http://www.dn.se/ekonomi/bitcoins-har-samma-fordelar-som-guld/It's a story in DN (Dagens Nyheter) about a Swedish taxi driver who recently started accepting bitcoin as a payment option.
Efter fem år som taxichaufför har Mats Mood, 39 år, tagit betalt i de flesta valutor. Men i våras bestämde han sig för att utöka servicen i taxibilen. Nu kan hans kunder även betala resorna i den digitala valutan bitcoins. ”Det tar bara några sekunder så är transaktionen genomförd”, säger han.
My translation:
After five years as a taxi driver, 39 year old Mats Mood has been accepting most currencies. But this spring he decided to extend the service level. His customers can now also pay with the digital currency bitcoin. "It only takes a few seconds until the transaction is completed", he says.
Overall, it's a positive story. Of course, there is the obligatory drug reference towards the end. I would guess that a google translate of the article would be sufficient for anyone not native in swedish.
Google translation:
After five years as a taxi driver , Mats Mood , 39, took charge in most currencies. But last spring , he decided to expand the service in the taxi car. Now, his customers also pay travel in the digital currency, bitcoins . " It only takes a few seconds for the transaction is completed ," he says .
" Bitcoin accepted here " it says on a sign next to the other price information on one side of Mats Moods taxicab . It is also a sign with the same message in the window that customers on the passenger seat can see from inside the car .
- There are many who have been pleasantly surprised that I accept bitcoin . Many seem to feel the currency, and wondering how it works, but the Inquirer has often not bitcoins themselves , he says , adding that so far there is no customer who has paid in the currency that is based on digital transactions free from a central publisher, such as the Riksbank 's for the Swedish Krona.
To pay for a taxi ride with bitcoins requires an app that provides accounts to manage bitcoins such as Block Chain or Bitcoinwallet as Food Mood uses .
- This is a way to offer a better service to my clients . Moreover , it is practically as easy to use bitcoins , he says.
In April plummeted rate for bitcoins , then Riksbank began to track the performance of the currency. Since bitcoins are used to a limited extent it does not look like the Swedish krona will competition be legal tender in the near future . What appears more worrying is the lack of a central publisher which the Bank believes may pose risks to individuals who use bitcoins .
Although currency requires a certain type of software on your computer or mobile, you can bring your currency anywhere, you can store it anywhere - the list of benefits goes on , says Mats Mood .
- Bitcoins have the same benefits as gold, it is constant , there are only a certain number and it can not be faked. Meanwhile, the same anonymity and cash. It feels like it has been awarded with the best of all worlds and threw it together in a currency , he says.
But in many cases the currency's strength is also its weakness. The currency's anonymity has sometimes made it easier to buy drugs over the internet. Moreover, the currency is not tamperproof but it has happened to currency exchange websites been hacked and people have been robbed of their bitcoins .
But bitcoinentusiaster as Mats Mood is about freedom and the idea of setting up their own rules for their money management .
- With bitcoins you have power over your own resources. I see bitcoins as a rescue from the Swedish monetary system with the Riksbank at the head and a bunch of other "lovely" banks in the center that allows an infinite credit , he says.
