Bitcoin and the Farmers Market

Last Saturday I walked down to the weekly farmers market in town. It is comprised of fifty or so vendors that sell a variety of things like soap and paintings to produce and meat. Every week hundreds of people flock to the booths and most vendors sell out of the goods they bring before the morning is over.

As I was strolling down the main stretch I saw a booth with Bitcoin stickers and a sign that read ‘Bitcoin Accepted Here.’ Intrigued, I stopped to inquire about how they used Bitcoin to sell their goods. This was an older couple that were admittedly not techies but were passionate about Bitcoin. The husband said he spent hours researching Bitcoin and understood the basic premise of how it all worked. To my surprise, however, no one at any of the farmers markets they attend all over the state has ever paid in Bitcoin.

I wanted to be the first. How hard could it be, right? They were using Coinbase to accept payments and so the process began. I quickly pulled out my phone and went to the Coinbase website. I couldn’t find a way to add funds to my Coinbase account through the mobile site so I tried downloading their app. Having an iOS device, I was automatically out on that one so I grabbed my girlfriends phone and downloaded their Android app in the Play store. After logging in which required another app download and a skillful memory to verify two-factor authentication that Coinbase requires, I was brought to the dashboard.

After much perusing through the app and 10 minutes later, I found out that you have to verify your bank account with the traditional routing and account numbers (which you can’t get on mobile) while also having a legitimate (non-debit) credit card on file to be able to add funds on the fly. There was no way to pay for Bitcoins instantly with even my debit card in hand for a new customer.

I had to admit defeat and pay in cash. I went from being very excited about the new possibilities technology has brought to being frustrated and defeated when it was too much trouble to use.

I understand there are legal and security concerns with letting people buy Bitcoins immediately with just a debit card but there has to be a better way and there will have to be in order for Bitcoin to hit the mainstream and have mass adoption.