Consumers in China can now purchase smartphones with bitcoin from a major carrier, after a local division of China Telecom announced a promotional offer for new Samsung phones this week.
China Telecom’s subsidiary Jiangsu Telecom, in Jiangsu province on the east coast of the country, posted the offer on its website. Translated details were scarce, but it appears customers have the chance to use bitcoin instead of yuan to pre-order Samsung’s 2014 clamshell form-factor Android phone.
Bitcoin’s popularity has soared higher in China than anywhere else in the world recently, with world-record prices appearing on BTC China, the country’s main exchange and now the world’s busiest. BTC China was leading the world in bitcoin value even in April, when prices passed $300.