Starbucks to take cryptocurrencies? Read the fine print…
Do you long to buy your double skinny, half soy, non-GMO, triple mocha decaf latte, with a sprinkle of caramel sea salt, cold-press favorite beverage at Starbucks with your growing stash of cryptocurrencies? Well, your ultimate dream fantasy of consuming coffee-based (or not) drinks at your Starbucks of choice whilst tethered wirelessly to the ’net appears to be in the works.
Unfortunately, this turns out to be fake news or at least misreported. There are elements within the stories floating about that are factual. For example, Starbucks is working with other companies, including Microsoft, Intercontinental Exchange, BCG, and unnamed others to create a platform named, Bakkt. The platform will allow patrons to exchange cryptocurrency for US funds, among other functionality. You can then buy your custom beverage with regular old-fashioned money.
According to an article in the Coin Telegraph, Starbucks has issued the following statement to clarify their intentions,
“At the current time, we are announcing the launch of trading and conversion of Bitcoin. However, we will continue to talk with customers and regulators as the space evolves.”
Understood, no bitcoins for caffeine at this time.
Humm. Now, people with good digital security practices understand using public wi-fi access at places like a Starbucks is inviting disaster from unsecured access to the internet. Only a noob or a person desperate to check their social media status does such a thing. So, if we understand the corrected reports, the idea is to introduce a currency exchange into that environment. What could possibly go wrong?
The overall effort, if successful, and that may be a big “if,” would also create a mechanism to physically deliver bitcoin futures contracts, according to the Coin Telegraph article. The result is a “trusted, name custodian” to make institutional investors “comfortable” investing in cryptocurrencies which can experience high levels of volatility.
For those already in the cryptocurrency space, volatility is an understood risk, a risk the benefits outweigh. One risk of more concern may be the electronic theft of digital assets. The blockchain makes hacking far more difficult, if not impossible using the current suite of hacking tools. But you can bet a lot of effort is going into ways to overcome this “deficiency.”
CRIP.TO is building an elegant solution for the electronic theft risk as part of its custom “blend” of software, hardware, and blockchain-enabled services. The CRIP.TO solution offers the most secure communications method available outside governments and militaries. Our goal is to enable our customers to enjoy the freedom to communicate fearlessly and, to trade cryptocurrencies just as fearlessly.
With our Black hardware and its integrated digital wallet, you can trade your cryptocurrency of choice for cash to buy your Starbucks beverage confident that, not only is the blockchain protecting your digital assets, but our best-in-class encryption is at work in parallel. Now you also have the freedom to sip fearlessly. Find out more here.
We believe that everyone has the right to protect their information and keep their privacy. Integrity is a core value, and they see the vast potential of a decentralized, distributed solution like Blockchain as a key match in this space.
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Originally published at crip.to.
