BRECKSVILLE, Ohio (WJW)– “Pay me in Bitcoin,” is a phrase made popular by professional athletes, but using cryptocurrency in everyday transactions is not common at most area businesses.
Yet one local business owner is banking on being ahead of the curve.
The Juice Lab, open just shy of one year in Brecksville, is among the few locally-owned businesses accepting cryptocurrency payments.
“Whatever we can do, even if it’s something very early on in the stages of being generally accepted, I’m still going to save money now that’s all I’m looking to do,” said owner Dom DiGeronimo.
Cryptocurrency is not a popular form of payment at the Juice Lab yet, but DiGeronimo said he believes it will be with time and said he wants to be on the cutting edge.
“Trying to be on the front end of the wave that’s coming,” said DiGeronimo.
So how does it work? The Juice Lab uses the app BlueWallet allowing users to store, send and receive cryptocurrency. Customers scan a QR code on their phone to make payments at the register.
One customer-turned-cryptocurreny consultant for the Juice Lab, Monty Wesoloski, helped DiGeronimo set up the new form of payment for the business.
“That’s as easy as it is as long as you can scan a QR code and hit send you’re able to download the app and get started,” said Monty Wesoloski, founder of Monty Bitcoin. “It just offers a digital way to carry around cash.”
DiGeronimo said paying in cryptocurrency instead of credit helps cut down on fees the business takes on.
“There’s a 3.29 percent fee on a credit card anytime you swipe it and there’s also a 10 or 15 percent charge that you get for every transaction that you make…on a $10-smoothie those cents add up after a long time,” said DiGeronimo.
Many customers don’t invest in cryptocurrency and getting started for some can be confusing and depending on how much they plan to invest expensive.
“Bitcoin has increased in value for sure but you only need $10 dollars of Bitcoin to be able to spend $10 dollars,” said Wesoloski. “So you don’t necessarily have to buy an entire Bitcoin which is worth roughly $50,000 today to be able to use it. You can just use fractions.”
The same way eating healthy became more valued over time, making businesses like the organic products offered at the Juice Lab possible, DiGeronimo said he hopes cryptocurrency payments will catch on soon as well.
“It definitely brings the cost down,” said DiGeronimo. “Cutting costs is like breathing something you should be doing all the time.”