Back in 2017, before much of the general public had given cryptocurrency a second thought, Alessandro Stortini started accepting bitcoin as a form of payment at his local farmer’s market stand, La Pasta.
Since that time, virtual currencies have become mainstream as everyone from grandmas to pro athletes have jumped into the world of crypto. In fact, from 2017 to 2022, the number of crypto wallets went from under 12 million to over 81 million by January of 2022.
If you’re like me, you’d figure with almost seven times as many cryptocurrency wallets out there, the number of people looking to spend their virtual currency to buy pasta at their local farmer’s market would have gone up. Not so, according to Stortini.
“We got way more customers paying with bitcoin in 2017,” Stortini said.
Stortini told me the reason for that is because back in those early days, crypto owners were more willing to use it as a form of payment.
“There was more buzz back then and more people not doing it as an investment, but instead just spending it.”
According to Stortini, as bitcoin and other crypto markets crashed in 2017-18, many continued to spend their cryptocurrency as they tried to unload it. However, as cryptocurrency values hit the stratosphere in recent years, that’s all changed.
“More people are holding than ever,” Stortini said. “It’s harder to get it out of people than back then.”
Stortini operates at 18 different farmer’s market locations across the Puget Sound region per week and gets, on average, one or two cryptocurrency transactions per day at each location. The type of coin varies depending on the location.
“Edmonds (a city north of Seattle) is the more heavy crypto market. Edmonds is all bitcoin. West Seattle and Capitol Hill are really obscure coins. A lot of Monero and trendy coins like Doge.”
Stortini, who’s helped a couple of his fellow farmer’s market vendors get set up to take crypto payments, says accepting bitcoin and other coins has just gotten easier over the years.
“It’s just like scanning a Venmo. A lot of the vendors at this point have a QR for their Venmo or for other things.”
So what does Stortini do with the virtual currency he gets from his customers? Like other crypto enthusiasts nowadays, he’s long on bitcoin and other coins.
“I’ve never cashed out any of this stuff we’ve taken through the business. But, with one or two transactions a day, it’s better to let it sit.”
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