South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, the largest in the country, announced today it has formed a strategic partnership with South Korea’s largest accommodation app, Good Choice (여기어때), to make it possible to book accommodations and make payments with cryptocurrencies through Bithumb.
This is the first case in Korea’s domestic lodging industry to use cryptocurrencies…cryptocurrency transactions are to be made in 50,000 accommodations around the country. Bithumb says, “We are discussing with various companies to expand the use of cryptocurrencies.”
It’s the first case to that supports transactions with not just only one particular cryptocurrency but also various other cryptocurrencies. Depending on the business partnership, customers who book their accommodation with the app will be able to make payment with the cryptocurrencies through their Bithumb account.
As one of the most popular lodging applications in Korea, ‘Good Choice’ has 50,000 accommodations registered nationwide, including hotel chains. It boasts about their 2 million monthly users and over 2 million user reviews. In the future, it will also be easy to pay for a variety of accommodations in cryptocurrency, ranging from registered hotels, resorts, pensions, guest houses, and motels to camping, glamping, and Hanok.
According to coinmap.org, there are over 10,000 businesses that accept cryptocurrency. The biggest online travel site, Expedia accepts Bitcoins when making hotel reservations. Japanese home appliance retailer, Big Camera supports bitcoin transactions in 59 of their offline stores.
This partnership reflects this worldwide trend in Korea. It is expected to help increase convenience as the cryptocurrency is used to book and pay for the accommodation for both Koreans and overseas travelers.
“Our partnership with the nation’s largest accommodation app has allowed Korea to join the global trend to see a greater use of cryptocurrency and we are continuously discussing with various companies for a greater use of a simple and safe payment tool, cryptocurrency in Korea, ” the Bithumb team said.