This is awesome. Next time I get to Berlin I will make sure to buy something.
Now we need the same in Munich.
Could you explain how it is done?
How it is done:
Joe runs the ROOM77, and accepts Bitcoin for two years now. So he knows his stuff. He is in touch with his fellow shops, bars, restaurants and neighbors. Being enthusiastic about Bitcoin, it was inevitable to turn them to Bitcoin - one after one! :-)
Yes, I think this is the way - Talk to the people. This is much better "advertising" than large billboard ads!
Yes, exiting stuff happens here, Berlin Bitcoin Kiez.
..and this is just the beginning!
Ente
I meant how does the system work. Just a smartphone or is there more to it?
The new merchants all installed the Satoshi client on their laptops. We simply printed one of their public keys to a plain sheet of paper, including a QR-code and and btc.to-link to that address, which was put up on the wall.
Customers can now copy that address and send the required amount in BTC. We assume that most customers will use the Schildbach/blockchain.info client for Android or easywallet for iPhone to pay. Both offer automated currency conversion, so you can simply type in the required amount in EUR.
The merchant can check if the payment got in by opening up blockchain.info with his public address (which we bookmarked on their laptops).
Not sure if that's the most convenient option, but it seems to work. We'll most likely smoothen out the process soon, but need some feedback from the merchants or their customers first. We also had a discussion what client we should use for the merchants, and we decided to stick to the Satoshi client for the time being, combined with the additional features provided by blockchain.info.
simple is good. You might consider using Multibit, though, as it is much faster and more lightweight.
[...]
We will upgrade the wallets of the bars / restaurants with nfc chips so the waiters can just walk up to a table, tell the amount to be paid, transmit the address and once they walked back behind the bar they can already check if the payment is on the way. Unconfirmed transaction on the blockchain is enough.
[...]
why not stick to qr codes for now?
@2weix: It's been so long I wrote any BASIC that today I only understand Python.