Dynamite isa small vintage clothing store located in Athens, GA, USA. Lori Paluck is itsowner proudly announcing the acceptance of Bitcoin payments at the store topromote the business and virtual currency in general.
Actually,Dynamite is the first venue equipped to accept Bitcoin payments at the till inthe city. Rumor has it there is one more shop sharing the privilege of beingthe pioneer, but no specific information has been obtained.
Accordingto Lori Paluck, not many customers used this in-store option. Instead, manyhave used Bitcoin to complete online purchases at the store.
The shopowner is not surprised. She believes people need to get used to the currencyand get informed themselves. Her comment:
“Most of them have used them forpayment online in various ways, but for all of them, this was their first,in-person, in-store transaction, which is very exciting.”
Paluckhas launched a wallet for the shop, but the task of the POS terminal isperformed by an Android tablet with the corresponding software. It prepares thetransaction data and generates a QR code on the screen. Clients scan it withtheir smartphone cameras and complete transactions with apps or via browsers.
Loriexplains:
“When the customer receives the addressthat 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 alsobelieves 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 thecustomers card and not stolen, but also the customer is always at risk ofidentity theft (look at Target’s recent incident). When using Bitcoin, bothparties are satisfied. You can see the money (Bitcoin) going to your addressand know that there is zero chance that you (the business owner) won’t get themoney, and the customer knows that the Bitcoin they have is going straight tothe business without risking personal information.”
DianaFontaine, a junior psychology and economics major from Nashville, Tennessee, ispartly familiar with the technology, having gained knowledge from her sister,but has never performed a transaction on her own. Her conclusion expresses theopinion of the majority of society:
“I think someday there will be a worldin which we rely solely on digital cash, but that’s a transition much biggerthan Bitcoin. People are used to online banking, but complete removal oftangible currency would require a greater public trust in completely digitalmoney systems than exists today.”