A newly-opened café in Singapore has been the centre of attention for being the first restaurant in the city-state to go completely zero cash. Aside from credit cards and Nets, the café highlights its additional payment method---virtual currencies like bitcoin.
Ducatus Café, owned by a digital coin company called Ducatus, has set up a bitcoin automated teller machine inside its store premises at Oxley Tower on Robinson Road so virtual currency owners can use it to pay for their orders. As of the moment, accepted cryptocurrencies include bitcoin and Ducatus only.
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Since the eatery accepts no cash and is entirely operating on credit cards, Nets and virtual currencies, chief executive officer Ronny Tome says they are looking into opening Ducatus Café to other currencies as well in the future.
"The idea of the café was developed because we wanted to make sure that people can use our Ducatus coins but also bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies in day-to-day business," says Tome via Business Insider. "Right now, cryptocurrencies are mostly used for speculation on markets ... We want to make it part of our daily life."
Store location is just a street away from Monetary Authority of Singapore office who recently warned its citizens regarding the imminent risks of cryptocurrencies. The downtown pitstop first opened to the public on Thursday, December 21.
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Despite the government's warnings, Tome told Reuters that he wanted people who are and who are not in the digital currency trade to know "that cryptocurrencies are here to say".
"The way technology develops and grows right now, there is no doubt about that. Developments are rapid and the governments maybe have a little bit of an issue to follow through."
Moreover, he noted that he respects Singapore's efforts to educate people on cryptocurrencies, adding that he does think it would affect his business in general.
