The Dash team announced today an integration with a leading Latin American exchange, BitInka, providing citizens across Central and South America access to buy and sell Dash using their local fiat currency. The South American-based exchange, which works with 35 banks across 12 countries, will allow greater access to Dash in Latin America, particularly valuable in countries suffering from economic turmoil.
The integration comes at a time where inflation in Venezuela has reached an all-time high. According to the Finance and Economic Development Permanent Parliamentary Committee of Venezuela, inflation has reached a record 1,370 percent for 2017 and 56.7 percent for November.
“BitInka is making it possible to use Dash with local currencies that previously did not have direct access. Latin America is especially important for us because many of its countries tend to have weak currencies, and people are increasingly aware of the importance of access to digital currency.”
Argentina concurrently is at 21 percent inflation for November. The integration of Dash onto BitInka will provide citizens of Latin American countries a decentralized alternative to government-issued banknotes, complete with InstantSend functionality, and secure, near fee-free transactions.
“There are tremendous benefits to the increasing use of digital currencies to developing countries. Transaction fees on the Dash network are incredibly low compared with other digital financial services. Even small amounts of transaction savings can make a real difference to the economies of developing markets. More importantly, developing countries are frequently burdened with some of the highest rates of inflation. So far, digital currencies like Dash have proven to be a superior store of value compared with consistently devaluing national currencies. Combined, this stability can provide significant benefits to users and the economy as a whole to improve lives. As Dash continues to grow in relevance throughout the region, we think BitInka can offer much-needed access for users. We plan to continue exploring new ways for Dash and BitINKA to collaborate further across the full suite of services BitINKA offers.”
As part of this integration, BitInka is adding Dash to its cross-border payments and remittance platform, InkaPay, as well as its cryptocurrency-powered debit card service. Customers will be able to be paid in Dash and immediately convert into other digital currencies, and from January 25, top-up BitInka debit cards with Dash.
“The global demand for cryptocurrencies is exploding. BitINKA has received an overwhelming demand for Dash. Dash’s InstantSend transactions and low fees will be beneficial for users moving cryptocurrencies into and from our platform. We are working towards bringing this technology to all Latin Americans, and our partnership with Dash will do just that. Now, we are heading to conquer Europe and Asia. We have been working in this regions for quite some time but now we have everything prepared to go big – really big. We will be adding a lot of improvements and disruptive features to our platform. 2018 will be a great year for BitINKA.”