The Costa’ Bitcoin on the rise: Major chains give Gibraltar a BTC boost

cointelegraph.com:

“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 a currency in 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 payments or 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.”

CoinCorner, a Bitcoin exchange on the Isle of Man, partnered with Sandpiper GI, to help in equipping merchants with Bitcoin Lightning 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

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:

Gibraltar welcomes 8 million tourists onto the rock per year, from