Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:18 pm

What is the general awareness of bitcoin in the Phillipines? Have most people heard about bitcoin yet there?



Obviously the remittance market to the Phillipines is pretty huge from places such as the USA and Hong Kong, so this represents a huge potential opportunity but the obvious barrier is education on bitcoin to both the senders in foreign countries and receivers locally - how do you intend to bridge this knowledge gap?



Bitcoin (presuming decent liquidity/ low fees) for remittances has huge cost savings, but also potentially makes remittances more hassle-free (can be done from a smart phone anywhere, with no need to find a local WU for example) - is this something you promote?

I wouldn't say most people have heard of Bitcoin, but I can say that user signups and transaction volumes have been increasing at a rapid rate, both for our services, and our competitors' as well.Although, you're right that there is a knowledge gap right now for Bitcoin, the more important problem is Bitcoin volatility, both of which are barriers to users acceptance, and both of which we are solving by removing the Bitcoin parts in the consumer facing front-ends. That is, with Rebit, we've partnered with companies on the sender side of the transaction that essentially acts as sort of agents for Rebit. They receive fiat and convert those funds on behalf of the sender to bitcoins that they then send to us. We deliver the payouts in Philippine Pesos to complete the transaction with both sender and receiver never having to understand Bitcoin.Another way we're solving this is via our wallets, Bitbit and Boom Cash. Both wallets send and receive Bitcoin but funds are stored in Philippine Pesos, which protects users from volatility -- and yet they remain compatible to the wonderful world of Bitcoin.