Grab A Bite, Pay With Bitcoins At This Bengaluru Restaurant
Not just cash and cards, this Bengaluru restaurant accepts bitcoins too.
Maharashtrian fare at an eatery in Bengaluru. If that’s an uncommon combination, Suryavanshi restaurant at Indiranagar has more to dish out. You can grab a bite there and settle the bill through bitcoins. Its other outlet at Whitefield is equally tech-savvy.
The two Suryavanshi restaurants are probably the only outlets in the Karnataka capital and one of the few eating joints in the country that let customers pay through bitcoins, apart from cash, card and other digital wallets, according to its owner Tejas Suryavanshi.
“Bitcoin is a big financial disruption and I wanted to be the early adopters of this technology. It is nothing but internet of money,” said Tejas.
The cryptocurrency is not tied to a bank or government and allows users to spend money anonymously. Encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of the currency and verify the transfer of funds. It can also be bought and sold on exchanges.
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A friend introduced bitcoin to Tejas nearly 11 months ago. He did his own research before adding the digital currency as the new mode of payment at his restaurants.
His experiment though, hasn’t found many takers. So far, he has had only one transaction. “A few months ago, a family paid a bill of Rs 500 through bitcoins. It took about 10-15 minutes for the transaction to take place.”
A bitcoin is worth over $3,000 currently, but it isn’t difficult to use it for smaller transactions as it is a digital currency. “One can pay a fraction of a bitcoin to settle bills,” he said.
Is Bitcoin Legal In India?
Another reason for the lukewarm response to Tejas’ fancy idea could be because it is yet to be regulated or recognised by the government. The Reserve Bank of India has repeatedly warned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies against its potential risks.
The government is also considering tracking the currency through the central bank and markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India along with intelligence agencies to monitor money laundering and terror financing, Bloomberg had reported last month citing people with the knowledge of the issue.
According to government estimates, the value of one bitcoin is worth as much as 60 grams of gold, which closed at 28,483 rupees ($446) per 10 grams on August 8. With a weekly turnover of 60 million to 100 million rupees, bitcoin, has gained a firm foothold in India, Bloomberg had reported.
Tejas added that bitcoins earned from the bill payment is now worth over Rs 1,000, due to the recent spike in rates.