The U.S. Just Got its First Cryptocurrency-themed Cafe
WPTV on May 22, 2019, reported the establishment of the first crypto-themed cafe in the United States. Located in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida, the cafe, according to its owner Nelson Winter, is an initiative to educate people about cryptocurrencies while also giving enthusiasts a place to hangout and discuss.
Education before Adoption
For most people, cryptocurrencies still remain a mysterious topic with highly volatile prices.
Most mainstream news channels and Crypto Twitter user have become infamous for their intense focus on prices, completely ignoring the technology and its use cases. But some people like Nelson Winter of Florida are willing to take things beyond that.
Winter, for his love of coffee and crypto, has introduced to the people of West Palm Beach a cafe that is themed around cryptocurrencies and is named the Smart Crypto Cafe.
The Smart Crypto Cafe, Winter says, is not only about giving crypto enthusiasts a way to spend their cryptocurrencies to buy coffee and brunch, but also about educating people regarding the emerging digital asset space.
Expressing his thoughts about his cafe, Winter said:
“We are helping move towards adoption of cryptocurrency as a more mainstream concept for people in their day to day interaction.”
Even though most of their customers are unaware of Bitcoin, Winter has made his best efforts to educate them on the subject. The cafe focuses on teaching willing customers how to read cryptocurrency charts and how to differentiate between digital assets based on their functions and underlying technology.
Something Uncommon after 2018 Market Crash
News of cafes and grocery shops accepting cryptocurrency payments were common during the 2017 crypto boom. However, as the markets crashed and some coins lost almost 70 percent of their total value, the excitement faded away. This showed that most people were attracted to the short-term gains but not on the long term potential of cryptocurrencies.
An initiative such as the Smart Crypto Cafe that not only adds the tag “Bitcoin Accepted” to its door but also focuses on teaching its customers about the bustling industry could prove to be an interesting way of spreading the word.
In November 2018, BTCManager also reported the partnership of a France-based startup KeplerK with a local tobacco shop to make it the world’s first brick and mortar shop to sell bitcoin (BTC). The service reportedly began in early 2019.
