The Midlands is embracing cryptocurrencies, but just how quick will their popularity grow? The first Bitcoin ATM in Birmingham was installed in the Stechford area during June 2017, and there are now at least six in and around the city. For fans of Bitcoin, this comes as no surprise.
It has been suggested it’s happening for two main reasons:
- The value of your income is reducing all the time. The combination of pay freezes and inflation means most people are worse off financially than they were just a few years ago. Bitcoin has the potential to increase in value, your £1 coin doesn’t.
- As everyone tries to cut costs, bank charges for transfers and payments are one area that can be virtually eliminated with cryptocurrencies. As payments are made peer to peer, there is no middleman charging a fee for the transaction.
Bitcoin is far more secure than traditional methods of payment, and with all the press coverage of fraudulent card use and Internet scams, it’s a big selling point for people concerned about identity theft. In some countries, such as Japan, employers have started to pay wages with Bitcoin. How long will it be before that happens in the Midlands?
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What Uses Do Midlanders Have for Bitcoin?
The people in the Midlands are usually pretty savvy concerning their financial affairs. If using Bitcoin will save them money, or get them a bonus of some sort, they are very likely to use it as an alternative to paying by cash or card. The number of people using Bitcoin globally rose from approximately 3 million to upwards of 10 million in 2017, and Midlanders are just one small part of this growth.
As more businesses start to accept Bitcoin as a recognised form of payment, its real-world usability will grow. You can already use them to purchase goods, including clothing and jewellery online, to trade with, to play games such as blackjack, slots and roulette in online casinos like BitStarz and more… The ease, speed and cost reduction of using Bitcoin can mean players in online casinos getting bigger bonuses to encourage its use. You can buy flowers, cheap airline tickets, computers, pizza and clothes using a cryptocurrency. If you want to purchase an item from an online store that does not accept Bitcoin, you can use a company called Gyft. They will let you buy gift cards with Bitcoin, and these can be used in many places, therefore extending the range of services you can access.
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Although it was initially designed as internet cash, it is not just online Bitcoin is accepted. More physical stores are cashing in on the benefits of customers paying this way. All you need is an app on your smart device, which you scan over the store’s label and press send. The transaction is instant and secure.
With several high street chains, certain Subway and Dominos Pizza being just two of them, now accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment, the sight of customers paying this way will become as normal as seeing them handing over cash. In the Midlands alone there are now garden centres and marketplaces accepting Bitcoin payments.
So are the Midlands embracing cryptocurrencies? Certainly, with open arms.
