Bitcoin might be a household word by now, but the digital currency attempting to disrupt the payments industry has yet to be widely accepted, at least in terms of using it at mom and pop shops.
As local initiatives like BitPay and the Atlanta Bitcoin Embassy gain traction, some businesses in the city have chosen to start accepting digital currency to offer customers more ways to pay and avoid the hefty transaction costs of debit and credit card companies.
While Bitcoin credit and debit cards, like those offered with BitPay, allow Bitcoin users to purchase items and services anywhere credit and debit cards are accepted, the number of businesses advertising that they accept actual Bitcoins is significantly small.
Here's a list of places we found currently accepting Bitcoin in Atlanta. Know a business that takes your coins but isn't on this list? Email us.
The Barber Shop: Gino's Classic Barber Shoppe, with locations in Buckhead and Sandy Springs, claims to be the first barbershop in the southeast to accept Bitcoins, according to its website.
The business partnered with Atlanta fintech startup Bitpay, a blockchain payments provider, in 2014, owner Alex Teyf said.
"I have a small business," he said. "Costs really matter to us and while 2 to 3 percent sounds really low for accepting credit cards, when you look at the percentage of 2 to 3 percent on net profits, that’s a walking 20 percent. And that’s huge. If we can be part of any technology or solution that can help reduce that cost significantly…we want to be part of that solution. There’s no risk or cost of accepting digital currency for any business."
There's no currency risk, Teyf said, because a business can decide whether it would like to keep the payment in Bitcoin or convert it to U.S. dollars at no cost with BitPay.
"It can be anywhere between 0 and 100 percent," he said.
Gino's hasn't seen an increase in use since introducing the new payment option in 2014, but Teyf said he noticed a dip in usage last year when the currency dropped in worth by thousands of dollars.
"It declined last year because the transaction costs were so high," he said.
Despite main stream media and naysayers claiming Bitcoin is out, Teyf said it will never die for one simple reason: "It just works."
"As a barbershop, we want to be a part of it because we’ve seen small businesses can save $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 a year," he said.
The Hair Salon: Teyf isn't the only stylist around using cypto: hair stylist Meg White, who runs a salon out of Ansley Mall in Midtown, said she's been accepting Bitcoin through BitPay for over a year now.
"My husband and I have been interested in cryptocurrencies for about two years now," she said. "There’s so many things it can be used for across the world and its fascinating to think about the decentralization of it. We thought it would be a great opportunity to accept it as a currency."
It’s much more fun to make cryptocurrency than to buy cryptocurrency, White said, and using it as a source of income is a fun idea.
"The people who really utilize digital currency...they tend to be kind of interesting people, so I wanted to attract them as well," she said.
White also finds customers who use Bitcoin for the novelty of it, but it can be exciting to use a currency that has the potential of doubling on a moment's notice.
"It’s just kind of neat because generally the way people are using cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin now, it’s kind of more fun and to be able to make money on their money and be able to spend that money---it’s almost like Monopoly money," she said.
The Gym: Atlanta Kick, a fitness and martial arts studio in Buckhead, is one of the early adopters of digital currency in the city, after co-owner Jeff Thompson decided to start accepting Bitcoin in 2012 after attending a crypto conference in Europe.
"I had a vision that it was going to be something," he said.
Thompson said he wanted to incorporate the currency into his business to learn more about it and promote it to his customers. Most clients don't use Bitcoin, but he's had the occasional customer use it to buy gift cards.
Though his business isn't focused on tech, Thompson said Atlanta Kick is a great example of a small business utilizing Bitcoin. He said digital currency is here to stay, and there's no slowing it down at this point.
"Tell me another way you can send $1,000 to your friend in Africa, with no cost in virtually minutes," he said. "Utility is amazing."
The Lawyer: Local Atlanta law firm Jonathan W. Johnson, LLC has been accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for about a year now. According to the attorney's office, most clients do not use Bitcoin, but there has been an increase of those inquiring about its use.
"We’re very open about new technologies," a representative with the law firm said. "We’re really looking forward to the trend of digital currency and I think it’s a way to offer clients a diverse form of payment."
The TV Provider: Unknown to many, TV provider DISH has been accepting Bitcoin since 2014. On Thursday, the company announced it has partnered with BitPay and will also be accepting Bitcoin Cash as payment.
"We've added Bitcoin Cash just as we chose to accept Bitcoin to serve customers who have adopted a new way of doing business," John Swieringa, DISH executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. "We have a steady volume of customers paying with cryptocurrency each month, and BitPay will allow us to continue offering more choice and convenience to our customers."
DISH is migrating from its former payment processor to BitPay. Customers can now use Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to pay for subscriptions, pay-per-view movies and other events. They simply log onto mydish.com or DISH's Hopper DVR to make a payment and BitPay exchanges the transaction to U.S. dollars "without cryptocurrency volatility risk."
"Our goal for DISH Network is a seamless transition to BitPay so all customers who are currently paying for services with Bitcoin continue to have the option to pay with Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash," Sonny Singh, chief commercial officer with BitPay, said in a statement. "Cryptocurrency is an increasingly popular way for consumers to make purchases online as it reduces credit card fraud and is cheaper for the merchants."
The Food Truck: Johnathan Sanford, owner of Atlanta's BratPlatz food truck, has been accepting Bitcoin via BitPay since May, shortly after opening his business last October. He said most customers don't realize he accepts the digital currency until they see the sticker on his truck.
"It’s been really receptive, especially downtown," he said.
Even though some food trucks vendors only accept cash, Sanford said using Bitcoin allows him to bypass some of the merchant fees credit card companies have without limiting payment options for his customers.
"It helps out a lot. I mean, you’re reducing your merchant fees to other credit card companies...I think overall in the long-run, say in the course of the year, you’re doing a small percentage of those…in essence you’re saving potentially thousands of dollars if you’re doing high volume," he said.
