There was a time when naysayers derided bitcoin because the cryptocurrency couldn’t be used for basic functions such as grocery shopping.
That time is in the past, and little by little, the usage case for bitcoin is increasing with the help of some boring but useful endeavors. Over the long haul, that could be constructive for assets such as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
Consider this: The Phoenix suburb of Chandler is now allowing residents to pay utility bills in bitcoin. In fact, it doesn’t stop there. Chandler is allowing customers with connected PayPal accounts to pay their utility obligations in bitcoin, ether, or litecoin.
Invoice Cloud, the software provider that Chandler uses for utility bills, added a crypto payment option to its platform.
“They handle the conversion of the cryptocurrency payment, and send the City the value of the payment in dollars, thereby eliminating any market volatility risk for Chandler,” said Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Dawn Lang in a statement.
Chandler started offering the crypto payment platform in March and is believed to be one of the first municipalities in the Phoenix area to do so. Crypto critics eager to lob criticism at bitcoin and Chandler might want to think again. Chandler is home to more than a quarter of a million residents, and Phoenix is one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the U.S.
Those could be signs that as crypto adoption increases and the local population rises, Chandler could eventually become an interesting case study in bitcoin’s everyday, practical uses.
“It’s about customer service for our residents. Digital currency and blockchain is advancing quickly, and as the Community of Innovation, we feel it is important to be on the forefront of this technology and offer it to our residents as a payment method for utility payments and other fees,” said Chandler City Councilmember Mark Stewart in the statement.
Chandler hasn’t revealed how many residents are using bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to pay their utility bills. Bitcoin, the largest digital currency by market value, is higher by more than 4% over the past week.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Crypto Channel.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.