US citizens can now pay for certain passport services in Bitcoin.
Peninsula Visa will partner with Coinbase Commerce to offer this payment option.
Although this is a first in the United States, Venezuela had already experimented with passport payments in BTC.
US citizens can now pay for certain passport services with Bitcoin . Peninsula Visa announced on November 11 the change in its accepted payment methods.
Anticipating an increasingly digital post-coronavirus world, the company describes the service as “the right thing at the right time”.
Peninsula Visa Becomes First U.S. Shipping Service To Accept Bitcoin
Peninsula Visa, a US passport and visa issuing company, now accepts bitcoin payments for some of its services. According to a press release, the company will allow its customers to pay for their passport renewal, name change and a second passport, all through cryptocurrency .
The Bitcoin payment method will be provided by Coinbase Commerce. While the Coinbase payment platform supports alternative cryptocurrencies , nothing in the press release or the product page suggests that Peninsula Visa accepts payments in digital assets other than BTC.
The company, founded in Silicon Valley in the 1970s, says it plans to expand the passport services it offers through bitcoin payment over the next twelve months.
Evan James, its director of operations, said the move was the right one, given forecasts of an increasingly digital post-COVID world. He added that Peninsula Visa was delighted to be the first such US company to accept BTC.
Protection against the votility of BTC
For many industry watchers, Bitcoin has failed somewhat as a payment network. The volatility of its price makes its acceptance of goods and services a real headache for some companies.
Peninsula Visa aims to protect itself from this situation by offering a payment window in which the exchange rate is blocked for ten minutes. According to its website, the company may provide a new exchange rate after this time, depending on the evolution of BTC prices.
A first for the United States, but not worldwide
As mentioned, Peninsula Visa offers the first US passport services for Bitcoin payments. Having said that, at least one other country has already experimented with passport payment by BTC.
As BeInCrypto.com reported in July, the government of Venezuela has also started accepting Bitcoin momentarily to pay for passports. The launch of this test was due to a new round of US sanctions that hampered the South American nation’s ability to conduct international transactions.
While censorship-resistant Bitcoin payments appear appropriate for Venezuela’s situation, the trials appear to have been short-lived. Indeed, the option of payment in BTC disappeared from the site shortly after its publication.