Bitcoin (BTC) may become the bread and butter for sandwich chain Quiznos in a pilot payment project that launches in August.
Quiznos is partnering with digital assets company Bakkt to accept Bitcoin payments through the Bakkt app. From mid-August, select Quiznos stores in Denver will accept BTC payments, including the high-traffic airport restaurant. New customers can get $15 worth of BTC by downloading the Bakkt app and using it to pay at Quiznos.
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What is the Bakkt app?
The Bakkt app is a digital wallet with a difference. You can link up everything, from your cryptocurrency assets to your loyalty points and manage all your accounts in one place.
One of Bakkt’s missions is to make it easy for consumers to transfer, trade, and pay with digital assets. People can use the app to:
- Pay in various stores
- Send money (or Bitcoin) to friends and family
- Buy and sell Bitcoin
- Buy and use gift cards
This cryptocurrency app not only lets you buy your Quiznos sandwich with Bitcoin, it can also convert your loyalty points into lunch money.
Bakkt also launched a Bakkt Visa® Debit Card earlier this year, which lets people spend their Bitcoin directly from the app.
Another small step toward mainstream adoption
Bakkt is making big strides toward facilitating Bitcoin payments. It also partners with Wyndham Hotels, Starbucks, and Best Buy. Put simply, it’s easier than ever to use Bitcoin as a form of payment.
These partnerships are important, but they don’t overcome one big obstacle toward widespread Bitcoin adoption: price volatility.
The Bakkt app makes it much easier for individual businesses because they receive instant payment in traditional money. Companies need to pay suppliers, rent, and salaries in traditional money, so accepting and holding Bitcoin could play havoc with their cash flow if the price fluctuates wildly.
From the customer side, many people are reluctant to spend their Bitcoin in case the price soars again in the coming months and years. Nobody wants to be that person who spent 10,000 BTC on a pizza back in 2010 (it would be worth over $400 million today). Many people see Bitcoin as more of a store of value — a kind of digital gold, which may put them off spending it on a sandwich.
It will be interesting to see how the pilot project in Denver goes. Nonetheless, every step toward the mainstream is good for Bitcoin. And Bakkt’s payment app may one day allow its customers to live their lives entirely in crypto.
