Burger King Future with Bitcoin
Burger King’s in Germany began accepting Bitcoin through their mobile application and September 3rd, 2019. It’s a unique initiative that’s never been taken on by a fast-food corporation, making Burger King Int the first. The possibility of purchasing from their menu of food items with Bitcoin was one of the substantial early indicators that the crypto coin is becoming a viable currency. This initiative didn’t begin in Germany; it started in the Netherlands back in 2016. The Burger King in Arnhem, Netherlands, allowed visitors to pick-up food by purchasing menu items with Bitcoin. There was even a special promotion that allowed for clients to receive a free whopper whenever another whopper was purchased via Bitcoin. It was a tactic used to create increased demand for the cryptocurrency across the Netherlands. Rumours were circulating amongst high-level employee’s in Burger King Int, noting that the initiative wasn’t scaling to the level investors had anticipated. These rumours were confirmed when BitCoinStad’s Arnhem office confirmed that all participating locations in the Netherlands had terminated their Bitcoin services. This decision applies to Germany locations as well. This comes as a significant blow to digital currency traders, who want Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be adopted as viable payment methods for an array of consumer goods. Unfortunately, the task doesn’t appear to be becoming easier but harder.
The Promotional Campaign Manager for Burger King’s Bitcoin Initiative stated: “Burger King Netherlands and Germany aren’t accepting Bitcoin after September 31st. This is the last chance for customers to take advantage of the offer. If you pay for a Whopper with bitcoins, you will receive a second Whopper for free.”
The Hopes for Burger King International
Investors supporting this initiative are testing other markets, refusing to give up on their revolutionary premise. The Cryptocurrency BK Menu is available in Russia under a new digital currency called “WhopperCoin”. Using the blockchain format, the WhopperCoin works similarly to Bitcoin’s. Since BK International announced the WhopperCoin in 2017, one billion WhopperCoins have been issued. However, 98% of these accumulated coins haven’t been touched by consumers. Regardless, the WhopperCoin enables clients to purchase any item of the Russian BK Menu. Russian Franchise members have opted to participate in a free whopper for customer with 1,700+ WhopperCoins. The Russian promotional offering isn’t viable and requires an investment on Burger King themselves.
Burger King isn’t just promoting the idea of good food for a low price, but they’re also claiming that purchasing WhopperCoins will make consumers financially prosperous. This indicates that the corporation plans to launch this blockchain-built cryptocurrency on exchanges worldwide inevitably. One exchange that also lists the cryptocurrency is YoBit, with trading levels on the coin standing at 0%. This part of the initiative will most likely fail for the fast-food giant. Furthermore, finding one of the franchisee’s participating in this initiative isn’t easily accomplished. When traders get there, all payments are required in-store through their application. This has caused significant concerns that Vladimir Putin is governing over all cryptocurrency transactions regarding WHC. However, there hasn’t been any considerable evidence pointing towards these rumours being accurate. The WhopperCoin is for general use, and the illegal nature of online crypto transactions in Russia has prompted franchisees to require the in-store payments. This was more than two years ago, but finally, the silence has been broken.
After two years of silence, Burger King International has spoken publicly about their cryptocurrency payment service. The corporation announced that their German Division would now be re-opening after positive results in Russia, with the possibility of the Netherlands division re-opening as well. Additionally, they revealed that Bitcoin will now be accepted on their entirely revised website and mobile application. This news has spread across crypto forums, and multiple traders have welcomed this announcement. It’s unknown how many of the millions that travel to Burger King restaurants daily in Germany and Russia use the WhopperCoin or Bitcoin. Regardless, BK Int has publicly confirmed that their cryptocurrency goals have turned more positive.
The company hopes volumes in demand increases drastically, with an entirely new user-friendly mobile application available to Burger King’s continuously growing customer base. Considering that Blockchain technology could one-day rival standard currencies, BK’s jump on the market space could one day see them competing with the likes of McDonald’s. Numerous executives in the cryptocurrency space have expressed their excitement, such as PerseFaily. The Tillster CEO Stated:
To increase the volume of its retail sales, Burger King has created a mobile application. It was reported that San Diego’s Tillster, which seeks to adapt to the ever-growing customer base of a restaurant chain and the requirements for a well-scalable payment system, has become a partner in its creation. PerseFaily, CEO of Tillster, said: “For consumers, they can utilize a convenient, easy way to pay for their goods. Customers can use additional services that brands are developing. Such as loyalty programs, exclusive coupons and other engagement tools.”
The Secret System
There’s an unknown reason by Burger King International has pushed their blockchain initiative to such degrees, and why they’ve remained silent about the payment service for years. Detailed studies have shown that the restaurant never expressed interest in Bitcoin or Cryptocurrencies, but their partner in Europe has financial stakes in the industry. LifeService, which partnered with Burger King back in 2016, is a service similar to “SkipTheDishes” in North America. They provide all delivery services for the corporation in Germany, Russia and the Netherlands. However, LifeService is secretly connected with BitPay. Any time consumers purchase a whopper through the mobile application or website; they’re prompted to BitPay’s exchange. LifeService campaigned to have one of their multiple clients support the Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency payment method. Surprisingly, the worlds second largest burger chain agreed. It’s unknown is BK International Executives received a payout for their decision.
Worldwide Growth
Since Burger King’s announcement to accept Bitcoin in 2016, multiple other food retailers across the European Union have followed them in the suit. It’s estimated that there are 15,400.00 brick & mortar stores accepting Bitcoin as a viable currency in the European Union. Additionally, growth is beginning to highlight in America thanks to the positive revenues earned in the union. The biggest company in the United States of America to accept Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency is Starbucks. Singapore has also seen corporations begin accepting digital currencies, such as KOPI Tech, who operate food kiosks that enable cryptocurrency transactions. Typically, on a worldwide scale, five digital currencies dominate markets. They include Litecoin, Dash, Ethereum and Bitcoin. Clients can purchase Pizza, Sushi, Coffee, Street Food, Burgers in global nations like Australia, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. This extends to Russia, the Netherlands, Germany, Estonia and Malaysia. Subsequently, this substantial growth has prompted the rapid rise of acceptance. It’s estimated that in America, more than ninety restaurants could accept crypto transactions monthly. However, we don’t recommend readers get too excited. There have been many times where people are let down by the unwavering support of cryptocurrency.
The problem with worldwide growth is that it tends to be small venues and local franchises that accept cryptocurrency transactions. The only large chain to receive the payment method has been Burger King. This could change in the coming months with multiple franchise owners from large scale corporations like KFC and McDonalds now publicly promoting BTC Payments. These actions aren’t approved from the corporation, and technically is illegal, but have all proven to be profitable for respective franchise owners. This can act as a point of research for these subsequent corporations. When fast-food giants like McDonald’s accept BTC, it’s estimated that millions of businesses will register for the payment service yearly. The only public corporation looking into the development of blockchain outside of BK International is Subway. Rumours indicate that Subway has hired experts in the blockchain industry to create a payment service viable to their consumers. However, when asked publicly if these rumours are true, Subway denied all allegations that a blockchain payment service is in development.
Payment Process
Using the Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency Payment Service isn’t tricky. Typically, these small businesses or large restaurant chains use QR Codes to acquire payments. Processing those payments is completed through CoinCheck’s or BitPay’s network services, which can be accessed worldwide. This benefits individually in rural areas that don’t have standard banking services. Consumers are prompted to scan the QR Code on the order screen, allowing for the digital currency to immediately be transferred. It’s identical to the Tap Feature seen on bank and credit cards. Additionally, transaction records are stored on offline blockchain networks for the company and consumer to view.
North New Jersey Restaurant Owner Alita Aidan has been using Bitcoin as a viable transaction service for her customers for more than six months. She stated to local reported: “When they have your credit card, they have the expiration date. They have all the codes. They can turn around and rob your credit card without you knowing.”
Small retailers and large corporations having access to saved financial information is a problem of national security interest. There’s many proposing that there be an expiration date on all transactions, allowing them to be deleted from servers every thirty days. This could cause backlash to blockchain growth though, as many of these retails, and corporations are creating this payment service to also move into the financial space. Internal trading on multiple exchanges could cause for the WhopperCoin, Bitcoin or any other digital currency-related to non-finance businesses to exceed past anybody’s expectations. This would enable a corporation like McDonald’s to have control over fast food and real estate, but also financial markets worldwide. This is why regulation is required at the highest degree.
Conclusion
Countless financial advisors anticipate that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies won’t leap forward into the retail space. Regardless of how hard these companies try to move forward with the relatively new technology, most consumers won’t take the time required to educate themselves on cryptocurrency. Furthermore, when most find out the risk relating to cryptocurrency, they’ll opt-out from using the service. Consumer acceptance claimed by these retails is public relation campaigns meant to make headlines across media outlets worldwide. However, in a world where distraction is around every corner, grabbing the long term attention of customers is nearly impossible. The ambiguity related to digital currencies won’t help the already high level of trust to these online payment services. Unfortunately, from all accounts since 2016’s Netherlands Whopper Location, BTC hasn’t been accepted by mass populations.
Tom Arran
