One London taxi driver loves Bitcoin (BTC) so much that not only has he been accepting bitcoin for his taxi services since 2017 but he also sells bitcoin from the back of his cab to his passengers.
According to an article in DecryptMedia, black taxi driver “Dave Jenkins” (his pseudonym, not his real name), who has been given the nickname “crypto cabbie”, carries in the back of his cab a small point-of-sale (PoS) terminal that is distributed and sold by UK company AAO Technologies Ltd (with “FastBitcoins.com” as one of its trading names).
This touchscreen device reportedly “can process cash-based transactions in exchange for bitcoins in real time, then print a paper receipt, much like a credit card reader at your local coffee shop.” Jenkins, who calls himself “a one man band”, may in fact be the only cab driver in a major world capital to offer this kind of service.
Ben Munster, a reporter for DecryptMEdia, tried this service by buying 10 British Pounds’ (around $13) worth of bitcoin. Jenkins told him that this might be one of the easiest ways of buying Bitcoin:
“You can’t get a lot easier than that, can you? If you try and mess about registering with Coinbase or Bitstamp or whatever, you know all these different things, it’s a lot of aggravation to send off your passport blah blah blah. Even a lot of bitcoin ATMs—they want your phone number and all that.”
Jenkins charges a 6% commission for selling you bitcoin, which he says is less than what a Bitcoin ATM would charge you. You can pay for your bitcoin using cash (pounds or euros).
Once you have bought some bitcoin, you need to visit the website FastBitcoins.com to redeem your voucher. Here, after you have entered your voucher code, the fiat value of your voucher, your email address, and your Bitcoin wallet address, the bitcoin you purchased earlier will get delivered (either the regular way or via the Lightning Network, depending on your choice):
You can also use the same website to sell bitcoin (with a 3% commission).
The company, which apparently has PoS terminals in around 20,000 retail locations around the world, says that if you register and verify an account with them, you will pay lower fees.
To get a ride from the crypto cabbie, you need to “hail” him by sending him a message (specifying your location) via Twitter (@fastbitcoinscab), but remember that he only works 9-5.
Cab Photo via Pexels.com; Other Image Courtesy of FastBitcoins.com
