By
Temitope Olatunji
April 26th, 2024
According to the Xiaomi announcement, customers in Portugal can purchase products using any of five supported crypto assets, including BTC, ETH, and USDT.
Xiaomi recently announced that any customer who purchases its products through its Mi Store Portugal can pay using crypto. The Chinese multinational electronics company is partnering with Utrust, a Swiss crypto payment service provider, to make this service available. Xiaomi products such as smartphones, vacuum cleaners, electric scooters, smartwatches can now be bought with five different crypto tokens. These tokens include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Dash (DASH), and Utrust (UTK). The Utrust (UTK) token is the native digital currency for the Utrust service platform.
The Xiaomi and Utrust Partnership
The Chinese tech behemoth made this announcement Wednesday on Facebook. Xiaomi also recently surpassed Apple to become the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. This makes Xiaomi second only to Samsung in just eleven years of existence. Pedro Maia, head of marketing – for Xiaomi’s official retailer – Mi Store Portugal, says ‘innovation’ was at the core of the decision for crypto acceptance. He stated that the company continually tries to live up to its motto of facilitating innovation in all its value propositions. According to Maia:
“We are a technological, innovative and disruptive brand. That’s why we always want to be one step ahead. We want to give the possibility to all true technology fans to buy their favorite gadgets with what is currently “the most technological money”.
Xiaomi’s business partner on this deal, Utrust, also expressed optimism about the possibilities that abound. On Wednesday, the Swiss online payment company issued a statement to its official Twitter account. It reads:
“Xiaomi is the second-largest phone manufacturer in the world, and now their local branch is accepting the Money of Tomorrow.”
Mi Store is the only official retailer for the Xiaomi company licensed to sell its products. On its website, the Chinese company states it has six physical stores worldwide and is currently expanding.
Xiaomi Chose Portugal for Crypto Service due to Favorable Environment
Portugal is the first country to feature this service, given that it is considered the most crypto-friendly nation. The European country has a tax policy that establishes ‘Free Zones’ for testing digital currencies. In light of this, other businesses have begun to take advantage of the favorable parameters the nation offers. Earlier this year, Luzboa, a local power company, started accepting Bitcoin as payment for electricity bills.
Of the top three smartphone companies, Xiaomi and Apple are the only two to provide crypto payment as an alternative. Earlier this year, Apple partnered with BitPay to facilitate payment for products and services via crypto. Apple Pay, Apple’s mobile payment service, now supports debit cards from the blockchain payment firm. After customers pay, the crypto assets are converted to local fiat currency.
Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, launched a blockchain wallet in 2019. However, the leading company is yet to see its retail outlets adopt crypto as a form of payment for products or services.