] major growth since the TAR Airlines announcement a few months ago."

Although bitcoin merchant adoption is waning – with many businesses reporting "widely disappointing" sales – Latin America appears to be bucking the trend.

According to BitPay, the region saw a 510% increase in transactions from 2014 to 2015. It sees around 10% of transactions happening in Europe, the region that hosts half of BitPay's merchants.

Disclaimer: CoinDesk founder Shakil Khan is an investor in BitPay.