[2020-06-09] Now you can buy a Coke with bitcoin

[Karartma1]

Coca-Cola Amatil vending machines have started taking bitcoin in yet another sign the volatile virtual currency is starting to gain acceptance in the real economy.
Auckland-based digital payments start-up Centrapay has signed agreements with Coca-Cola Amatil to enable consumers to use bitcoin and other crypto currencies at about 1200 vending machines in Australia and New Zealand.

Read more here https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/now-you-can-buy-a-coke-with-bitcoin-20200609-p550vz

[LeGaulois]

Always the same thing with companies implementing BTC, they don't take Bitcoin directly, they use 1 or 2 3rd party. Better than nothing but we can't really call this "acceptance", at least from their side.

By the way, we can't read the article you posted since we need to pay to subscribe.
For those interested here is the free news https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12338480

And to add, the buyers need to use the Sylo smart wallet https://www.sylo.io/wallet/ to pay the vending machine

[stompix]

Always the same thing with companies implementing BTC, they don't take Bitcoin directly, they use 1 or 2 3rd party.

Lols, speaking of 3rd parties...

It's thanks to a deal between Auckland startup, Centrapay(1), part-backed by Crown agency Callaghan Innovation(2), local virtual wallet company Sylo (3) and Coca-Cola Amatil (4).

It takes 4 companies to make one shitty vending machine accepting some sort of bitcoin payment...which is actually in NZ dollars.

One good thing about Sylo, seems like they are not in total control of your funds:

Important: We do not keep any record of your secret phrase. Therefore, if you forget or lose it then you will lose access to your account permanently. We strongly recommend you use cold storage for your secret phrase (that is, write it down on paper and hide it in a secret, secure location). You should not share the details of your secret phrase with anyone else. If another person learns your secret phrase, they can access your account and gain control of any funds or digital assets in your Sylo wallets.  

Bad thing...



50 cents ($) fee for a bottle of coke, 20%....
Small transactions should be done via LN!

[Karartma1]

stompix I am with you there. LN would have been the best option but you know how sexy it is for a company to say they're into bitcoin.

@LeGaulois I was able to read the article without issues. Thanks for sharing another source

[slaman29]

Just looked up new zealand dollars and didn't expect it to be so low but STILL it costs 2.7x more for a can of coke from this vending machine than where I can buy it from (and that's if I don't buy in bulk in which case it's far cheaper).

Agree with stompix, people should really think properly before installing 1200 machines like this.

[Lucius]

I think the most important thing is that things like this happen, because that's how Bitcoin integrates in everyday use. Of course, many will complain about the relatively high cost of fees compared to the price of the product - but that is the current reality. LN would be an ideal solution for microtransactions, but people have not yet mastered SegWit, so it really wouldn’t make sense to force LN, but it should certainly be made possible as an alternative.

What is definitely bad in my opinion in this whole story is that the purchase is limited to only one crypto wallet, which is the limitation of customers in the decision to choose the wallet that is the safest and easiest for them.