Fast food giant McDonald’s began accepting Bitcoin payments in El Salvador on Tuesday, at the same time as the nation became the first to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender.
Although the law states that companies must accept Bitcoin, many were skeptical that large companies could integrate Bitcoin payment solutions at the time the law went into effect.
To the surprise of many Bitcoiners, McDonald’s in El Salvador can and will accept payments with Bitcoin. The company has managed to integrate OpenNode lightning payments into its services, which means anyone can buy food from a McDonald’s in El Salvador using the lightning network by scanning a paper receipt with a QR code on their phone.
Photo courtesy of Journalist and Bitcoin OG Aaron of Wirdum
Julie Landrum, head of growth for OpenNode, said:
“We are very excited to work with McDonald’s to help make the adoption of the country’s Bitcoin law an operational success. It’s just a great opportunity to demonstrate the power of Lightning Network for high-volume, low-value everyday shopping at the world’s most popular and successful fast food chain. It is clear that another significant milestone on the path to the growth of the bitcoin economy.
OpenNode’s collaboration with McDonald’s provided a timely payment solution. However, downloads of native Bitcoin Chivo apps in El Salvador are temporarily unavailable due to increased demand. All Salvadorans in the country have or will soon be able to use $ 30 Bitcoin given to them through Chivo.
It remains to be seen whether other large U.S. companies in El Salvador, such as Nike and Walmart, have also enabled payments with Bitcoin.