Major Czech Natural Gas Company starts accepting Bitcoin Payments

Pražská plynárenská, largest natural gas company in the Czech Republic announces that they will be accepting Bitcoin Payments soon. The management says this move is to “get closer to the young and not be perceived as an old moth”. According to reports, it seems that the company has taken this move in a bid to modernize its infrastructure.

The national energy giant offers clients the choice of paying in either Bitcoins or fiat currency, the Czech Koruna. This payment protocol will be available to users from June 2018 onwards. To pay their bills, users will have to log in to the company’s website where they will be redirected to a new payment gateway. Here they will be given the option to pay with the cryptocurrency.

HN Paul Janecek, a member of the Board of Directors of Prazska Plynarenska, said:

“We will open a payment gateway in June, which will automatically convert our payment in cryptocurrency to the normal currency, so we will not speculate on the development, but if anyone wants to pay an alternative way, we want to allow it.”

However, the company has made it clear that they do not plan on holding any of the Bitcoins. All Bitcoins they receive in payment will be converted into fiat currency, possibly even the Euro.

Prazska Plynarenska has more aces up it’s regarding the modernization drive. The company will be rolling out CNG car rental advertisements on YouTube soon.

Paul further added, “We are trying to go to the young customers across the street, we do not want to be perceived as old dysfunctional company.”

The energy giant is not the only organization that’s moved towards cryptocurrency payments in the Czech Republic. E-commerce giant Alza.cz had adopted Bitcoin payments way back in February 2018. A cafe in Prague, Paralelní Polis, apparently declines payments using fiat currency. It is supposedly the hub of all Bitcoin and cryptocurrency activities in the Czech Republic.

The President of the ECB Mario Draghi has stated previously about the need for cryptocurrency regulations. But there is no mention of a timeframe for this forthcoming legislation. And cryptocurrency seems to be very popular among the Czech population, so it doesn’t seem like it’ll be shut down anytime soon. The country has 46 Bitcoin ATMs and 34 of them are in Prague!

Image via Prazska Plynarenska