Hi Everyone!
**Update 5/27/2014 -- Official Launch here: www.nycbitcoinfair.com -- June 15, 2014**----------------------------------
I've been helping out the NYC Bitcoin community host meetups since 2012 and seen it grow from 5 people showing up at the first meetup to what it is today.
(https://www.google.com/search?q=xcubicle+bitcoin) I'm currently working on the next phase to increase Bitcoin adoption by merchants targeting the less tech savvy merchants with physical locations.
For those that have been to a Bitcoin event/conference/satoshi square, you'll notice that there arent many merchants selling anything besides mining hardware. You can't even buy food/drinks with your Bitcoins as most food vendors wont take it. I hope to help change this and push this idea forward as we have a test bed here in NYC which we can replicate around the world if we can figure this out. I'm currently working with the hester street fair
(www.hesterstreetfair.com) here in NYC to convert every sunday for the next 5 months into a Bitcoin fair event. Below is my proposed solution to making this work by utilizing the public blockchain for data tracking. I guess it's the first color coin type of implementation in a physical space.
What is the Hester Street Fair?The Hester Street Fair is the only outdoor community market located on the Lower East Side of NYC, specializing in handmade goods, creative products and artisanal food. HSF is a launching pad for small, independent businesses and artists. Hundreds of vendors rotate over 60 spots every Sunday to create one of the most dynamic outdoor events in New York City.
How is Bitcoin involved?We would be the first Bitcoin fair in NYC to have a group of merchants and food vendors accepting Bitcoin in one spot. We also have teamed up with Xcubicle who has helped incubate the Bitcoin community in NYC since 2012. They will help to organize Bitcoin related events that involve speaker sessions, community meetups, and public education in this space.
What makes this unique?We plan to merge a typical local vendor fair with a feel of a Bitcoin social community gathering. We’re taking a grassroots approach on increasing Bitcoin adoption by integrating a new technology into something that currently exists.
How are you going to increase adoption rates?Adoption rates increase as the general public understands how the technology works and gets a test bed to try it out at a fair like this. Our approach is targeting the vendors that has products/services that do not take Bitcoin yet. Those vendors that choose to accept Bitcoin will receive an additional % revenue from every Bitcoin transaction tracked via the blockchain public ledger. This creates an incentive for vendors to learn the technology and adopt it as it would provide an additional revenue. Now as for consumers that use Bitcoin, we would implement a similar strategy where users would receive a % rebate discount when spending their bitcoins as at a verified vendor at the fair. Due to the mass numbers of consumers at a fair, we would limit the number of sign ups each day and have those that wish to participate register their bitcoin address with us to track their spending.
Where are the funds coming from?Typically at large Bitcoin conferences/events sponsorship money is used to pay for the expensive venue. In this scenario since the space already exists we would use sponsorship funds and community cowdfunding in creating this market discount/rebate structure. In a sense its funneling sponsorship money back to users and vendors of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
WHAT EVENTS WOULD BE AT THE FAIR?Satoshi Square 2.0 - A section of the space will be dedicated for those that wish to barter for Bitcoin. We plan to enhance this trading setup by implementing the Mycellium App’s Local Trading feature
(https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=462235.0) where users can offer buy/sell prices via their in app interface. For those that are new to the platform or those that don’t have the application installed, we will have a trading booth where buy orders can be placed through an intermediary. Sellers within the vicinity will be alerted via the app when a buyer meets their requirements. This is different from the typical setup as users would involve having to stay around the same area when a buy/sell order is made and wait for a matching sale. The in app mycellium local trader feature creates a new dynamic to this event.
Xcubicle Bitcoin Meetup - In addition to the fair, we will coincide an afternoon Bitcoin meetup at Xcubicle’s space in a socratic circle discussion
(https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=xcubicle+bitcoin+). Prepared topics will be lead by a moderator that can vary from the basics to advanced depending on the level of the audience.
Bitcoin Social Networking - For those that wish to participate in the social networking event which will happen near the satoshi square booth, we would coincide it with or after the meetup. In order to make it a friendly environment for networking, we would require guests to RSVP ahead of time or sign up on the spot to receive a networking tag indicating they are there to network.
Physical Bitcoin Faucets - There will be Bitcoin faucet kiosks or a person at the fair where users can receive free bitcoins/litecoins/dogecoins. These physical faucets will be crowdfunded by the community. (More details soon)
Bitcoin + Altcoin Info Booths - There will be bitcoin/altcoin info materials for new users looking to learn more about cryptocurrency. Each booth will have an attendee helping new users setting up their wallets to be used at the faucets or at the trading square.
Product/Food Vendors - Vendors will be from around the city that range from selling food and products for bitcoin. Xcubicle will be educating vendors on how to accept Bitcoins in a fast paced environment.
HOW ARE DISCOUNTS/REBATES DISTRIBUTED?Vendors - Vendors that choose to adopt bitcoin will submit their public address for us to track and receive an additional % revenue based on the total Bitcoins collected from the start to the end of the fair. There will be a maximum earnings cap for each vendor to prevent abuse of the system. Since all transactions are tracked on the public blockchain ledger, we can distribute the % bonuses accordingly.
Users - Rebates for users that purchase services/products in bitcoin from a verified bitcoin vendor at the fair will be reimbursed a % of what they spent. Due to the fact there are more consumers than vendors at a fair, there will be a limit cap for those that wish to participate in this rebate program. The limit cap will be enforced via a registration process at one of the booths. Users will have to submit their public bitcoin address for tracking. Name and email is optional for those that wish to stay anonymous as the only thing needed is their Bitcoin address to provide the rebate.
EXAMPLE TRANSACTION AT THE FAIR- 7AM - Vendor "Luke's Lobsters" logs into Bitpay and generates a Bitpay receiving address so he can convert incoming BTC into USD.
- 8AM - Vendor "Luke's Lobsters" submits his Bitcoin Public Address used to receive Bitcoin payments at the fair to participate for the rebate.
- 9AM - User "John Doe" arrives at the fair and heads to the registration booth and register's his Bitcoin Public Address that he will be using at the fair for cashback.
- 1PM - John purchases a lobster roll sandwich from "Luke's Lobsters" table. He opens up his app and sends payment from his registered address with the fair.
- 9PM - End of Day -- We look at "Luke's Lobsters" public address via the blockchain to see how much money he received through out the day and send an additional 3-10% to that address
- 9PM - End of Day -- We look at "John Doe" public address for the day to see how much he spent at a verified merchant address and issue a 3%-10% cashback
I believe what I have here solves the two big issues with Bitcoin adoption and usage:
1.
Vendor adoption - As a business owner myself, we want our fiat dollars at the end of the day to pay our suppliers. Sure there is Bitpay that solves the issues of converting it, but not every physical shop owner wants to give out there TAXID information to make that happen. I'm talking about mom/pop shops that are just cash only. Now the way I believe this issue can be solved is by reversing the fees, instead of charging a 3% fee like how credit cards do it, we give the vendors a 3-10% back in what they collect in btc. This makes vendors choose now: Do I collect cash and not get extra revenue? Or do I collect these Bitcoins and get an additional 3-10% on top of what I charge? Combine this feature with Bitpay we now have a huge incentive for vendors to sign up. Once vendors are used to the Bitcoin system, we can scale back on the btc kickbacks and everyone wins!
2.
Bitcoin Users - Let's be frank here. Majority of Bitcoiners are hoarders. To solve this issue there has to be some sort of discount to pry those bitcoins out of users hands. By implementing a cashback type of feature like how credit cards do it, we would make users decide on a choice of either paying in cash at regular price or paying in BTC with a discount. Now for those that bought on the high $1000+ price point, we can't expect them spending as it would seem like they are spending 2x-3x that amount. To solve that users would just have to buy some btc off of someone at the satoshi square before they use it. The physical Bitcoin ecosystem is now complete once we combine the satoshi square with a merchant fair together.
Hopefully I didnt miss anything and it all makes sense. If this works out, it can be replicated around the world at other merchant fairs. We actually have a meeting with Bitpay to discuss how to get this to work smoothly with their system. As for sponsorship opportunities, we're writing up a package currently. It's going to be awesome! =)
We hope to get this up and running in the coming weeks once we iron out all the logistics and funding issues.
Feedback would be great as this isn't fully perfected yet and looking for community feedback or possible bugs we didn't account for.
