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With $600 stuffed in one pocket and a smartphone tucked in the other, Patricio Fink struck a deal that's joining thousands like it in a virtual revolution.
The Argentine software developer was dealing in bitcoins getting an injection of the cybercurrency in exchange for a wad of real greenbacks he handed to a pair of Australian tourists in a Buenos Aires Starbucks. Fink wanted to add to his electronic wallet. The visitors wanted spending money at black market rates without the risk of getting roughed up in one of the Argentine capital's black market exchanges.
In the safety of the coffee shop, the tourists transferred Fink their bitcoins through an app on their smartphone and walked away with the cash.
"It's something that is new," said Fink, 24, who described the deal to The Associated Press over Skype. "And it's working."
The Argentine software developer was dealing in bitcoins getting an injection of the cybercurrency in exchange for a wad of real greenbacks he handed to a pair of Australian tourists in a Buenos Aires Starbucks. Fink wanted to add to his electronic wallet. The visitors wanted spending money at black market rates without the risk of getting roughed up in one of the Argentine capital's black market exchanges.
In the safety of the coffee shop, the tourists transferred Fink their bitcoins through an app on their smartphone and walked away with the cash.
"It's something that is new," said Fink, 24, who described the deal to The Associated Press over Skype. "And it's working."