For many people in San Francisco, cryptocurrency remains something out of their reach. Though the fact of the matter is, with each passing day, cryptocurrency continues to make inroads on everyday people’s lives. This is not only happening as a trendy investment, but also as a digital instrument for the payment of goods and services.
Indeed, the crypto-trend is dynamic, and retailers are beginning to accept them. Well, those are the views held chiefly by San Francisco residents lending their voices to the impacts of cryptocurrency on the lives of everyday people – something that no one can wish away.
Everyday People’s Experiences
A chemistry teacher at the College of San Mateo, Jeff Flowers, says he’s glad to be in the vanguard of economic innovation. Flowers, who paid for a cup of coffee and pastries at San Mateo’s Dianda with a bitcoin-loaded card, showed visible elation that the transaction went through without a hitch. He pointed out that he used a BitPay debit card for the transaction.
Another San Francisco resident making the most of cryptocurrency is Marisha Sahay. She stores her Bitcoin using Coinbase mobile wallet, and made a recent drink purchase at Stookeys Club Moderne. Sahay laments that whenever she visits India, she would exchange her US dollars for Indian rupees. This lost her a lot of money to Indian government. She is nonetheless hopeful that cryptocurrency will become a global payment standard someday and eliminate the need to carry cash.
James Canton is the next cryptocurrency user who believes that more people will key into the concept of cryptocurrency this year. Canton posits that 2018 will witness more and more people hitting the grocery stores, going on vacation, and footing all bills in cryptocurrency. He concludes by saying that cryptocurrency will become the mainstream payment instrument in 2018.
Acceptance Among Retailers
Apart from Dianda and Stookeys Club Moderne, other businesses are increasingly accepting cryptocurrency for payments. For example, Purse OI sells Amazon products at discount prices, but only accepts bitcoins for such discounts.
Overstock.com doesn’t want to lag behind other businesses that are jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. The retailer forecasts that it will sell up $10 million worth of goods paid for in cryptocurrencies.
Background Information
Founded in 2011, BitPay devised a technology that will enable its card users convert bitcoins to US dollars. The best part? It all happens with just a couple of taps on their smartphones. CEO Stephen Pair told abc7news that when the taps are made, the user can perform any transaction on VISA card-compatible ATMs or POS terminals. Pair also disclosed that with the card, users can spend as high as $500,000 or $1,000,000 every day.
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