BLOCKCHAIN startup Pundi X is eyeing the Philippines and the rest of Asia for the rollout of its point of sale (POS) device, which will allow retail establishments to accept cryptocurrencies as payment.

The Indonesia-based firm said the Pundi X POS would accept various cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, NPXS, and ADI.

“Pundi X’s plans to rollout the Pundi X POS device over the coming year across Asia, the Philippines included, will further boost the local cryptocurrency ecosystem, opening it up to more consumers,” the company noted.

It explained that for mainstream consumers, Pundi X can lower the technical threshold and make cryptocurrency transaction as easy as buying a bottle of water via POS smart device.

The purchased cryptocurrency can be stored in the physical card wallet, or used to make cashless payments to top up phones, pay utility bills or buy goods, subject to local regulations in each market, it added.

The company noted a demonstration of its technology was held in Manila last May. That same month, Hong Kong’s Fama Group, an organic restaurant food chain, agreed to adopt Pundi X’s POS device.

“Adoption of cryptocurrencies in East Asia is probably the highest in the world, however there are still few channels for spending digital currency today and this is what we want to change by working with retail outlets such as the forward-thinking Fama Group,” said Pundi X co-founder and chief executive officer Zac Cheah.

“This is the first of many partnerships that we will be setting up across Asia to encourage more widespread use of cryptocurrency in the retail economy over the longer term,” Cheah added. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network