Arnhem, the Netherlands' "Bitcoin City", welcomes its 100th merchant to accept Bitcoin payments

The Dutch city of Arnhem is known as Bitcoinstad or "Bitcoin City" because it is one of the most Bitcoin-friendly places in the world and has many Bitcoin merchants, which has earned it the reputation of "Bitcoin City". Recently, the city welcomed the 100th merchant to accept Bitcoin payments - Burger King, one of the largest fastfood chains in the United States, and is known as the Big Three with Mc (McDonald's) and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken).

The addition of Burger King further meets the life needs of Bitcoin users. This feature of Arnhem has also attracted other cities such as Ghent in Belgium to follow suit.

Btcoin.com spoke with Patrick帕特里克•范德•梅吉德, one of the founders of the Bitcoin City Arnhem project, about the recent addition of Burger King and its future plans. They also discussed whether the city, given the characteristics of Bitcoin and its acceptance of Bitcoin, is better able to withstand future global financial storms than other regions that rely solely on the traditional financial system.

Patrick van der Meged

Bitcoin.com (BC): First of all, congratulations on welcoming the 100th merchant. Why did Burger King decide to accept Bitcoin payments now?

Patrick van der Meijde (PM):

The Burger King in Arnhem recently changed its employer. The new employer did not live in Arnhem. He accidentally heard about our Bitcoin promotion project from his family and also learned about the situation of "Bitcoinstad" in Arnhem from his family. So he contacted us and we reached a cooperation agreement. Of course, he needed to discuss this with the Dutch branch of Burger King, and we also contacted the European headquarters of Burger King (EMEA), and finally we obtained the license.

BC: Do you think Burger King will expand Bitcoin payment to other branches in the future? Or is it just to cater to local needs, similar to SPAR supermarket's localization strategy?

PM:

The owner of this Burger King has more than just this one branch. He owns several other Burger King branches in other parts of the Netherlands. If the pilot is successful, it is very likely that other Burger Kings will accept Bitcoin payments. As for Burger Kings outside the Netherlands, I can't be sure. But two years ago, I didn't believe that Burger King Arnhem would accept Bitcoin payments.

BC: With more and more merchants joining in, is your project easier to carry out than it was at the beginning?

PM:

It is indeed much easier. We are not worried about merchants now, but we are worried that there are not enough users who use Bitcoin regularly. Some people tend to like to hoard Bitcoin and are not so willing to spend Bitcoin. But Bitcoin projects like ours do have a positive effect on the Bitcoin ecosystem. People tend to ask questions when they see people paying with Bitcoin in front of them. When people see someone using Bitcoin to pay in front of them, they will be curious and ask questions.

BC: According to your statistics, Bitcoin transaction volume slows down in the summer and increases in the fall, especially in November. How do you interpret this data?

PM:

I would say that our statistics are not comprehensive. The spike in November 2014 was due to the Bitcoin event we held, which attracted a large number of Bitcoin users from all over the country and the world. The spike in November 2015 was probably due to the national TV program "Bitcoinstad Arnhem" on November 1st. We hope that the number of transactions will continue to grow.

BC: 100 merchants covering all types of products and services. So can someone living in Arnhem live on Bitcoin alone? What’s missing?

PM:

For some reason we don't have a pizza place yet, so if you think pizza is essential it's a bit difficult (although you can easily order pizza online with Bitcoin), but other than that I think it's pretty complete. Maybe for tourists it will take some time for better bike rentals or other public transportation. Rent can also be paid with Bitcoin.

BC: What types of businesses accept the most Bitcoin payments?

PM:

There are a few stores that have almost no transactions. Especially women's fashion stores. This may also be because most of them are not in the city center. Gas stations, supermarkets and Mimint (a health food grocery store) have some Bitcoin transactions every week or every day.

BC: So does this affect the type of merchants you choose?

PM:

No. If you don't try to promote in some stores, you will never know if they can become popular Bitcoin merchants. We will do our best to get better merchants to join.

BC: Besides Arnhem, other “Bitcoin cities” or “Bitcoin streets” have sprung up, such as Ghent and Calle Bitcoin in Madrid. Do you collaborate with any of these projects?

PM:

Yes, we hope that more projects like this will emerge. We have good contacts with teams in both Ghent and Ypres in Belgium, we attended the opening of the Bitcoin City in Ghent and participated in conferences they organized to help merchants understand Bitcoin.

BC: Do you think that if a financial crisis occurred, Arnhem would be better off with this alternative means of payment than other places that only rely on traditional means of payment?

PM:

If there is a financial crisis, Arnhem will probably be hurt in the same way. I think in that case, people will pay more attention to Bitcoin as an alternative means of payment. Especially in Arnhem, people are already familiar with Bitcoin and know that it works well. So, I am sure that Bitcoin will be better accepted here than in other cities, but it is a bit untrue to say that Arnhem has become stronger.

Original article: https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-city-arnhem-signed-100th-merchant-burger-king/
By Allen Scott
Translator: printemps
Editor: printemps
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/bitcoin-city-arnhem ‎)