Luzboa Portuguese Trading Firm to accept Bitcoins as payment for Electricity
Luzboa is a small energy trading company located in Portugal. This trading firm is planning to accept Bitcoins as a payment for electricity. Pedro Morais Leitão, who is the president of Luzboa said to the Portuguese publication Expresso on Wednesday, that the new payment option will begin this month.
As per the executive, Luzboa is planning to create a Bitcoin wallet in the upcoming days to allow its residents to pay for electricity under the “Bit Spot” system. Leitão says that the firm also plans to instantly convert the received Bitcoins into euros as it protects its business from unstable prices. The exec said,
“We are aware of currency volatility, but we are prepared to take some risk.”
Leitão further explained that the main idea of this initiative is to “capture a niche market” rather than moving its customers to Bitcoin payments. He said,
“There is a new generation with an interest in cryptocurrencies. We are looking to give an opportunity to use new means of payment.”
Luzboa is headquartered in Viseu and has around 5,000 residential customers. Nexus Energía Group, the fifth-largest independent energy company in Spain acquired a 51% stake in the firm to be the majority stakeholder of Luzboa.
As days pass by, Portugal is emerging more as a crypto-friendly country even after the local regulators are staying relatively low in recent years. The country is known for charging zero taxes from retail cryptocurrency trading after the Portuguese finance minister stated that Bitcoin trades were not taxable in late 2017.
