Austria's Leading Mobile Operator Starts Accepting Cryptocurrency

One of the largest mobile operators in Austria, A1 plans to accept cryptocurrency as a payment for services at certain retail outlets.

Starting August 19, A1 customers can pay for communication services using six cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Litecoin (LTC), Stellar (XLM) and Dash (DASH). The project is called A1 Payment — a digital payment system developed in collaboration with Austrian digital currency specialist Salamantex, German cashless payment provider Concardis and French smart payment solutions supplier Ingenico.

A1 serves about 5.1 million mobile and 2.1 million fixed lines throughout Austria. Markus SCHREIBER, head of A1's business marketing, said that payments using digital currencies are becoming more prevalent in the world, while cash is becoming an outdated model. He added that the pilot program will allow A1 to determine the demand for the use of digital currencies in payments.

The pilot program also includes payments for Alipay and WeChat Pay, which will be available by the end of August. During the pilot period, A1 customers will receive a fixed conversion price of the selected currency at the moment of purchasing a service, while the risk of price fluctuation during the transaction validation will be mitigated by providers.

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