{"id":1658773,"date":"2022-09-09T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-1016567-4521551.cloudwaysapps.com\/?post_type=station&p=1658773"},"modified":"2022-09-10T00:04:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T04:04:11","slug":"bitcoin-on-the-streets-the-trick-to-onboarding-uk-merchants-into-btc","status":"publish","type":"station","link":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/plato-data\/bitcoin-on-the-streets-the-trick-to-onboarding-uk-merchants-into-btc\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin on the streets: The trick to onboarding UK merchants into BTC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDo you accept Bitcoin? Would you ike to?\u201d These questions echoed around the streets of Reading, near London, United Kingdom, over a hard day\u2019s graft for two British Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) advocates. <\/p>\n

James Dewar, founding partner of Bridge2Bitcoin, and MSW, a business developer for CoinCorner, took to the streets of Reading in a marathon mission of merchant adoption. In just six hours, they spoke to 63 shops, caf\u00e9s and restaurants, hoping to persuade them to accept BTC. <\/p>\n

Armed with flyers, sales experience and oodles of enthusiasm for the world\u2019s largest cryptocurrency, the Bitcoiners detailed the data and their experiences interacting with the general public. Of the 63 merchants they spoke to, around 50% were a straight rejection, and 10 of the 30 were \u201cworth a follow-up,\u201d Dewar told Cointelegraph. Three businesses were onboarded on the spot or quickly afterward. Dewar continues: <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a 3% hit rate within two weeks, from my point of view from a standing start is pretty good if you think about the adoption curve.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, while 3 out of 63 merchants may seem trivial, it\u2019s representative of where the world is in terms of Bitcoin adoption. <\/p>\n

\"image\"
Bitcoin adoption worldwide is still around 3%<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dewar explains that Bitcoin awareness is currently low as we sit at the lower end of the Bitcoin adoption threshold. However, it\u2019s still worth giving it a shot and asking your local merchant if they take Bitcoin. Dewar jokes that even if he were to hand out \u00a310 notes on the street, people might still be reluctant to accept the offer or reject them\u2014as it\u2019s like \u201cSales in general,\u201d he explains. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe think it’s an obvious no-brainer, right? There is literally no downside to doing it. But getting that message across; you’ve got to be fairly thick-skinned to understand that people don’t [get it]\u2014it’s like handing out tenners on the street!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

MSW, who accompanied Dewar explains that accepting Bitcoin makes commercial sense for many merchants. \u201cOne of the benefits for many is that you can just accept pounds. It\u2019s like a cheaper version of SumUp with bonus marketing.\u201d SumUp is a point-of-sale solution popular in bars and restaurants across the country. <\/p>\n

But why not onboard businesses onto other cryptocurrencies? MSW, who accompanied Dewar on his journey, explains that \u201cthe Lightning Network is the best way to send value, for low fees and instantly. No other network comes close.\u201d Indeed, the Lightning Network outperforms Ethereum<\/a> (ETH<\/a>) and other cryptocurrencies as a payments network. <\/p>\n

MSW has since embarked on Bitcoin merchant adoption walks in Edinburgh and Oxford,  varying degrees of success. Coach Carbon, a Bitcoin football coach partnered with MSW in Oxford a few weeks later, while in Edinburgh, Jordan Walker, the CEO of the U.K. Bitcoin collective, joined MSW. Walker and MSW spent a day onboarding merchants ahead of the United Kingdom\u2019s first Bitcoin-only conference<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"image\"
Source: Bitcoin Collective<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But isn\u2019t Bitcoin for HODLing\u2014not spending\u2014as it\u2019s gold 2.0<\/a>? Dewar and MSW would agree with the narrative that Bitcoin is a store of value, but they are proponents of spending Satoshis. Plus, in the United Kingdom, there are no capital gains on Bitcoin that are spent<\/a> and then replaced within 30 days due to \u201cBed and Breakfasting\u201d laws. MSW underlines that spending Bitcoin in shops is educational, too: <\/p>\n

\u201cI am bullish about merchant adoption as a way of demystifying Bitcoin and showing that it has a use. Bitcoin is a way of buying a coffee, or an ice cream or going to your favorite cat caf\u00e9 and stroking some cats.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

MSW and James both shared that while it\u2019s a tough day out and some people still have a deep-rooted hatred for Bitcoin, the process can be \u201cvery rewarding.\u201d What\u2019s stopping you from asking your local merchant, anon? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1658779,"template":"","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","type":"","auto_type":false,"post":"","stream":"","stream_url":"","waveform_data":[],"duration":0,"start":0,"end":0,"bpm":0,"downloadable":false,"download_url":"","purchase_title":"","purchase_url":"","post-count-all":0,"like_count":0,"download_count":0,"editor_note":"","copyright":"","captions":[],"sources":[]},"genre":[41],"station_tag":[3634,19843,3884,14560,6428,3888,14557,4298,4150,14559,5019,3767,4158,4302,3837,3646,4089,4478,14576,7457,14558,8453,12764,9642,14556,8593,14575,4466,7894,14555],"artist":[5815],"mood":[],"activity":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station\/1658773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/station"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1658779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1658773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=1658773"},{"taxonomy":"station_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/station_tag?post=1658773"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=1658773"},{"taxonomy":"mood","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mood?post=1658773"},{"taxonomy":"activity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity?post=1658773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}