Relaed: Poll Says Most U.S. Investors ‘Have No Interest in Ever Buying Bitcoin’
Appease Starbucks Cravings with Bitcoin
Caffeine cravings, Starbucks in particular, could be appeased with Bitcoin as the Seattle-based company is part of the Bakkt joint venture with ICE to integrate digital currencies into global commerce. ICE said in addition to Starbucks, Microsoft Corp is also part of the effort to help digital currencies gain more acceptance in ecommerce.
“As the flagship retailer, Starbucks will play a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use at Starbucks,” said Maria Smith, vice president of partnerships and payments for Starbucks. “As a leader in Mobile Pay to our more than 15 million Starbucks Rewards members, Starbucks is committed to innovation for expanding payment options for our customers.”
Bitcoin Falls Below $7,000
Bitcoin fell below $7,000 over the weekend, stumbling to its lowest level in about three weeks. As of 1:30 p.m. ET, the price of the leading cryptocurrency is $6,969.49.
Interest by institutional investors within the last month helped to prop up Bitcoin’s price to over $8,000, but that appears to be waning. The news of the ICE and Starbucks venture gave Bitcoin a momentary boost before a spokesperson for the coffeehouse giant parried any notion that they will be accepting digital currencies as a form of payment anytime soon.
“If you really dig into it, the service would allow customers to convert their cryptocurrency at the time they’re making the purchase,” said Ryan Taylor, chief executive officer of Dash Core. “They’re clarifying that ’hey, we’re not getting into cryptocurrency speculation here — we’re accepting dollars, same as we always have.’”
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