Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world has now invested $2.5 million in TravelbyBit, an Australian blockchain payments provider for the travel industry.
The founder and CEO of Binance, Zhao Changpeng, said: “There is no better fit than being able to use cryptocurrency when traveling, just after landing in a foreign country.” Changpeng said, reported by Business Insider:
“Look for TravelbyBit and put your coins (hopefully the Binance Coin or BNB) to use. Let’s start with airports and go from there.”
In 2018, Binance became the fastest cryptocurrency exchange to hit a valuation of $1 billion. The Changpeng credits this fast rise of the exchange to China’s regulatory decision of cracking down on domestic cryptocurrency trading. One of the strategies that helped the exchange is, “expand anywhere, but China,” Changpeng said.
TravelbyBit offers multi-currency payment platform. While it currently supports payments in bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin, airport visitors will soon have the option to also use binance coin (binance’s cryptocurrency token) as payment at TravelbyBit merchants.
Caleb Yeoh, CEO of TravelbyBit, says blockchain payments eliminate much of the friction of multiple exchange rates. Yeoh said:
“Imagine traveling with multiple stopovers and only needing a single currency. We’re working with the most innovative airports and retailers who want to offer their consumers non-traditional payment options and a chance to experience cutting-edge technology.”
The state government of Queensland, Australia supported TravelbyBit with a $100,000 Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas donation to grow the business. Queensland Minister for Innovation and Tourism Kate Jones said:
“It is great to see a local company partnering with one of the most established multinational companies in the blockchain ecosystem.”
Binance has around 10 million users overall with few places where their cryptocurrency can be spent. For over a year now, TravelbyBit has been bringing in various businesses to the cryptocurrency ecosystem for accepting payments in cryptos. Together, the two companies intend to push the adoption of blockchain technology around the world.
The investment of $2.5 million will support TravelbyBit layer up its operations and generating more job opportunities.
Queensland’s Minister for Innovation and Tourism Kate Jones told:
“It is great to see a local company partnering with one of the most established multinational companies in the blockchain ecosystem.”
On the other hand, Binance is also expanding on a large scale, the CEO recently said that by 2019 he desires to launch the platform to launch 5 to 10 cryptocurrency exchanges, “with ideally two per continent.”
These exchange would be supporting fiat-to-cryptocurrency trading services. At present, Binance’s main platform only holds trades between different cryptocurrencies.
For now, Changpeng has in mind Uganda, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Malta, and Singapore for its new trading platforms.
Last month Binance and Malta Stock Exchange declared a partnership to start a new security token trading platform. This new security token trading platform will be developed to offer trading of conventional equity and security tokens side-by-side on a single interface.
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