Australia’s Leading Gas Station Accepts Crypto Payments For Fuel

Australians will now be able to fuel up their cars through Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at gas stations and convenience stores under the ‘On The Run’ (OTR) group at 175 branches across Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia as of Thursday.

In a blog posted on August 18, the Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com announced the collaboration with OTR and DataMesh, a Sydney-based payments systems provider. Crypto.com is offering the ‘Pay Merchant’ service as a payment settlement platform, while DataMesh will provide a point-of-sale terminal. Crypto.com will not charge any fees on the transaction, but a cost will be added on the merchant’s end.

Karl Mohan, Crypto.com’s General Manager, Asia, and Pacific, said that the crypto payment option was driven by the increased demand for cryptocurrencies and merchants increasingly opting to use digital assets. Mohan said:

Our latest research shows that 55% of merchants and consumers want to transact in crypto, and this innovation within OTR stores is bringing these ambitions to life and ensuring that Australia is at the forefront of crypto payments evolution.

Mohan added that 175 stores have initially gotten on board with the program, but it is operational to scale the project much further. He added:

What happens now is any merchant, whether you’re a cafe owner or someone who runs thousands of stores, could just plug and play.

OTR’s parent company, Peregrine Corp, has said that in addition to the initial 175 stores, it intends to roll out the service to another 250 retail sites across Australia such as Krispy Kreme, Subway, and Oporto.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Mohan has said the utilisation of an Australian dollar-backed stablecoin is needed to make crypto payments widely adopted across the country. He said:

So of course, Bitcoin and Ethereum because of their market capitalization are already on the top of the list. But an overwhelming number of consumers have said they are ready to accept and actually start paying with Australian stablecoins. We’ve made the system available and if you've seen ANZ announce the Australian dollar stablecoin, and we see these types of stablecoins becoming available, I really believe that it will become mainstream.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.