Hong Kong Taxis Are a Perfect Stablecoin Test Case
The city’s cash-diehard cabs will accept digital payments from April. If cryptocurrency works for them, it can work for anyone.
The last bastion of cash is crumbling.
Photographer: Lam Yik/BloombergAsia’s last bastion of Luddite resistance to modern payment technology is finally crumbling. From April 1, Hong Kong’s cash-loving cabbies will be required to offer passengers at least two alternatives to banknotes.
The drivers will be free to choose their digital-payment options. Most will probably install Octopus Holdings Ltd.’s readers, since Hong Kong residents use the ubiquitous stored-value card — or its app equivalent — on trains, buses and ferries anyway. The Octopus network can also be tapped by travelers from mainland China to pay via their Alipay and WeChat Pay accounts back home.