Starbucks, Nordstrom And Whole Foods Now Accept Bitcoin

[wuvdoll]

I am not sure if this is the type of adoption we exactly want or we should not want at all. Now, according to the new app we can spend the crypto currency of our choosing wherever we want and the payment goes to them in fiat currency which means we basically purchased whatever we wanted for crypto but at the same time the shop we just purchased stuff from didn't realize that and has no consent over it at all since they are literally getting fiat like they want to. It means maybe this is the way all crypto adoption will go and everyone will be capable of getting that sort of payments available to them without asking permission from the shop owners or maybe shop owners will start to say this sort of payment is not allowed? Time will tell but it will be either huge or will be banned.

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[exstasie]

What makes you think they care about the price? Has any company said they'll actually be holding onto coins, like Overstock? I assume most (or all) of them will be settling to fiat through Gemini.

I'm impressed Gemini can support this. These are huge retail chains. Gemini's books aren't very deep....but I guess they have access to OTC liquidity too.

I think this has a lot to do with prices. they accept cryptocurrency payments, of course, considering price fluctuations. and I thought it happened because they believed that crypto would be used as a currency, on the other hand it was good for crypto development

Gemini's announcement on Medium spells out why merchants are interested:

With Flexa, merchants (i) get significantly less expensive and fraud-resistant transactions, (ii) can use the same payment hardware they currently use, and (iii) receive payment in fiat currency, not crypto. We believe that not only will this result in cost-savings to the merchant, but to the consumer in the long-term as well.

They're "receiv[ing] payment in fiat currency, not crypto." So I don't think they care about prices. They care about cheap merchant fees and cutting down on fraud costs.

[MakeMoneyBtc]

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general are a pretty popular topic in the last months and I've noticed there is an increase in the number of people that have knowledge about it. It looks like big companies are also noticing that and they know this will bring them more profits along with new customers. It's interesting that this is the first time I see this companies, like Starbucks accepting bitcoin even though I follow some news websites regularly.

[samcrypto]

Good news, the adoption is getting better, we will surely hear more good news this year as giant company are starting to adopt in crypto.
This bullish trend will be well supported with big good news, it will not dump anymore.

A huge company like starbucks can result to a more companies to adopt bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, as the market is getting better they are also preparing to join the market so they can have other source of income. Accepting cryptocurrency is not that easy but they are doing their best to make this possible, kudos to those companies.

[AndreyVen]

I am pleasantly surprised by the developments in crypto adoption. We are slowly closing the economic loop. Next up, pay your rent in crypto. Then salary, gas and taxes.

[jseverson]

I am not sure if this is the type of adoption we exactly want or we should not want at all. Now, according to the new app we can spend the crypto currency of our choosing wherever we want and the payment goes to them in fiat currency which means we basically purchased whatever we wanted for crypto but at the same time the shop we just purchased stuff from didn't realize that and has no consent over it at all since they are literally getting fiat like they want to. It means maybe this is the way all crypto adoption will go and everyone will be capable of getting that sort of payments available to them without asking permission from the shop owners or maybe shop owners will start to say this sort of payment is not allowed? Time will tell but it will be either huge or will be banned.

What are you trying to say? By no consent, do you mean the merchants don't know that people are paying with crypto just because they're receiving fiat? If so, I can 100% guarantee you that they know. That's not the type of information that a payment processor can withhold from a client.

As for crypto being immediately converted to fiat, I don't think it's an ideal solution, but it does help with adoption. At the end of the day, end users of crypto will be able to spend their coins better, and businesses have an incentive to accept crypto as payment. It's a fair compromise between the two parties.  Once crypto goes mainstream, they would probably be incentivized to get rid of the third party processor (and accept crypto directly) to streamline costs.

[TheCoinGrabber]

One big question here is what the media and pro establishment response will be, if any. There have been numerous news reports of mcdonalds and other retail giants rolling out their own payment processor systems based around cell phone technology. In mcdonald's case, their implementation was reported to be significantly flawed with many having their money stolen and accounts breached. Crypto currency based payment systems associated with cell phones could be poised to provide a stable and functional merchant platform in an era where such technology is in desperate need.

I wouldn't have tested out that McDonalds' system, sucks to lose money. I use an exchange to pay my bills right off my phone, never once did I had a problem.

I don't know if I missed it in the article but is Starbucks planning to accept bitcoin directly? Or are they making some sort of system where you can top up the account with bitcoin and then use that to pay for the purchase (sort of like what large exchanges do)?

[Xampeuu]

One big question here is what the media and pro establishment response will be, if any. There have been numerous news reports of mcdonalds and other retail giants rolling out their own payment processor systems based around cell phone technology. In mcdonald's case, their implementation was reported to be significantly flawed with many having their money stolen and accounts breached. Crypto currency based payment systems associated with cell phones could be poised to provide a stable and functional merchant platform in an era where such technology is in desperate need.

I wouldn't have tested out that McDonalds' system, sucks to lose money. I use an exchange to pay my bills right off my phone, never once did I had a problem.

I don't know if I missed it in the article but is Starbucks planning to accept bitcoin directly? Or are they making some sort of system where you can top up the account with bitcoin and then use that to pay for the purchase (sort of like what large exchanges do)?

maybe for the first time they will provide payment with bitcoin, and possibly after that it leads to a complex system. but at least with this news, it makes trust in bitcoin by big companies

[kumala_abi]

One big question here is what the media and pro establishment response will be, if any. There have been numerous news reports of mcdonalds and other retail giants rolling out their own payment processor systems based around cell phone technology. In mcdonald's case, their implementation was reported to be significantly flawed with many having their money stolen and accounts breached. Crypto currency based payment systems associated with cell phones could be poised to provide a stable and functional merchant platform in an era where such technology is in desperate need.

I wouldn't have tested out that McDonalds' system, sucks to lose money. I use an exchange to pay my bills right off my phone, never once did I had a problem.

I don't know if I missed it in the article but is Starbucks planning to accept bitcoin directly? Or are they making some sort of system where you can top up the account with bitcoin and then use that to pay for the purchase (sort of like what large exchanges do)?

maybe for the first time they will provide payment with bitcoin, and possibly after that it leads to a complex system. but at least with this news, it makes trust in bitcoin by big companies

it will create hype in crypto market.moreover if its news officially release from this merchants not only articles.investors will be more trust about bitcoin adoption, for them this is not imagination only but the real.

[asriloni]

Good news, the adoption is getting better, we will surely hear more good news this year as giant company are starting to adopt in crypto.
This bullish trend will be well supported with big good news, it will not dump anymore.

A huge company like starbucks can result to a more companies to adopt bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, as the market is getting better they are also preparing to join the market so they can have other source of income. Accepting cryptocurrency is not that easy but they are doing their best to make this possible, kudos to those companies.

But it's still using the app and with the help from some exchange sites to provide the best way to liquidate the bitcoin that used to pay that. If there will be more people feel convenience with used the bitcoin payment system through use the secondary app and than that will open a lot of chance to make more adoption. I hope any companies will consider to add bitcoin as payment system. mainstream adoption will be result on the new ATH for bitcoin. I should say thank you very much for those geminy and anyother crypto platform that helped to push the adoption for bitcoin.

[stompix]

Well, yesterday when I read this I wasn't as enthusiastic as the others, mainly because of the two new intermediaries that are going to be involved in and the fact that you will basically fund an account with your BTC and a 3rd party will act as a custodian, or ...like a bank.

But right now, looking at the fees, seeing how I have a 10sat tx stuck for almost 26 hours and one of 30sat for already 4 hours I can say that at least for now it is good the bulk of the transactions, apart from the funding ones will be offchain or at least seriously batched into big ones.
There are already 40k in the mempool and at 0.5 per usual tx I doubt the merchants would take the hit for a long time before they pull a 2017 again and stop accepting it.
We seriously need easy to understand and easy to use LN clients before we think of BTC as a real alternative payment

[GregH37]

I am not sure if this is the type of adoption we exactly want or we should not want at all. Now, according to the new app we can spend the crypto currency of our choosing wherever we want and the payment goes to them in fiat currency which means we basically purchased whatever we wanted for crypto but at the same time the shop we just purchased stuff from didn't realize that and has no consent over it at all since they are literally getting fiat like they want to. It means maybe this is the way all crypto adoption will go and everyone will be capable of getting that sort of payments available to them without asking permission from the shop owners or maybe shop owners will start to say this sort of payment is not allowed? Time will tell but it will be either huge or will be banned.

It might be the major factor that will boost the adoption of cryptocurrency, but we can still count them as integral part of the process of adoption.

Imagine that we have 70% out of 100 retail companies all adopting cryptocurrency; we don’t need to carry placard or bill board for users to get to know about cryptocurrency, they will through their products get people to know what cryptocurrency is for and how it’s being used, from there we will also get people that will invest or typically start storing crypto in their wallet too for further usage or bank it there for future usage.

[Hydrogen]

Another news story on this with a little more info(see: bolded).

Bitcoin Comes to Whole Foods, Major Retailers in Coup for Digital Currency

Since its arrival ten years ago, cryptocurrency has struggled to enter mainstream commerce. This could soon change thanks to a new initiative, announced on Monday, that will reportedly see big name retailers—including Crate and Barrel, Nordstrom, and Amazon-owned Whole Foods—now accept Bitcoin and three other types of digital money.

The retail initiative comes via a partnership between Flexa, a payments startup, and Gemini, the Winklevoss-owned digital currency company. It works by piggy-backing on the digital scanners that many big retailers use to accept phone-based payments from their apps and from digital wallets like Apple Pay.

What Flexa has done is persuade the retailers—which also include Regal Cinemas, Gamestop and Baskin Robbins—to configure their scanners to recognize payments from its cryptocurrency app, which is called Spedn. The customer simply holds up their app to pay. The store cashier will typically be unaware the customer is paying with crypto, while the merchant receives a real-time payment in the form of their choosing (crypto or dollars).

I was initially skeptical. While the Winklevoss twins enjoy credibility in the Bitcoin realm, merchants have by and large shunned cryptocurrency because of its volatility and its popularity with cybercriminals.

The app, however, appears to work as advertised. This weekend, I tried it by downloading a test version of Spedn, and transferring $10 worth of Bitcoin to it. Next, I went to a Baskin Robbins in my neighborhood and bought a small coffee by scanning the app. It worked. Next, I went to a Starbucks (another partner in the project but an unofficial one) and bought a banana. That worked too. In each case, the app adjusted the amount Bitcoin in my wallet.

The first widespread, low-friction opportunity for consumers to shop with cryptocurrency, this is potentially a big deal. The Spedn app lets users spend four types of crypto: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and a so-called stablecoin called a Gemini Dollar, which is pegged to the value of one U.S. dollar and backed by banking giant State Street.

This Time It’s Different?
Over the years, some merchants have tried accepting Bitcoin, but many eventually abandoned it, in part because of slow processing times on cryptocurrency networks. Meanwhile, for consumers, using cryptocurrency as an everyday payment mechanism has proved impractical because of crypto’s volatility—a wallet with $100 worth of Bitcoin at the start of the week may only be worth $80 by week’s end.

But this time around, merchants may be more comfortable offering crypto payment because the scanner system provides an easy way to accept them, and because Flexa offers a real-time network to clear the transactions. (Gemini takes care of the backend operations, and the merchant typically receives the cash equivalent of whatever crypto amount the consumer paid).

According to Flexa CEO, Tyler Spalding, the appeal for merchants is a chance to lower the commission fees they pay to existing payment networks. Spalding, who is a veteran of the gift card exchange service Raise, added that crypto payments also offer stores a way to experiment with new types of blockchain-based customer rewards.

Fortune contacted six of the retailers participating in the Flexa service, including Whole Foods, and none of them provided a comment. According to a person familiar with the project, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the reason for the silence is because the crypto payments are still an experiment, and retailers don’t want to discuss them until they gain a better understanding of the technology and consumer demand.

On the consumer side, the Flexa system opens the door to an easy way to spend crypto at stores around town. This doesn’t mean, though, that more than a handful of people will actually do this—especially given that other payment methods work perfectly well.

But there is also the volatility issue. The value of the Bitcoin in my Spedn app has jumped around about 5% today alone, which is fine for an investment but not for a day-to-day payment tool.

According to the Winklevoss twins, the volatility problem can be mitigated by using the Gemini Dollar, which is pegged to keep its value very close to $1 U.S. In an interview with Fortune, they predicted Flexa’s ease-of-use combined with the stability of the Gemini Dollar will lead to more widespread use—especially among the growing number of people who appreciate the technology behind cryptocurrency.

“The idea of living on crypto is now a reality. You can now do it,” said Tyler Winklevoss. “For the consumer, it amounts to being crypto conscious. It’s like being green.”

Meanwhile, Flexa’s Spalding told Fortune the company will provide developer kits to other companies that want to incorporate the scanner payment technology into their own apps.

For now, it’s too soon to say if the big name merchants who signed on this week—other names include Petco, Lowe’s and Office Depot—will still be taking the payments this time next year. But, given the history of crypto payments, this week’s announcement feels like a breakthrough.

Update: Flexa has pulled Starbucks from its list of merchants in the demo app, notwithstanding this recent picture of the Winklevoss twins appearing to use it in store.

http://fortune.com/2019/05/13/bitcoin-comes-to-whole-foods-major-retailers-in-coup-for-digital-currency/

....

This addresses some of the frequent questions raised in response to this.

Meanwhile, for consumers, using cryptocurrency as an everyday payment mechanism has proved impractical because of crypto’s volatility—a wallet with $100 worth of Bitcoin at the start of the week may only be worth $80 by week’s end

Volatility is often cited in regard to bitcoin or crypto currency based payment systems. We have seen payment processors attach a 15 minute time limit for crypto payments to be intialized in an effort to cut down on potential effects related to volatility. This article introduces yet another method in regard to the winklevoss stablecoin being pegged to the dollar which also has the potential to limit volatility inherent in crypto retailer purchases.

It seems these crypto payments are in beta testing. Many are unaware crypto is implemented in their retail system due to it being incorporated into the scanner hardware with no additional training or updates necessary.

[annango]

One big question here is what the media and pro establishment response will be, if any. There have been numerous news reports of mcdonalds and other retail giants rolling out their own payment processor systems based around cell phone technology. In mcdonald's case, their implementation was reported to be significantly flawed with many having their money stolen and accounts breached. Crypto currency based payment systems associated with cell phones could be poised to provide a stable and functional merchant platform in an era where such technology is in desperate need.

I wouldn't have tested out that McDonalds' system, sucks to lose money. I use an exchange to pay my bills right off my phone, never once did I had a problem.

I don't know if I missed it in the article but is Starbucks planning to accept bitcoin directly? Or are they making some sort of system where you can top up the account with bitcoin and then use that to pay for the purchase (sort of like what large exchanges do)?

Such a great news to all of us! . However, do you think that it depends on the country that some chains above accept bitcoin?, because i completely don't see the sign of accepting bitcoin of Starbucks in my country, it's such a big pitty. Actually, the number of businesses that accept bitcoin is gaining more popularity in many places in the world, although the governments in some countries still have not recognized it officially. Hence, i think it's a good sign for bitcoin to be soon accepted.

[D3m1r4wanti]

I have long heard the news that Starbucks Accept Bitcoin is not new news and in my opinion this is not too much effect on the development of the price of bitcoin and other altcoins.

[mersal]

It's really a good news because they are also trying to accept the Bitcoin for the future because they already know the value of Bitcoin in the future so if they are accepting it right now then they had the huge chance to get their profit mostly to be a good value in their future that's why it is acceptable.

[exstasie]

I am not sure if this is the type of adoption we exactly want or we should not want at all. Now, according to the new app we can spend the crypto currency of our choosing wherever we want and the payment goes to them in fiat currency which means we basically purchased whatever we wanted for crypto but at the same time the shop we just purchased stuff from didn't realize that and has no consent over it at all since they are literally getting fiat like they want to. It means maybe this is the way all crypto adoption will go and everyone will be capable of getting that sort of payments available to them without asking permission from the shop owners or maybe shop owners will start to say this sort of payment is not allowed? Time will tell but it will be either huge or will be banned.

I'm sure the merchants are well aware of what Flexa is doing. According to Gemini, these payments are much cheaper than credit cards and also much safer in terms of chargebacks. I'd say those are really huge incentives for merchants to sign on.

[engrshu]

The world is now adjusting for the acceptance of digital currency. Last week, I don't know if I hear the news late, eBay is soon to adjust cryptocurrency and I have a good feeling that btc is included aside from other coins. So yes it is a good news!

[jakelyson]

It's really a good news because they are also trying to accept the Bitcoin for the future because they already know the value of Bitcoin in the future so if they are accepting it right now then they had the huge chance to get their profit mostly to be a good value in their future that's why it is acceptable.

I do not know if that is true. The payment is made thru third party app which means that business establishments may not be even receiving bitcoin or crypto at all. The buyer can be spending bitcoin but it can just go thru the third party app and the app will pay the business establishments with fiat.

Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18617554/flexa-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-etherium-whole-foods-gamestop-nordstrom-flexacoin

The Flexa Network Protocol works as an intermediary for each payment. It pays the merchant in cash and then goes through the slower process of taking payment from your cryptocurrency wallet.

But this is still good for adoption because normal users can be encouraged to get bitcoin for investment and they can easily spend it thru the app if they want to.

[Natalim]

Good news, the adoption is getting better, we will surely hear more good news this year as giant company are starting to adopt in crypto.
This bullish trend will be well supported with big good news, it will not dump anymore.

A huge company like starbucks can result to a more companies to adopt bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, as the market is getting better they are also preparing to join the market so they can have other source of income. Accepting cryptocurrency is not that easy but they are doing their best to make this possible, kudos to those companies.

This big company will become a model that small companies will follow, that's how the adoption will increase.
Regardless of the market, it's still volatile but they should employ a system where they will not be affected by the price volatility.

Market stability can only be achieve if manipulation will be eliminated which is not likely to happen soon, but let's see how these good news will affect us.