Raising a glass to Satoshi’s Place and the challenge of running Bitcoin businesses

Cointelegraph took a trip to Satoshi’s Place on Friday, a Bitcoin (BTC) hub in Greater Manchester. Named after the anonymous creator of the world’s largest and most widely accepted cryptocurrency, the bar and workspace offers workshops, coworking spaces for local businesses and Bitcoin-inspired cocktails.

Adam, the founder (who chose not to share his surname), first heard about Bitcoin in 2012 and has spent the past 10 years experimenting with ways to onboard and educate people about magic internet money. He told Cointelegraph over a beer–paid for by Bitcoin over the Lightning Network–that it’s the first of many forays into Bitcoin business.

Everything in the space–absolutely everything–is Bitcoin-themed or Bitcoin-branded. From orange being the dominant colour to rare Bitcoin art adorning the walls to the hand dryer in the loos which generates heat from–you guessed it–a Bitcoin miner plugged in upstairs.

Adam explained that over the past four years he’s focused his efforts on Bitcoin merchant adoptin, a growing trend in the United Kingdom. Satoshi’s Place began life as a coffee shop and then a pizzeria back in 2018. At first, customers could buy coffees with Bitcoin and even use a Bitcoin ATM to buy and sell Bitcoin, “Back when it was legal,” he joked.

“People were putting £20,000 worth of cash into an ATM on a monthly. From teenagers to I think the eldest was 93 years old.”

Bitcoin ATMs were forced to shutter by the Financial Conduct Authority in March this year. Adam explained that despite the fact that they did everything by the book — “a full exchange system literally to the minute,” — the banks made life hard.

An example that’s part of a wider trend, Bitcoin Businesses in the UK are beleaguered by banks. Adam’s experience is no different: he had issues with Barclays while operating a UK-based crypto festival called CoinFest and has had bank accounts blocked and emails ignored despite best efforts do business above board.

Satoshi’s Place is his third attempt at creating a by-the-book space for Bitcoin enthusiasts and precoiners to meet and learn what is money, and why Bitcoin might be a better one. Thanks to the Lightning Network, a layer-2 Bitcoin solution, payments are now near-instant, frictionless and basically free. Many punters, Bitcoin enthusiasts, and even first-timers bought burgers and beverages with Bitcoin at the bar on Friday.

The…