Bitcoin knows no boundaries. An entrepreneurial—and tech savvy—group of girl scouts has decided to accept Bitcoins as well as regular greenbacks at their pop-up coffee shop, according to a Twitter user who found a photo of it on Reddit.The little ladies have apparently set up the business on a street corner in Noe Valley, a San Francisco neighborhood known for its stroller pushing parents, and pricey real estate. They accept the bitcoin via a giant QR code (though the code doesn't seem to be working at the moment, at least via a kinda distorted photo) printed on the front of their booth, and the scouts' offerings include a range of delicacies such as lemonade, cookies—for a buck each—and coffee. Broken cookies are free.The pint-sized coffee tycoons are calling their 21st-century enterprise Mia and Taylor’s Coffeeshop—and are joining a growing cadre of online and offline businesses that accept the oft-controversial cryptocurrency. But, as far as I can tell, this is the first example of a brick and mortar business run by children to accept bitcoin. Their business is is indeed going pretty well. According to the bitcoin calculator Preev, the girls have hauled in just under $70, with some portion of that coming from Redditors.Taylor and Mia's operation has struck a chord with Reddit users, generating a lively discussion, with over 200 comments ranging from encouraging to questioning the legality of the operation. One Reddit user claims that someone has tried to hijack the girls’ QR code. Not cool, guys. Not cool.The tiny coffee shop moguls are yet another example of how the Bitcoin craze has grabbed Silicon Valley and far beyond. They join a university in Cyprus that announced in November that it planned on accepting bitcoin for tuition, a pizza place in Vermont, pubs in England, and Virgin Galactic flights into space.Despite the currency’s volatility, banks have decided to get in on the action too. As Motherboard reported yesterday, Wall Street has decided to get into the bitcoin trading business. There are also several open sales positions at SecondMarket in New York City for those 21st-century Bud Fox types. And of course you already knew about the Winklevoss twins’ Bitcoin Investment Trust.Now that kids are using the cryptocurrency to hawk lemonade and cookies (to suspend all disbelief about the role of their parents in the operation), the hype has clearly reached a fever pitch. I only wonder, what’s next?@chernandburn
Advertisement