In Padua and Modena the first experiences. Starbucks is also preparing for the adventure
The first Bitcoin Café in Europe will be inaugurated in March. And Rome will pave the way. The initiative is the brainchild of Coinbar, the Italian platform for trading cryptocurrencies founded by Antonello Cugusi, and Josas, the real-estate brokerage that selected the location: Via Barberini, in the heart of the capital city. The Bitcoin Café will be much more than a bar: it has been conceived as a “meeting point” for cryptocurrency fans, or for anyone wanting to understand the opportunities offered by the use of digital currencies, or simply for the curious. That is not all: the bar will also feature an exchange service, meaning that customers can trade across a basket of cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin as well as Ethereum and Ripple – and received assistance from the platform.
While the Bitcoin is unique, other initiatives featuring cryptocurrencies are beginning to spread: for anyone who wants to trade their paper money for virtual money, the website Coin Arm Radar (https://coinatmradar.com/country/105/bitcoin-atm-italy/) offers a map of all the ATM machines that currently accept bitcoin in Italy. Last year in Padua, the Bar Gancino in Piazza Duomo installed a special machine that converts euro into bitcoin: 0,0020 bitcoin for every 10 euro, which are added directly to one’s personal virtual portfolio (an account is mandatory). And the Lambruscheria wine shop – in the city centre of Modena – acceptsd cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Litecoin, Mastermoney Monero to buy bottles of wine or an aperitif.
Starbucks is also gearing up for the bitcoin adventure : the chain of coffee shops will accept payment in bitcoin through the Bakkt futures trading platform .
Starbucks is also gearing up for the bitcoin adventure: the chain of coffee shops will accept payment in bitcoin through the Bakkt futures trading platform. The service will be launched in July of this year. Analysts and experts predict that the Starbucks debut will be trailblazer for the spread of cryptocurrencies on a massive scale, for two reasons: the size of the Starbucks chain, with its 30,000 Starbucks Cafés around the world, and the small amount of money involved that will help people become “familiar” with virtual currencies.
Paying for your coffee in bitcoin will be a way to begin to understand cryptocurrencies, and to spur other chains and companies to allow “bitcoin” payment. Last October Sorgenia added the option of paying its electricity bills with bitcoin – the first energy company in Italy to do so – thanks to the collaboration with the Italian startup Chainside. Customers who have a cryptocurrency account can select this method of payment on the Sorgenia marketplace on the web or app, like a normal credit card payment. The value charged to the customer corresponds to the value of the virtual currency at the moment of the transaction, with no additional fees
The value charged to the customer corresponds to the value of the virtual currency at the moment of the transaction, with no additional fees aggiuntiva.
While it’s true that there is a proliferation of genuine initiatives, scams involving cryptocurrencies are growing at the same speed, especially on the social networks: on Facebook and Instagram, illegal activities have been discovered that use cloned celebrity accounts. Over 120 websites have already been shut down by Consob since July 2019, most of them created to swindle users by promising huge returns on cryptocurrency investments.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
translation by Olga Barmine
