Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory in Europe, will now accept Bitcoin payments at some of the major retail outlets.
CoinCorner, a Bitcoin exchange on the Isle of Man, Sandpiper (Gibraltar) Holdings Limited, Costa Coffee, Hotel Chocolat, Card Factory, and The Gibraltar Bakery are some of the retail stores that have rolled out Bitcoin and lightning payments.
Customers can tap and pay with bitcoin lightning at any of the stores with The Bolt Card, a new contactless card powered by NFC and the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
Ben Collins, Business Development Manager at CoinCorner, shared his testimony saying,
“Since the launch of The Bolt Card, we’ve seen a big increase in the number of businesses reaching out keen to accept Bitcoin. For a long time, the idea of paying with Bitcoin seemed alien to both businesses and individuals, but with the launch of The Bolt Card and the ability to ‘tap and pay’ via lightning, the user experience is quick, easy, and familiar to everyone.”
Neil Walker, Managing Director at Sandpiper GI, added that the rollout of Bitcoin and Lightning payments allows the group to offer its customers an additional quick, convenient, low-cost payment option in their stores.
“Many of our customers are visitors to Gibraltar and are using Euro-based payment methods to buy items in GBP, incurring additional costs. The Lightning Network is a low-cost solution with transactions processing as quick as a contactless card at real-time exchange rates,” he said.
According to sources, this move will benefit the nearly 8 million visitors from nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Canada that come to the little territory.