El Salvador bitcoin adoption gets cold shoulder from remittance companies

Even with the excitement and enthusiasm from El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption, remittance companies in the country appears to be “less thrilled” with the law. 

With remittance firms’ behavior for the past few days, it is clear that they are still hesitant to fully embrace bitcoin. 

According to Autonomous Research fintech analyst Kenneth Suchoski, it seems that money transfer companies are still waiting for the bitcoin demand to increase before making any move. 

He also added that most of the volume of the remittance industry comes from families and friends, who are all using cash. 

Less than 1%

Suchoski admitted that currently, global-cross-border-remittances that go through crypto transactions are still at less than 1%. 

He also mentioned that: “To the extent that bitcoin isn’t adopted and there’s no widespread acceptance, these remittance providers are still going to be relevant for years to come.” 

Preparing for the big wave

But even with very little demand from customers for crypto-based remittance, money transfer companies know very well that it will explode in the coming years ー if not in the coming months. 

That is why as early as now, various remittance operators are laying out crypto solutions to prepare for a massive demand in the future. 

Remittance giant MoneyGram, for instance, has partnered with Coinme, a leader in cryptocurrency financial service, to help MoneyGram customers buy and sell crypto assets using U.S. dollars across the United States. 

This initiative is a clear indication that remittance companies are taking crypto seriously. As one MoneyGram representative said: 

“As crypto and digital currencies rise in prominence, a core barrier to further growth is the on/off ramps to local fiat currencies.”

Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube

Source: https://bitcoinerx.com/blockchain/el-salvador-bitcoin-adoption-gets-cold-shoulder-from-remittance-companies/