Philippines resort will soon be called ‘Bitcoin Island’- Here’s why
The western coast of the little vacation town in the center of the Philippines is being developed into a “Bitcoin Island.“ Pouch, a cryptocurrency wallet service, has been actively promoting Bitcoin’s use on the island for the past four months.
According to Pouch vice president Bill Mill, 120 businesses—both large and small—on Boracay have so far agreed to accept Bitcoin payments from customers.
He claimed that while promoting crypto tourism, a micro-economy powered completely by Bitcoin is intended to be established.
Ethan Rose, an American expatriate, founded Pouch in 2021, a Bitcoin wallet service that uses the Lightning Network to enable customers to “seamlessly send and receive [money] across borders.” The wallet is still under beta testing, according to its website.
The company’s main goal is to use quicker and less expensive Bitcoin transactions to enter the third-largest in the world, the multi-billion dollar Filipino remittance market. Also taken into account are digital nomads, those BTC enthusiasts who feel at home even while they’re far from home.
Last year, Filipinos who were employed overseas sent $31.4 billion home to assist their families. The funds are frequently used to fund education, purchase food and clothing, launch a business, construct a home, and pay for daily expenses.
It is an essential survival tool for Filipino families. But financial institutions like banks are keeping an excessive amount of the money in transfer fees. The World Bank estimates that the cost of transmitting remittances is 7% on average globally and over 5% in South Asia.
When compared to the Sustainable Development Goals’ aim of reducing financial transfer costs to within 3% of total transaction value by 2030, this is much too
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