More than 1,200 kiosks in Australia implement the sale of BTC and ETH

The Australian cryptocurrency exchange Bitcoin.com.au has enabled the sale of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in more than 1,200 newsstands in Australia as of Thursday, March 1, local news source 9Finance reported.

Bitcoin.com.au, which has been in operation for around 18 months, is described on its website as "one of the first independent Bitcoin exchange networks in Australia".March 1 was the first time the exchange offered ETH purchases, having previously hosted BTC transactions on its site.

Rupert Hackett, CEO of Bitcoin.com.au, sees the introduction of BTC and ETH to increase purchases in familiar environments, as a way to make people feel more comfortable with cryptocurrencies in general:

"The fact that you can now buy Bitcoin and Ethereum from the same place where you buy soft drinks and stationery really speaks to how cryptocurrencies have been institutionalized. For anyone who has hesitated to buy Bitcoin because everything seemed too complicated, this is the perfect configuration that removes the fear factor of investing in digital currencies. "

To buy crypto from a participating Australian newspaper stand, consumers must first purchase a crypto wallet and then scan the QR code of their wallet with the iPad mini of the newsstand. Bitcoin.com.au has established a minimum purchase of AUD 50, Australian dollars, (approximately USD 39) in BTC or ETH.

Hackett told 9Finance that he expects customers to receive their cryptocurrencies in an average of 20 minutes.

In general, the exchange will charge a fee of 5 percent per transaction, a rate that was not applied this past Thursday, in a special promotion that coincides with the opening of Bitcoin.com.au to Ethereum transactions.

Australia has already taken steps to bring cryptocurrencies and their technologies into traditional financial and retail environments.

In December of last year, the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) announced that it would begin using Blockchain technologies to process capital transactions.

In late January, the Brisbane National Airport said it had begun the process of making an entire terminal of the airport friendly for cryptocurrencies, adapting all the businesses located there to receive payments made with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dash.