The power of the Reddit Bitcoin community was proven once again yesterday with the “Bitcoin holiday” coming one step closer to reality for cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
User u/ButterflySammy, who coined the phrase, originally posted a request to r/Bitcoin for 10 members to help in lobbying GoCityHotels.com, a hotel booking service, to accept Bitcoin as a payment method.
Far from a lukewarm reception, within 24 hours there had been over 200 requests in support of the idea, and u/GoCityHotels released a statement in which it confirmed it “will be adding Bitcoin as a payment option this month.”
Well received
“I spent a good chunk of today talking with programmers about APIs and wallets so we can decide exactly what we need to do with our site to add Bitcoin as a payment option,” the message continued, and it would seem that management is quite the cryptocurrency aficionado.
Nevertheless, this is a shining example of the Bitcoin rubric in action; with minimal organization, decentralized nodes influence change within a period of less than one day.
And as Reddit members point out, the cost of both implementation and continued acceptance is minimal, meaning that even a slow uptake will have an imperceptible effect on overheads.
The reception to u/GoCityHotels’ decision was considerable, even drawing attention from other areas of the crypto-space, with AirBitz adding the company to its listings. “Thanks Nick and the rest of your team for joining and supporting the Bitcoin community!!” it added.
It was among individual users that the news had the greatest effect, however, with many writing that this option had been long-awaited and would be their sole choice for accommodation bookings thereafter.
“I bookmarked your website. It's probably the only way I'll book a hotel ever again. Thank you,” writes u/yonkfu.
With such a considerable gap in the market, it can hardly be long before many other services follow in the footsteps of GoCityHotels.