Italian restaurant in Llandudno offers crypto as a payment option
An Italian restaurant in the heart of Welsh seaside resort Llandudno is claiming to be the first eatery in Wales to accept cryptocurrency.
Romeo Ristorante Italiano began taking cryptocurrency as payment this week, with the owner stating he believes “crypto is the future”.
“We’ve kept the process of paying with crypto simple,” said Stefano Milo, who took over his father’s 30-year-old restaurant 10 years ago.
“The customer will simply select which crypto they would like to spend, scan the QR code at the till and send the equivalent amount in cash and the app will work out exact exchange value of the Bitcoin required.”
Stefano said it was a good option for moving the business forward, and using cryptocurrency as an additional method to pay will contribute to the network growth of cryptocurrency, which he predicts “will be at around one billion users due to its rapid adoption” by 2025.
The restaurateur devised the crypto idea after studying digital currencies when he was forced to temporarily close Romeo.
“During the Covid lockdown we closed up shop and I found a hobby and started learning about cryptocurrency,” he told North Wales Live.
“After several months of research, and sleepless nights not knowing where the business was heading due to the pandemic, I dedicated my time into having a fall-back-plan in case of a worst case scenario.
“Having recently returned from a Bitcoin Conference in Miami, I’ve made new connections and now I’m looking at introducing this to North Wales, making my restaurant the first in Wales to accept cryptocurrency as a method of payment.
“I honestly believe that crypto is the future, and this is the way that it will be going forward.”