BITCOIN ACCEPTED HERE
By Rare Passenger
It was a cool, crisp autumn afternoon when Evan, the owner of the cafe, sat behind the counter listening to the news on TV. Felix, his young employee, was wiping down the tables. The news was discussing the current bank collapses of the day and the possibility of hyperinflation. Evan was worried about the future, he saw what was on the horizon.
He went to pay a utility bill on his laptop, but then he noticed on the news that his bank, on live TV, went insolvent.
“Great,” Evan grumbled to himself.
Evan had a silver dollar in his pocket. He held it as a reminder of sound money. He also checked the price of Bitcoin, and it had increased again.
Evan looked at his silver dollar, then back at his laptop, then towards the TV on the wall. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Felix at work. Evan sat for a moment, contemplating the days events as they unfolded.
"Hey, Felix," Evan called out.
Felix looked up from wiping down a table. "Yeah?"
"Have you been paying attention to the news lately?" Evan asked.
Felix looked up from his work. "No, not really," he said. "Why, what's going on?"
Evan gestured to the TV. "Another bank collapsed,” he said. “It’s starting to become the norm."
Felix shrugged. "I don't really get all that stuff," he said. "I just work here."
Evan nodded. "I know, but I worry about your generation," he said. "You've grown up with nothing but economic instability."
Felix sighed. "It's tough," he said. "I don't really know what to do about it."
Evan thought for a moment. "Do you know what a silver dollar is?" Evan asked.
Felix shook his head. “No, not really. I mean, I've heard of precious metals, but I don't know much about them."
Evan reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny silver coin. "This is a silver dollar. It used to be a common currency back in the day."
Felix took the coin from Evan and turned it over in his hand. “Neat. So… What do I do with it?" he asked.
"Well, you can use it to buy things," Evan explained. "If you ever need cash, you can always sell it to a precious metals deal or an individual, or you can always barter with it for stuff.”
Felix furrowed his brow. "That sounds… annoying."
Evan got the hint. "Okay, I have another idea," he said. "Have you heard of Bitcoin?"
Felix nodded. “Who hasn’t," he said. "But I don't know anyone who uses it."
Evan went to his laptop, he noticed that the utility company had an option to pay in Bitcoin.
“I’ve used it from time to time,” Evan said. “Would you like to see how it works?”
Felix came over to the counter and hovered over Evan’s shoulder. Evan produced his mobile phone, loaded the payment screen and paid the bill.
Felix looked impressed. "That's pretty cool," he said.
Evan smiled. “What if we tried an experiment. What if next payday I pay you in Bitcoin?”
Felix’s expression grew skeptical. “OK. Where do we start?”
Evan smiled. "I can help you set up a wallet and send you some Bitcoin," he said.
"Sure," Felix said.
As they worked together to set up Felix’s wallet, Evan couldn’t help feeling a sense of optimism. Evan showed Felix other places he could use his Bitcoin earnings at, and soon began to feel a pang deep inside as he knew the tides were changing. He wanted to be able to help his employees and his customers during these times and had hoped that silver and gold would rise again, but as Evan sent some Bitcoin over to Felix, he understood that the world was digital now.
“Ready to give it a try," asked Evan.
"I could give it a go," said Felix, "but why do this?"
“I worry for your generation,” said Evan. “Money represents your time and energy. When you save money, you’re kind of storing that time and energy for later. That’s called your purchasing power. Good, hard, sound money should help increase your purchasing power over time. But when you have a money that can just be created by a few keystrokes, or because some politician says add more supply, it disrespects your time and devalues your energy.”
Felix stroked his chin. “So when they say they’re gonna save a bank, it makes my money worth a little less?”
“You got it,” said Evan. “It means it’ll cost you more of your time and more of your energy to buy fewer and fewer things.”
There was a quiet pause between the two. “Sorry for the soapbox,” Evan said.
Felix, starting to understand Evan's point, nodded, “Nah, it’s OK. I get it. Let's give it a shot."
Evan smiled, feeling a sense of optimism. As Felix left, he looked at his wallet, "Hey! Bitcoin went up again," he said excitedly. Evan nodded as Felix waved good bye while exiting the cafe.
Alone, Evan pulled out his silver dollar. He looked at the shiny silver coin with a somber memory. Watching Felix walk off into the distance, Evan understood that the future was full of digital natives like him and that times were changing.
As Evan closed, he put a sticker on the cafe window that read, "Bitcoin accepted here," in anticipation of the future.
