2013-08-12 Vancouver businesses jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon

[MichaelBliss]

Looks like The Bitcoin Co op is getting some attention in the news!  

This is from Global News, one of Canada's big news outlets -
http://globalnews.ca/news/775078/vancouver-businesses-jump-on-the-the-bitcoin-bandwagon/

Here's the text from the link:

A new and innovative payment system has a number of Vancouver business owners intrigued.

A slew of local businesses, from coffee shops to moving companies, are adopting Bitcoin – a new currency that many believe will revolutionize the way we think about money.

Bitcoin is a digital currency, meaning it has no paper trace and lives entirely online.

It is not regulated by any financial institutions. It is decentralized, and can’t be influenced by governments.

The concept of an open, Internet-only payment system took off in the “post-Occupy-Wall-Street” era.

“Bitcoin was really born out of banking bailouts,” says Michael Bliss with Vancouver Bitcoin Co-op. “It is the future of money, no doubt.”

The Bitcoin Co-op that Bliss co-founded is a local network for people interested in Bitcoins — traders, investors and merchants.

The latter are growing increasingly fond of the new digital currency because it lowers the cost of doing business.

To accept a payment in Bitcoin, a merchant has to pay a one per cent transaction fee. In comparison, to accept a credit card payment, the merchant will have to pay anywhere from 2 to 4 per cent per transaction.

Sweet Tooth Café on East Hastings has been experimenting with Bitcoins for about a year.

Owner Ganji Malerba says even though she knows little about how Bitcoin actually works, she appreciates the idea of low transaction fees, and that is why she got onboard.
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“I was pissed off at the time at financial institutions. We can’t get away without paying any fee, and we are all slaves to them,” says Malerba.

For Wayne Taylor, the owner of Blenz franchise on Seymour and Robson, security is another reason to accept Bitcoin.

Bitcoin relies on encryption to make transactions, which are stored publicly and broadcast between users. But like with cash, the identity of a Bitcoin user is not associated with a transaction unless it is explicitly revealed.

Each transaction is validated by the so-called Bitcoin “miners,” who are then rewarded by generating new Bitcoins.

“Most of the criminals are focused on compromising your personal bank accounts. It happens every day,” says Taylor. “Security is an issue in everything. The people who put together the Bitcoin are extreme on security.”

Taylor says besides low transaction fees and a comparatively low possibility of fraud, he likes the concept of a currency that is not bound down by a particular government.

“It allows people a little bit more freedom to do what they need to do,” says Taylor. “I think that people need to start gaining their freedom back, and I think Bitcoin is one way to do that.”

Watch: How does a Bitcoin transaction work?
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Mitchell Demeter, co-founder of Bitcoiniacs – The Bitcoin Store, Vancouver’s first physical Bitcoin exchange, likes the revolutionary aspect of the new currency.

“There are a lot of implications of it globally that we like, so we are helping develop the economy locally and see where it goes,” says Demeter.

Demeter’s exchange is a physical place, where people can not only change some cash for Bitcoins and vice versa, but also get any of their questions answered.

“It is a very complex system,” says Demeter. “There is a lot to it. It takes a few times for people to hear it, and people always have a lot of questions.”

Organizer of Vancouver’s Bitcoin meet-up Andrew Wagner says the biggest reason quoted by people who do not trust Bitcoin is that they can’t hold it physically.

“But you don’t really do that with a debit card either,” says Wagner. “It is not really that much of a far-fetched step…A hundred years from now, we are not going to be using paper money. That seems inconceivable to me. I like the direction it is going – culturally and politically.”

But like any currency, Bitcoin comes with its concerns and weaknesses.

For one, it is fairly new, and as such, its price can be volatile.

As of Monday morning, Bitcoins were trading for $105 a piece. In April, it passed the $200-mark for the first time, followed by a series of wild swings.

And while many businesses are experimenting with it, none are putting the fate of their business entirely in the hands of Bitcoin.

Gurmeet Gupta, the owner of India Gate restaurant on Robson, has been accepting Bitcoins since May.

“For me, it is experimenting with a new market,” says Gupta. “We are in a touristy area, so we get US dollars a lot, and this is just another currency. But we are cautious too, because we do not know how long this currency is going to be around for.”

Gupta says the volatility is his biggest concern.

“As a restaurant, we have day-to-day expenses. [Our account] is set up such that it converts back into Canadian dollars and goes into our bank account. We don’t keep Bitcoins.”

Other business owners like Doug Taylor, the owner of Central Bistro on Denman and Comox, says he is in no rush to get rid of the Bitcoins he gets from his customers.

“I am going to keep it as an investment for now, and see what happens to the value.”

Taylor says while he does not have any major reservations about using Bitcoin, he has seen a pretty small volume of Bitcoin transactions so far — coming mostly from tech savvy customers who already know about it.

“It is a fairly small transaction. You can convert it to cash pretty easily…If it got to the point where 50 per cent of our income came from Bitcoin, I might be a little more cautious,” says Taylor.

Economic analyst Robert Levy says to him, the lack of regulation is the key issue.

“From the standpoint of just conducting a transaction, it is ideal. It is very efficient,” says Levy. “So as a consumer, it is fast and it is easy. You know the money is secure, and you don’t have to worry about counterfeiting. But it is the fact that when you have a system like this, it is unregulated and it opens it up for money laundering and stuff like that.”

But Simon Fraser University economics professor David Andolfatto says the lack of regulation is the whole point of Bitcoin.

“I do not think this stuff can be regulated. I don’t think there is anything to fear as far as the authorities are concerned. Let people go and do whatever they want to do with Bitcoins.”

Last month, Thailand became the first country to declare Bitcoin illegal due to “lack of existing applicable laws, capital controls and the fact that Bitcoin straddles multiple financial facets.”

Andolfatto say the ban is going to be nearly impossible to enforce.

“As long as people can do these things anonymously, I just do not understand how it is going to be possible to regulate unless you confiscate everybody’s computers.”

While Andolfatto says it is hard to forecast the future of Bitcoin, he thinks it is here to stay.

“It would be foolish to say it is a passing fad, because with technological development and the demand for anonymity in making transactions, it is potentially here for a very long time.”

[runam0k]

Cool.

[odolvlobo]

Unfortunately, it perpetuates the Thailand ban myth.

[marcus_of_augustus]

I got this gut feeling Vancouver is going to become a hotbed for bitcoin development, innovation and activity ...

The california and new york statists have made their intentions clear (and they have many willing mouthpieces trumpeting the righteousness of their 'legal' protection racketeering) so B.C. for the win. There are other compelling reasons besides and they'll become apparent in time.

Also I think the Co-Op model has huge potential for bitcoiners. Since btc can be treated like a commodity Co-Op members can be considered as commodity producers, traders, collectors, etc. A Co-Op exchange, a card for members that can be used at a huge variety of participating stores and paid off monthly using bitcoin or other ... the legal infrastructure is all in place and needs little tweaking for bitcoin. It could easily be like all the well-known Co-Ops of farmers, grocers, etc.

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

I got this gut feeling Vancouver is going to become a hotbed for bitcoin development, innovation and activity ...

The california and new york statists have made their intentions clear (and they have many willing mouthpieces trumping the righteousness of their 'legal' protection racketeering) so B.C. for the win. There are other compelling reasons besides and they'll become apparent in time.

Also I think the Co-Op model has huge potential for bitcoiners. Since btc can be treated like a commodity Co-Op members can be considered as commodity producers, traders, collectors, etc. A Co-Op exchange, a card for members that can be used at a huge variety of participating stores and paid off monthly using bitcoin or other ... the legal infrastructure is all in place and needs little tweaking for bitcoin. It could easily be like all the well-known Co-Ops of farmers, grocers, etc.

We think we're going to be a hotbed of Bitcoin activity, too!   

We're glad you like our Co-op idea. You pretty much elucidated exactly what we are doing and plan to do. We're trying to reach the masses through Facebook (It's in our signature. Please "like"  ), Meet Up and other sources, to build a larger Bitcoin consumer base so more business will join the Bitcoin economy. It's hard work, but it's a lot of fun.

We think our hard work will be repaid one day, but for now we're doing it for the good of crypto.

[kjlimo]

Unfortunately, it perpetuates the Thailand ban myth.

That's a myth???  Good to know.  I had heard that rumor, but hadn't read anything directly on it.

It's amazing how much misinformation goes around.

This article is clearly awesome & sounds like the community in Berlin.  We'll see where the next bitcoin community pops up!

[GenTarkin]

Its really exciting to cities at a time start to embrace bitcoin on the physical store font business aspect! Way to go vancouver. I know coinmap.org shows over 40 places around vancouver alone... Im sure there are more too!

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

We're signing up more venues every day. We're being filmed for TV interviews today and tomorrow.

It helps that we have a really diverse team in the Co-op. We have programmers, financial people, and social media people (me!  )

My role has been to run our Meet Up group, and use other larger Meet Up groups I run to promise customers to any restaurant, pub or coffee shop who agrees to accept Bitcoin.

[The Bitcoin Catalog]

We're signing up more venues every day. We're being filmed for TV interviews today and tomorrow.

It helps that we have a really diverse team in the Co-op. We have programmers, financial people, and social media people (me!  )

My role has been to run our Meet Up group, and use other larger Meet Up groups I run to promise customers to any restaurant, pub or coffee shop who agrees to accept Bitcoin.

Awesome! Keep up the good work 

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

We're signing up more venues every day. We're being filmed for TV interviews today and tomorrow.

It helps that we have a really diverse team in the Co-op. We have programmers, financial people, and social media people (me!  )

My role has been to run our Meet Up group, and use other larger Meet Up groups I run to promise customers to any restaurant, pub or coffee shop who agrees to accept Bitcoin.

Awesome! Keep up the good work 

Thanks! Spread the word! 

[kjlimo]

We're signing up more venues every day. We're being filmed for TV interviews today and tomorrow.

It helps that we have a really diverse team in the Co-op. We have programmers, financial people, and social media people (me!  )

My role has been to run our Meet Up group, and use other larger Meet Up groups I run to promise customers to any restaurant, pub or coffee shop who agrees to accept Bitcoin.

Is that a bitcoin ATM on your Facebook page?  Do you have one up & running in Vancouver?

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

We will soon, if you like our page! Actually, we will soon, anyways. We just wanted you to follow us.

[ArticMine]

Bit-pay exchange rate 102.3858 CAD
Virtex ask 97.59869 CAD

This means a close to 5% discount by paying with Bitcoin at these businesses

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

Bit-pay exchange rate 102.3858 CAD
Virtex ask 97.59869 CAD

This means a close to 5% discount by paying with Bitcoin at these businesses

Well, sometimes we arrange actual discounts with the venues themselves. For example, we got Gurmeet at India Gate to give 30% off to all women paying in BTC on Ladies Night. We're thinking to try a 10-15% discount there for everyone, next time. This way, people are less likely to pay in fiat for the reason that they don't want to have to re-purchase their spent bitcoins to maintain their investment balance.

[tinus42]

Unfortunately, it perpetuates the Thailand ban myth.

That's a myth???  Good to know.  I had heard that rumor, but hadn't read anything directly on it.

It's amazing how much misinformation goes around.

This article is clearly awesome & sounds like the community in Berlin.  We'll see where the next bitcoin community pops up!

Read this thread, started by the guy who claimed it was "illegal" (he only was advised by the Bank of Thailand not to trade Bitcoins and shut down his exchange). His claim was thoroughly debunked.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=264203.0

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

Unfortunately, it perpetuates the Thailand ban myth.

That's a myth???  Good to know.  I had heard that rumor, but hadn't read anything directly on it.

It's amazing how much misinformation goes around.

This article is clearly awesome & sounds like the community in Berlin.  We'll see where the next bitcoin community pops up!

Read this thread, started by the guy who claimed it was "illegal" (he only was advised by the Bank of Thailand not to trade Bitcoins and shut down his exchange). His claim was thoroughly debunked.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=264203.0

We informed her of this in retrospect, but she said we won't have enough camera time tomorrow to clarify on air. I think it's a minor issue, though.

[kjlimo]

We will soon, if you like our page! Actually, we will soon, anyways. We just wanted you to follow us.

Was this in response to the bitcoin ATM question?  Do you have one up & running?  Which model are you purchasing and is it legal in Canada?

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

We will soon, if you like our page! Actually, we will soon, anyways. We just wanted you to follow us.

Was this in response to the bitcoin ATM question?  Do you have one up & running?  Which model are you purchasing and is it legal in Canada?

It was in response to that! There is not an ATM up and running, yet. Bitcoin ATMs (10 of them, I believe) were purchased by Bitcoiniacs, an affiliate of the Co-op. They didn't tell us the model, yet. I can report back, soon. I'm not sure if it's legal. I assume they did their homework.

[ruletheworld]

Canadians for the win! Glad to see another active Bitcoin community. The next Berlin? Or perhaps even better.