KANALCOIN NEWS – As a Chinese electronics giant, Xiaomi denies its company’s involvement in Portugal regarding a partnership with Utrust to open payments in five cryptocurrencies including bitcoin.
Earlier, one of the stores in Portugal announced that they were starting to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments. According to Cryptonewsbtc.org quoted by Kanalcoin.com, on Wednesday (4/8/2021), Facebook Mi Store Portugal announced that it is currently possible for customers to purchase devices using five cryptocurrencies, including BTC, Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Dash (DASH) and Utrust (UTK) tokens.
The announcement which was quite surprising then took the social media platform Weibo by storm. The platform raised concerns over Mi Store Portugal accepting digital currency payments on overseas social platforms.
In response to this, a Xiaomi spokesperson then reacted to the news issued by China’s Weibo. He stressed that Mi Store Portugal is not directly related to Xiaomi’s operations. The spokesperson also added that Mi Store Portugal is an “official third party partner” operating independently in Portugal.
Dispelling the unpleasant news, finally on August 6, 2021, Mi Store Portugal deleted the post on its Facebook account. They also removed related information from its website, which previously stated that its customers could choose a crypto payment option at checkout.
Previously, the new payment option would be activated through a partnership with Utrust as a European blockchain technology payment platform.
“Xiaomi is the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, and now their local branch is receiving Money of Tomorrow,” Utrust tweeted in a now-deleted tweet published on Wednesday (4/8/2021).
Quoted by Kanalcoin.com from Cointelegraph, the company did not immediately respond to their request for comment. Portugal’s Mi Store website also still shows Utrust as a co-payment partner of Visa and PayPal at the time of writing.
Xiaomi has indeed surpassed Apple as a global smartphone giant and become the world’s second largest mobile phone manufacturer in the second quarter of 2021. According to data from global industry analysis firm Counterpoint, Mi Store Portugal is also the only authorized retailer of Xiaomi certified products in Portugal and operates under the law. – European law. The company currently has six physical stores across the country and is in the process of expanding.
Recent studies have indeed revealed that there is a high demand for payments with cryptocurrencies.
Marketing Director of Mi Store Portugal, Pedro Maia, stated that the company’s steps in accepting crypto payments are in line with Xiaomi’s efforts to innovate.
He also added that Xiaomi is an innovative and disruptive brand in technology. That’s what makes them want to go one step further. Their goal is to give all true tech users the opportunity to buy their favorite gadget with what is today the ‘most tech money’.
As previously reported, in recent years, Portugal has continued to develop as a cryptocurrency-friendly country. The realization is done with local governments imposing zero taxes on retail crypto trades. Earlier this year, a local energy trading company also started accepting Bitcoin as payment for electricity bills.
Instead, China has emerged as one of the largest anti-crypto nations in the world, even cracking down on cryptocurrency mining and crypto trading nationwide earlier this year. So do not be surprised if Xiaomi is in a hurry to respond to the events that occurred in Portugal.
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