“But you can’t buy a coffee with Bitcoin,” the Bitcoin (BTC) critics chanted. Gibraltar, a tiny British Overseas Territory in Europe just blew a hole in that FUD as popular coffee chain Costa Coffee now accepts Bitcoin over Lightning.
Hotel Chocolat, the Card Factory and the Gibraltar bakery also accept Bitcoin as currency on the British Overseas Territory. The well-known franchises take advantage of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) to accept customers’ money. The LN is ideal for microtransaction cappuccinos, postcard paymentsor ice cream investments as reporter Joe Hall found out during a Gibraltar shopping spree.
Payments are instant, frictionless and charge merchants less than the typical MasterCard or Visa payment rails. Neil Walker, managing director at Sandpiper GI (the group managing the retail franchises) told Cointelegraph that when using a Lightning-enabled card, “It’s no different to using a contactless credit card.”
“It is just as quick you can tap and pay contactless credit cards, you can tap and pay lightning, scan a QR code. And whilst I haven’t timed it, I reckon it’s almost exactly the same speed.”
CoinCorner, a Bitcoin exchange on the Isle of Man, partnered with Sandpiper GI, to help in equipping merchants with Bitcoin ightning point of sale (PoS) devices.
RACE OF THE RAILS ♂️
Bitcoin #Lightning payments vs #fiat contactless payments at the #Gibraltar Bakery.
£2.20 loaded up on both PoS.
WHO WINS?? ⚡️ ⚡️
@CoinCorner @CoinCornerMolly pic.twitter.com/b3ezy7FIeq
— Joe Hall (@JoeNakamoto) July 25, 2022
Walker shared that even for Bitcoin naysayers, the ease with which customers and merchants can transact is a no-brainer. He told Cointelegraph, “whether you believe in Bitcoin or not, you can use the lightning network to cut your transaction costs and to pay via mobile.” Given that it’s a neutral payment rail, he said that customers can traverse currencies easily:
“For a long time, the idea of paying with bitcoin seemed alien to both businesses and individuals, but with the launch of The Bolt Card and the ability to “tap and pay” via lightning, the user experience is quick, easy and familiar to everyone.”
Gibraltar welcomes 8 million tourists onto the rock per year, from countries including the United States, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Plus, Walker estimates that roughly 15,000 cross-border workers…
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