Get Ready To Pay With Bitcoin For Your Starbucks Coffee

When it comes to the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin, the community runs into a ‘chicken and egg’ problem. Companies don’t roll out crypto payment options since only a small percentage of customers (e.g. 8% in the USA, according to some researches) own cryptocurrency. And vice versa, people are not eager to purchase cryptocurrency since only a few brands accept it for payment.

The companies that accept cryptocurrencies are mostly startups or small-scale businesses. Given that, when large companies play around with Bitcoin, trying to test the waters, it is always a piece of breaking news and a breath of fresh air for the industry.

Starbucks And Bakkt Ignite Crypto in Retail

As we’ve recently learned from The Block, an international coffee shop brand Starbucks with a market cap of $86 B is currently developing an app and a payment card that will allow customers to cover their coffee bills with Bitcoin.

This project comes as a part of an equity deal with Bakkt, a cryptocurrency exchange and payment platform being launched by Intercontinental Exchange, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange. Bakkt is aiming to build an open and seamless global network that will connect merchants, customers, and investors. The Bakkt’s open-source platform will enable buying, selling, storing and spending digital assets in a simple, safe, and efficient way.

Although Starbucks is not holding any cash investments in Bakkt, the equity stake was issued after the coffee magnum confirmed that it would accept cryptocurrency payments relying on Bakkt facilities. It is expected that initially, only the US-based customers will have an option to pay with Bitcoin for their coffee. Basically, Starbucks won’t accept direct Bitcoin payments. The Bakkt platform will simultaneously exchange the customer’s BTC to USD. However, the official partnership announcement has not been made yet. It is mostly believed that the partners are now waiting for the CFTC approval.

You’ve Paid With BTC For A Coffee? Count Your Capital Gains!

But there’s a little problem with that. This payment processing mechanism calls for tax reporting. So technically, the customers will have to provide a report for the coffee they’ve bought and count their capital gains. The question is: how will the partners overcome this obstacle? And if they won’t, then who will readily undergo all this complexity for the sake of paying with BTC for his Grande Latte?

Takeaway

If this issue will be resolved in a legally compliant and cost-effective way, lots of brands will follow suit. Bakkt and Starbucks are now laying down a foundation for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. Who knows, maybe this first draft of a new payment system will set a real revolution in motion!