You can now use Bitcoin to make purchases in at least one vegan grocery store.
The Canada-based retailer, Vegan Supply, just added the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum as forms of payment.
The online marketplace, which has physical stores in Vancouver and Surrey, carries a number of vegan goods. These include pantry staples, apparel, supplements, personal care items, plant-based meat, dairy products, and more.
In a press release sent to LIVEKINDLY, the company explains it added the payment feature in order to make it easier for consumers to purchase its products. The vegan grocery store also wanted to make it easier for international customers to purchase its products.
In an email, Vegan Supply’s social media and marketing manager, Claire Buchanan, tells LIVEKINDLY the company took notice of Bitcoin’s growing popularity.
“[We] wanted to create an opportunity for our customers to use their crypto for everyday essentials,” she explains.“We noticed that no other vegan businesses were doing this and thought it would be a great offering.”
Vegan Grocery Store Now Accepts Cryptocurrency
The virtual, encrypted medium of exchange has gotten a boost in recent years, especially in the vegan sector.
In 2018, Israeli startup VeganNation launched VeganCoin, an ethical cryptocurrency. One year later, Game of Throne’s star Jerome Flynn joined VeganCoin’s advisory board.
“Vegan Nation is the basis of an international vegan economy that makes vegan lives simpler, more economical, and better for the Earth and the soul of each of us,” Flynn said in a statement. “VeganCoin will allow many more to become vegans and thereby contribute to the reduction of our ecological footprint.”
Even Elon Musk is taking notice of crypto. In February, Tesla announced it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. The California-based company also revealed it would begin accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
“Although we made the decision prior to Elon Musk’s decision, it’s a reminder that what we did was a smart business move,” Buchanan says.
She added that, although customers haven’t yet used the cryptocurrency option at checkout, Vegan Supply is eager to see how Bitcoin and Ethereum fare with customers.
