Aussies can use cryptos like Bitcoin to pay for gas and other goods

It is 9:50 a.m. and the car’s gas tank is almost empty. You are already late, but proceed towards the OTR gas station to refuel. When you get there, you realize you left your wallet with cash and cards at home. What did you do? Well, instead of traveling back, you can use the convenience chain’s newly accepted payment method.

According to the latest development, Australian gas station On the Run is now accepting crypto as payment in its outlets.

Pay for gas, coffee, sandwiches in crypto

OTR has partnered with Crypto.com and payment terminal provider DataMesh Group to launch Australia’s first in-store crypto payments. According to the official blogger statement,

“The partnership provides the world’s first scalable ability to pay directly in-store for everyday items via the Crypto.com app without having to convert to fiat currency.”

Crypto adoption has grown with time. The result is that users are more interested in the IRL use cases of the same.

According to Crypto.com and DataMesh’s research, half of Australian crypto HODLers and sellers will use crypto to trade goods and services in-store and in real-time. So OTR’s new payment mechanism is to promote the same and provide customers with another convenient payment mechanism.

Apart from gas, users can also use cryptos like Bitcoin to pay for other daily products. OTR’s statement was the same,

“Starting today, customers with a Crypto.com wallet can purchase everyday items such as petrol, coffee and sandwiches at 175 OTR fuel and convenience store sites across Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia using their cryptocurrency – quite simply by using the Crypto.com App to scan a QR code on their phone.”

Notably, Peregrine Corp, the owner of OTR, plans to roll out the feature to an additional 250 retail locations across the country, including Krispy Kreme stores in SA and the Northern Territory.

Is Bitcoin among the coins of choice?

Independent research firm PureProfile surveyed more than 2,000 Australian consumers and more than 500 Australian merchants about their crypto attitudes. The same was carried out at the end of May and the beginning of June this year. According to one of their findings, there is “significant interest” in having the ability to make and receive payments directly in crypto. In particular, 55% of respondents said they wanted to trade in crypto.

As for the go-to cryptos,

“Both merchants and consumers prefer to transact with Bitcoin and Ethereum, but there is significant demand for a stable coin in Australian dollars.”

The Executive Chairman of Peregrine Corporation, Yasser Shahin, believed that OTR convenience stores strive to embrace innovation. It was a “natural progression” to offer customers the ability to pay with digital assets such as Bitcoin. He said,

“The OTR story is about giving customers choice and making life easy. The decision to offer cryptocurrency payments is centered around this story – offering our customers convenience in how they pay, whether it’s cash, card or crypto.