Chinese electronics company Xiaomi has shut down speculation regarding its involvement in a change executed by Xiaomi shop based in Portugal to begin allowing payments in Bitcoin. Mi Store Portugal, which happens to be a Xiaomi vendor in the nation, announced on Facebook this Wednesday that it now enables buyers to buy devices using five different virtual currencies. These currencies include Ether, Bitcoin, Tether, Dash, and the Utrust token.
A representative for Xiaomi later reacted to the update on the Chinese social networking platform Weibo. He went on to stress that the Mi Store Portugal is, in fact, not directly associated with Xiaomi’s operations.
The person stated that they are concerned about the news regarding Mi Store Portugal accepting virtual currency payments on foreign social networking platforms. The spokesperson also stated that Mi Store Portugal is definitely a third-party certified parent, operating separately in Portugal.
Afterwards, Mi Store Portugal removed the statement on August 6, also taking down other information relevant to the announcement from its website, i.e., one stating that its customers would be able to choose the payment-in-cryptocurrency option at checkout.
The updated payment choice is allowed via a joint venture with Utrust, which is a blockchain tech payment platform based in Europe. Utrust stated in a now-removed Tweet put up on Wednesday that Xiaomi is the second-biggest phone company in the world, and now their regional branch is now accepting the “Money of Tomorrow.”
When reached out to by a source for comment, the company did not immediately respond.
According to information from international industry analysis company Counterpoint, Xiaomi overtook international smartphone titan Apple as the second-most prominent mobile company in the second fiscal quarter of this year. Mi Store Portugal is the sole official retailer of Xiaomi’s authorized products sold in Portugal. The firm’s website notes that the retailer operations are under European regulation. As of now, the company owns six brick-and-mortar stores across the country and is undergoing the process of expanding further.
The marketing director of Mi Store Portugal reportedly stated that the firm’s decision to allow cryptocurrency payments is in alignment with Xiaomi’s aim for innovation.
As reported previously, Portugal has steadily been expanding as a digital-currency-friendly country throughout recent years with the government not imposing any taxes on retail cryptocurrency trading. Earlier in the year, a domestic energy trading company began allowing Bitcoin payment for power bills.
