On March 20, in the broadcast of the largest open television company in Brazil, a segment was shown about the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) in a small town in the south of the country, Rolante. The story began with a request from cryptocurrency enthusiast Ricardo Stein to the Rolante Merchants Association, where he proposed accepting payments in the main cryptocurrency.
“In one month, we became the largest Brazilian city accepting bitcoins, and in two months, the largest in the world… We have one point of sale for every 105 residents, and for the second-largest city by size, one point for every 5000 residents,” Ricardo Stein told the television channel in an interview.
The population of Rolante is just over 21,000 people, the area of the city is about 300 km², it is located in the border area with Argentina and Paraguay. Rolante’s GDP per capita is 24,884 reals, equivalent to $6,976. The acceleration of Bitcoin adoption was also contributed by a two-day Bitcoin festival, during which the volume of payments using bitcoins reached 300,000 reals, or $60,000. Currently, 40% of the city’s merchants accept bitcoins as payment, and the healthcare sector is already starting to prepare for the integration of crypto payments. If before, stores in the country asked about cash or credit cards at the checkout, now they will also inquire about BTC. The use of Bitcoin has attracted many tourists to the town, who are already adept at making crypto payments. At the same time, the residents of Rolante are just beginning to familiarize themselves with the first cryptocurrency.