Apart from turtles, crunchy tacos, marijuana, and murder, there is one thing that defines Acapulco — Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency has become one of a salient feature of one of the deadliest cities in the Western Hemisphere.
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A place for Bitcoin anarchists
Acapulco is a former tourist mecca that now attracts anarchists from all over the world. Bitcoin evangelist Joby Weeks was so fascinated with that place that he even decided that he eventually a 13-bedroom mansion that set him back $4 mln worth of BTC.
Bitcoin has become the symbol of freedom in the inebriated crowds that roam around Acapulco’s beaches. The absolute freedom, however, comes at a price — Bitcoin millionaire John Galton got bullets instead of chasing his dreams in the anarchist capital.
Dash adoption is growing
Dash, a cryptocurrency that is popular with merchants in Latin American countries, is also popular with Acapulco anarchists. Instead of using government-controlled paper money, they use Dash for buying a glass of juice. All it takes is to scan a barcode for one’s transaction to be processed completely anonymously.
Crypto for the unbanked
Notably, digital transactions remain rare in Mexico where the lion’s share of the population is unbanked. Cash is still the kind there, and the fact that more than half of the working population is not formally employed also doesn’t help. However, Mexicans do have access to smartphones, and that allows them to seamlessly transact cryptocurrencies.
Valeria Blokhina
