Bitcoin (BTC) adoption is often discussed in terms of price cycles, institutional products, and macro hedging. Akin Fernandez, founder and CEO of Azteco, sees it differently. He argues that Bitcoin’s next phase of growth will come from making it easy for people to use very small amounts, especially in regions where traditional financial rails are either inaccessible or unnecessary.
During a recent interview on TheStreet Roundtable, Fernandez described Azteco as a company built around Bitcoin’s technical reality rather than its mythology.
“Many people believe that Bitcoin is a form of money,” he said. “And in fact, it isn’t. It’s just a database.”
Azteco sells prepaid Bitcoin vouchers, similar to gift cards, that give users direct access to the Bitcoin network. Fernandez compared it to how people top up phones around the world.
“Millions upon millions of people on Earth top up their mobile phones in advance,” he said. “Essentially, this is exactly what Azteco does.”
The model is designed for scale at the smallest level. Instead of onboarding users through exchanges and compliance-heavy platforms, Azteco focuses on Bitcoin purchases as low as $10 or $20.
“We’re talking about very, very small amounts of Bitcoin,” Fernandez said. “That is an underserved population.”
International Adoption and Challenges
That approach is gaining traction outside the United States. Fernandez said Brazil has emerged as Azteco’s fastest-growing market.
“We’re seeing the biggest growth in market penetration in Brazil,” he explained. “They seem to be more able to understand the proposition that we’re offering them.”
The United States remains a different challenge. Fernandez said adoption there is less about infrastructure and more about education.
“It’s a matter of education in the United States, so that people can not only understand the benefit of Bitcoin but also have easy access to it,” he said. “Going to a Walmart, picking up a tag off the aisle and buying ten dollars worth of Bitcoin.”
Integrating Bitcoin into Everyday Activities
That simplicity could matter as new platforms integrate Bitcoin into everyday activity. Rumble recently announced that viewers would be able to tip their favorite creators using Bitcoin, even creating a dedicated wallet for the platform.
“If people are tipping creators with Bitcoin they’re going to need a trivially easy way to buy a small amount,” Fernandez said. “This doesn’t require an exchange.”
Bitcoin does not need to start as a store of value or an investment product. It can start as a utility. By focusing on access rather than massive purchases from financial institutions and digital asset treasuries, Fernandez believes the network can reach billions of users.