Indonesian blockchain start-up Pundi X has announced that it will begin installing thousands of its Pundi X Point-of-Sale (POS) devices in cafes and restaurants throughout Hong Kong. The company plans to deploy a total of 5,500 POS devices by the end of August, which will allow customers to use Bitcoin for commercial purchases.

The Pundi X POS device is a small electronic card reader that can be used with Pundi cryptocurrency payment cards. Pundi wallets can currently hold several different cryptos including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Pundi X co-founder Zac Cheah told the South China Morning Post today that he thinks, “Hong Kong is the perfect place for us to do a test drive before a large scale roll-out as there are many tourists, experts, and early tech adopters.”

Cheah added that the 5,500 Pundi X POS devices will outnumber the current number of Bitcoin ATMs available globally.

The roll out of the new Pundi X POS devices serves as a direct challenge to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which in a report first published in 2015, stated that Bitcoin can act as a ‘virtual commodity’ but not a means of legal tender. The HKMA’s terms of use for Bitcoin was due to the world’s most popular virtual currency having no physical form or government backing and a highly volatile price. That being said, even though the HKMA doesn’t consider Bitcoin to be electronic money, commercial use of cryptocurrencies remains legal.

Pundi X doesn’t plan on limiting its POS devices to Hong Kong for very long. Following its Hong Kong test run, Pundi X plans to install as many as 100,000 more POS devices across Southeast Asia by 2021.

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