Paxful expands into developing countries with AirTM partnership

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Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange Paxful is seeking to further expand its reach in developing countries after partnering with AirTM, a blockchain peer-to-peer exchange and digital wallet. The partnership, which the two companies announced recently, will enable Paxful users to withdraw and fund their Paxful accounts using AirTM as a payment method.

Each company has now gained entry into new markets, the two said in a press release shared with CoinGeek. AirTM is popular in Latin America, especially Venezuela. The partnership will open up the Latin American market for Paxful. With Paxful having its largest customer base in Africa, AirTM will also get an entry point into that region.

However, the two companies will not limit their partnership to the two regions. Speaking to CoinGeek, AirTM revealed that it intends to leverage the newly-found partner to expand its reach globally. Currently, the company has operations in over 160 countries. Its users are able to fund or withdraw from their accounts through more than 200 payment methods including Western Union, MoneyGram, MTN Money, online payment platform Mercado Pago, China’s AliPay, Uphold and mobile money platform M-Pesa.

Paxful, on the other hand, has been growing its reach in Latin America over the past few years. The region has experienced some of the highest inflation rates in the world, with Venezuela leading the pack. This has led many to turn to cryptos as a store of value.

Ray Youssef, the Paxful CEO told us about the company’s presence in the region: “It’s been steadily growing. Taking into account our volume (USD) in May, Paxful experienced an increase in Latin American trading volume of around 20%.”

The partnership with AirTM is also a show of Paxful’s confidence has in the Latin American region. This is fueled by the fact that most Latin Americans are turning to cryptos for real-life use and not just for speculation. Youssef added:

“Bitcoin is currently less volatile than their fiat currencies, leading them to utilize bitcoin for wealth preservation and transactions. This partnership opens up the market to a new global financial system through Paxful’s marketplace. This is an opportunity for Latin America to participate in a system where they have the liberty to control their finances. We’re excited to witness this and learn more from them.”

AirTM reiterated his views, expressing a firm belief that the region will be the next global crypto hotspot. The company told us: “Latin America was where we first launched and started seeing rapid growth, precisely because of the inflation problems and lack of financial access in the region. We launched the Airdrop Venezuela campaign because we saw firsthand how crypto was helping people survive, and we wanted to propel education around its benefits and uses. “

Venezuela continues to be one of the best examples globally of how cryptos can help people escape the drastic effects of economic turmoil. The country has experienced political unrest for months, and as a result, their inflation rate has shot up. Venezuelans have turned to cryptocurrencies in their numbers, both as a store of value and for transaction purposes as well.