Avnet, Inc., a Phoenix, Arizona-based Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components, has started accepting cryptocurrency payments.
Avnet, which has total assets worth nearly $10 billion and around 16,000 employees, will now accept payments in cryptocurrency through a partnership with BitPay, a leading crypto payment processing service. Avnet’s customers can pay for goods and services using bitcoin (BTC) and bitcoin cash (BCH). Once the payment has been made, BitPay’s platform will reportedly be used to verify and process the payment (on behalf of Avnet).
Working With BitPay To Settle Crypto Payments
Commenting on the company’s decision to start taking crypto payments, Sunny Trinh, the vice president at Avnet, remarked:
We’re working with BitPay to facilitate secure blockchain payments for all types of customers so they can focus on developing their products, not how to pay for them.
In its announcement, Avnet noted that cryptocurrency payments can help minimize the “time, cost, and complexities of bringing products to market.” Notably, Avnet also revealed that it had recently settled “several multi-million dollar” crypto transactions. This, only a month after it decided to support crypto transfers.
Switzerland’s Largest Online Retailer Now Accepts Crypto
Dell EMC and Microsoft are some of the other leading multinational IT firms that have also been accepting payments in cryptocurrency. On March 19th, 2019, Digitac-Galaxus, Switzerland’s largest online retailer, announced that it had started taking crypto payments. The giant retail firm now accepts bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), bitcoin SV (BSV), binance coin (BNB), and a few other cryptos.
Explaining why his company decided to accept crypto transactions, Oliver Herren, the CEO and co-founder of Digitec, said:
Cryptocurrencies are fascinating and could become a relevant means of payment in e-commerce. We would like to support this development. We wanted to do that for a long time.
In early February 2019, Argentina’s public transport system operator began taking bitcoin (BTC) payments. The transport company announced last month that passengers in its 37 localities throughout Argentina would be able to add credit balance to their SUBE travelcards with Bitcoin. .
Cryptocurrency payments were integrated into the SUBE travelcards through a partnership with Bitex, a local fintech company, and Alto Viaje, an Argentina-based travelcard-loading service. Manuel Beaudroit, the chief marketing officer at Bitex, noted:
We believe that this type of project is of great importance since it brings technology as disruptive as bitcoin to the common people, demonstrating the true value and the applications it has in everyday life.
