Bitcoin Forum

Hello everyone, Suppose I want to pay for my consumed meal in a restaurant. But my phone with wallet, (or my hardware wallet) just broke; How do I pay then? Is there a crypto solution that I can still pay? Or is the only solution, that I have to make a verbal promise with the shop owner.

Edit: I mean the above, assuming that Bitcoin or Monero has become mainstream, commonly used money in society; That paying in cash is no longer an option.

Regarding Bitcoin, Monero, or ectc.

Thanks for the answers.  ;)

Well, if your phone and hardware wallet are both broken, you could always try the old fashioned method of paying with actual cash! Or, if you're feeling brave, you could offer to wash dishes in the kitchen as payment. Just kidding!  :D
 
But seriously, it's always a good idea to have a backup payment method on hand, like a credit card or some spare cash in your wallet, just in case of emergencies. Suppose your wallet isn't broken, but you have no internet connection as a result of a network outage. How would you pay then? You never know when technology might fail you!

It’s a question that answers itself, okay let me put it to you like this if you weren’t a crypto-currency enthusiast and you have such encounter where you have no cash and no cards to pay for what you purchase what would you do?

It’s obvious you tell them to either put it on their credit note or they can trust you to follow you, so is it in this very situation, you are outside and the device you have for crypto-currency transactions is gone/broken there is no hope for you in such situations except there is a bitcoin ATM in proximity.

You can learn more about bitcoin ATM here.
https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/financials/cryptocurrency-stocks/bitcoin-atm/

If he doesn't have access to his crypto wallet, a Bitcoin ATM would be of no help to him. However, if he used cash to buy bitcoin at the ATM, he could use it to pay the restaurant bill. But I find it hard to believe that a business would only accept cryptocurrencies and not fiat.

OP, there is another solution. You can simply text the payment information to someone who has access to their crypto wallet to do the transaction for you. You can pay him back later.

That's why you need to backup your seed phrase in about 2 to 3 places if such thing happened you could call a friend to help you sort out the bill after which you got back home then you login the next device were you saved your details and import them back to sell out your bitcoin or what currency you hold in that wallet. At this point a broken smartphone or hardware can not proffer a solution to your bills so they only way is either you phone a family relatives or friends to assist you with the bill after which you got home you sell and pay back to them.

You can always use your laptop or netbook with bitcoin wallet installed for payment instead, but chances of you having all your devices broken is really small.
For people who are saying that laptop is big and stuff like that, there are simple small devices that can be transformed in to DIY hardware wallets, based on TTGO T-display, ESP32 devices, etc.
Last option is paying with Bitcoin notes, paper wallets, or just use cash payment, this is anonymous and you don't need to use any electronic device for them.

CMIIW but I don't think any hardware wallet allows to autonomously pay any good or service with it, because they are usually cold wallets, that is to say they are not connected to any communication network. So they can't broadcast any transaction even if few of them are able to display signed transactions AFAIK. Unfortunately if the device bringing your wallet is out of order there is almost no way for you to pay. If you have some paper wallets, collectibles aka physical bitcoins, things like opendime or tangem notes, or some private keys with funds on them you can hand over them, but that's it.

Is crypto the only payment option you have? I don't think many people will have this kind of experience because I think the average person still has money in their pocket or maybe on their ATM card. Also, it is very unsafe to take hardware wallet with you wherever you go ^{[e.g. traveling],} it is risky and it is recommended that you only carry small amounts of money with you.

We're still in a world that hasn't fully adopted crypto/ bitcoin everywhere, so carry money everywhere you go for easy payments - unless you plan to pay with crypto and go somewhere that accepts it.

I would say the best advice is given by the first reply.  Pay with cash. If your phone is broke, you won't be able to use it, thus you can't pay with your phone.  Honestly this kind of situation only needs a little logical thinking.  If you don't have the means to pay in cryptocurrency then pay with cash.

Or if you have laptop in you and you have installed wallet on that laptop or centralized account that holds a crypto balance then you can use your laptop to pay with your meal. 

That's a horrible advice, giving someone access to your wallet so they can help you with transactions is a huge security risk. In the future there might be a separate wallet device that can scan QR codes for payments, or maybe existing hardware wallets will evolve in that direction. But so far Bitcoin payments are very rare, so there's no demand for that.

However, OP's question highlights a big flaw of Bitcoin - not having a physical option is bad, because electronics might not be available 100% of the time - there can be remote locations with poor Internet connectivity, there can be power outage and so on. Cash would still work fine in such situations.

I think we need not to be heavily reliant on one type of payment as maintainance or network outage can happen(in terms of internet) and just to be prudent, carry some cash on you, if you have a backup try get wallet restored from there and pay for your meal :)

If you are a regular you might be allowed to pay later, just to keep that customer owner relationship  going, but if not verbal agreements are going to be a tough thing to get to as the guys might have trust issues....but to avoid all this plan your day and have backup solutions to settle your bill.

Sorry mate please check my post carefully, I didn't say op should share his wallet details with anyone rather op calling a friend or relative to help him clear the bills, after he got home he might decides to login one of those device he saved his phrase and then do his conversion after which he may send back to those he's friends who sent him money to clear the bill. How do you think I will give someone such advise after knowing is too risky sharing private keys and seed phrase, how could you have reasoned that I will advise op to share his keys. Saving 2 to 3 places I meant was like storing in his first laptop, maybe flash drive and any of his smartphone he don't regularly use.

Assuming your phone or hardware broke (which high unlikely to happen) and you need to pay your meals, but you can't since you don't have cash, do you think it's already an end of your life? you can entrust your car's key, ID card, or anything that they accept and you can back to your home to grab some cash to pay your meals.

You're make your life complicated, it's like teaching an old guy how to buy a burger when a 5 years old kid can do it.

I don’t think a verbal promise to the owner is even an option, it’s expected that you pay the bill there and then, they would have to trust you to take your word for it. In this case I think the best option is to find an alternative like paying with cash or your credit card, I don’t think there is a big problem here unless the restaurant is accepting only cryptocurrency and they are refusing other forms of payment.

In a business standpoint, verbal agreement is not accepted, creating a promissory note notarized by a lawyer is the way to go but it makes things more complicated just because of an unpaid single meal.  It is either you need to leave some valuable items not less than the amount of value of the meal to ensure that you will come back to pay for the bill.  You also need to create a written agreement that you voluntarily left your items and will come back to settle the amount to retrieve your item.  The written agreement is for the security of both party.  That is one solution if the owner of the establishment agree or propose the idea.  Else you will end up talking to police authority and talk your way out to settle your bill.

Here is one scenario if a person failed to pay his bill: https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/what-happens-if-cant-pay-restaurant-bill

So the best thing @OP can do is always bring an alternative means to pay his expenditure, in case his phone accidentally broke.

I'm not in a country where bitcoin is legal tender, so I'm not worried about your problem. But the advice that makes the most sense in your situation is, pay them cash, it will solve your problem.

So far I have two possible payment options that I can always use when needed. Besides having cash, I also have some money at an ATM that I can still use if needed. The OP probably has one as well, so he doesn't have to worry though it's very rare to find someone having an unlucky day about hardware wallet and phone broke together.

The probability of their phone failing is low, since these are quite reliable devices, but still it can happen and then you can find yourself in an awkward position (and also, any device can be lost or stolen). You will need to pay some kind of bill, but you will not be able to (imagine that the era of digital money will come).

I assume that OP was referring to the method of payment specifically in cryptocurrency, and we need to abstract from traditional payment methods, such as bank cards, cash, and the like. And here it turns out that you can’t do without devices, electricity (battery) and the Internet.

How about having a hard copy (disposable) option, be it a card or something similar QR code or barcode with a wallet containing a small amount of cryptocurrency (10$, 25$, 50$)? The waiter in the restaurant scans this code (well, all phones can’t break at the same time :)) and gets access to the contents of the wallet (the qr code contains private key?), transfers them to the restaurant’s wallet, and returns the change to another address that you provide (or doesn't return: leaves as tip). I know it sounds a bit complicated and not very advanced in the digital age, but what other options?

if you have the network and other devices to access your wallet I think you can make payments. but if that's not possible, I think you should think of another way of payment. at this time, of course, not all shops or restaurants only accept Bitcoin and other crypto. but there are still other means of payment that you can do. and I'm sure when you travel, you keep fiat and cards in your wallet that you can use anywhere.

reading through op's advice, I think you understood it in the wrong light, he didn't say he should give his wallet address to friends or family members but to log in his addresses into 2 or 3 of his personal devices, so in case of his emergency, he could comfortable phone a loved one and have them refunded once he gets home.

But, it's not wise to step out without an alternative, aside from a broken wallet, electronics are not to be trusted 💯, what of poor Network coverage?
Or your device just gets missing??
Go padded, fully padded to avoid stories as this.

Use cash or cashless remittance app. Its very rare case that you only rely on bitcoin wallet or hardwallet for payment. As much as possible someone must have card or debit to pay for the bill just in case that you dont have cash on hand. I believe the problem isnt worth thinking and I suppose that you can overcome this easily. Bitcoin doesnt exist when we use papermoney.

You can always get another device to log in and input your keys, you may quickly locate a near by tech engineer to help you fix your damaged phone if not beyond repairs, you could quickly ask for bitcoin ATM if one is located near your location, but let make this as we are in reality, did your phone got damaged before you went there or after you have eaten then you discovered it damaged.


You will hardly see someone to grant you that, everyone is out for making business except if the person knows you in person, then i can say you might be lucky if he will also still grant you such request on faint promises.

This is a humorous and smart question that necessitates a solid response. If your phone breaks, you should live the item and go fix your phone or hardware wallet, and I believe when you created a wallet, you have the seed phrase saved somewhere as a backup in case of something emergence like this, once your gadget is fixed, you can come back and pay for the item you want to buy, I think most places that accept Bitcoin as a means of payment usually accept payment before they give you their services due to network complication or anyone attempting to outsmart them, usually a block confirmation of payment will be seen first before they give you that item.

However, have you thought why your hardware or mobile phone will just break all of a sudden if you handle it with care? Learn to also take care and maintain your device with proper instructions, those precautions will also save you from this kind of embarrassment.

Some of the people above have indeed read it that way. In my initial post, I added the following sentence:

If it's already broken then there's nothing you can do about it but you can still recover it as long as you have a backup, But you can't pay any more at that time so you really need to use other currency like fiat or card.

I mean your gonna need your phone if you wanted to really pay on Bitcoin so maybe get it fix first, Or maybe you could somehow borrow a device from your friend or family and then open your wallet on that device to pay.

I would rather spend time on prevention!

Some suggestions:

1. The good old pay attention to your surroundings
2. Set aside backup device/s
3. Consider buying rugged smartphones
4. Buy a phone case aimed for extra protection/improves grip
5. Setting aside one or two paper wallets with small amounts could be good as well

Yes. That is the correct conclusion.  ;)