OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) – Cash and credit have been the two main ways people to make purchases at stores for many years. But some stores are introducing a new option: Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
So who’s offering this payment option, and why?
You can buy coffee, bagels and other things at Creme Coffee House in Owensboro. A few years ago, Adam Patterson and his family, who run the coffee shop, gave customers a new way to pay for them.
“I just wanted to make sure that it was available in Owensboro,” he said.
Cryptocurrency payment options started being available more than three years ago at the coffee shop. Customers can pay using apps or scanning QR codes on a phone or tablet. Patterson says not many customers are using it yet, but he’s noticed younger customers are.
“Bitcoin is 12 years old. It’s about the same age as the cram and takes a while for people to get you know, a mass adoption corporates are starting to buy into it,” he said.
Creme is one of several businesses in the Tri-State allowing people to pay for products using cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin ATMs are popping up in several places in Owensboro and Evansville. National companies, including Tesla and Overstock, also started accepting these payments in recent years. Business analysts group Research and Markets project the global crypto currency market rate to grow 32% between 2019 and 2024.
“People are starting to understand that Bitcoin is something that is disinflationary deflationary holds its purchasing power,” said Dan Carman, C.E.O. of Lexington Bitcoin Consulting. He also says cryptocurrencies are legal because they’re based in software and are not controlled by any single government.
“Bitcoin, on the other hand, is a digital bearer asset, and has qualities that are closer to gold than they are other forms of, basically, money substitutes,” he said.
Patterson says while not many are using cryptocurrencies so far, he believes more local stores could add the payment option in the future.
(This story was originally published on May 7, 2021)