Dynamite is
a small vintage clothing store located in Athens, GA, USA. Lori Paluck is its
owner proudly announcing the acceptance of Bitcoin payments at the store to
promote the business and virtual currency in general.
Actually,
Dynamite is the first venue equipped to accept Bitcoin payments at the till in
the city. Rumor has it there is one more shop sharing the privilege of being
the pioneer, but no specific information has been obtained.
According
to Lori Paluck, not many customers used this in-store option. Instead, many
have used Bitcoin to complete online purchases at the store.
The shop
owner is not surprised. She believes people need to get used to the currency
and get informed themselves. Her comment:
“Most of them have used them for
payment online in various ways, but for all of them, this was their first,
in-person, in-store transaction, which is very exciting.”
Paluck
has launched a wallet for the shop, but the task of the POS terminal is
performed by an Android tablet with the corresponding software. It prepares the
transaction data and generates a QR code on the screen. Clients scan it with
their smartphone cameras and complete transactions with apps or via browsers.
Lori
explains:
“When the customer receives the address
that the QR code sent, they now know where they would send the funds from their
‘wallet’ to ours. This is an instant transaction that goes straight to us.”
She also
believes that both sides of the deal benefit from Bitcoin use:
“If someone pays with a credit card,
not only are we as the merchants having to verify that the card is the
customers card and not stolen, but also the customer is always at risk of
identity theft (look at Target’s recent incident). When using Bitcoin, both
parties are satisfied. You can see the money (Bitcoin) going to your address
and know that there is zero chance that you (the business owner) won’t get the
money, and the customer knows that the Bitcoin they have is going straight to
the business without risking personal information.”
Diana
Fontaine, a junior psychology and economics major from Nashville, Tennessee, is
partly familiar with the technology, having gained knowledge from her sister,
but has never performed a transaction on her own. Her conclusion expresses the
opinion of the majority of society:
“I think someday there will be a world
in which we rely solely on digital cash, but that’s a transition much bigger
than Bitcoin. People are used to online banking, but complete removal of
tangible currency would require a greater public trust in completely digital
money systems than exists today.”