Bitcoin cyber currency now accepted in Edmonton eatery

The Edmonton chain Remedy Café has become what's believed to be the first eatery in the prairie region to accept the cyber currency Bitcoin.

Bitcoins are a form of currency that you can buy or mine online, unregulated by any bank or central authority. They were created in 2008, when an anonymous group published a paper listing a set of rules for a system that would enable this “peer-to-peer electronic cash system”.

Remedy Café clients can now order their food using this cyber money, whose value fluctuates, but ultimately depends on the amount in circulation at the time of purchase, CTV reports, set to cap at 21 million Bitcoins in the year 2140. At the time of writing, one Bitcoin (BTC) is worth $106.

The Café’s digital turn is good news for its customers. They’ll save on transaction costs and won’t have to carry money around, instead paying through a Quick Response (QR) code on their phones.

"It's very convenient, very fast and you don't have to carry money around with you," Bitcoin user Bryce Belseth told CTV Edmonton.

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It's also good news for the future of the Bitcoin. Far from regulation, taxation and oversight, the cryptocurrency has attracted many ill-intentioned users from the beginning, an image that might change if more brick-and-mortar establishments turn to it for their transactions.

Over the past few years, stories emerged of Bitcoin being used both in the “dark web,” where people buy and sell illicit drugs and pornography, and in fraudulent transactions. Hackers have also launched cyber-attacks on the open-source currency to try to manipulate the exchange rate.

Ironically, some say Bitcoin was a political project meant to offer citizens an alternative following a financial crisis, where some lost much money as a result of their government’s decisions.

Could this latest digital turn in a grassroots restaurant help the currency gain popularity and render it less vulnerable to those instances of bad press? This is certainly a start. For now, the Bitcoin might remain in the hands of the Y-generation, the technologically savvy and those willing to deal with the still-volatile exchange rates.

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