HIP cafe, a cafe in Thailand, has recently drawn attention ever since its unique concept went viral on the internet. The cafe isn’t necessarily known for its food and coffee. Still, many customers and traders eagerly started coming in to feast their eyes upon dozens of tv screens showing the latest trends and prices on various cryptocurrencies. They have put up dozens of screens showing multiple coins, their price chart, and provide free cryptocurrency investment advice.
The cafe was founded in 2013. The number of customers has doubled since installing the crypto data screens in 2020. Customers who only visit during weekdays now come in numbers every day. The ideological concept has drawn a group of loyal customers who come regularly.
Apakon Putnok, a student, trader, and a regular customer said that “having so many screens helps a lot and when the market crashes, we immediately know and get to analyze the crashing factors”. “We also get to decide whether we should buy or sell”, he added.
Manager Oakkharawat Yongsakuljinda said that there are three types of customers who visit the cafe. The first includes the experts who come to build a community—secondly, the people who just started investing and want to meet new people. Thirdly, the ones who don’t know anything about crypto.
The HIP cafe provides free cryptocurrency investment consultancy and plans to start its own cryptocurrency.
Thailand and crypto
The Bank of Thailand (BOT), the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the country’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) together announced Tuesday their proposal to regulate cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.
The three authorities noted that after analyzing the benefits and hazards of crypto assets, they “deem it important to regulate the usage of digital assets as a means of payment for goods and services, to prevent potential consequences on the country’s financial stability and economic system.”
With different countries, including India jumping on the bandwagon of regulating crypto as a means of payment, investors in Thailand can hope for the best. Ardor 2.1, a restaurant based in Delhi Connaught Place, is India’s first to accept cryptocurrency payment for their recently launched Digital Thali. The meals in this thali take their names from different cryptocurrencies. Not only this, if you pay using crypto, then you may enjoy a 20 percent reduction on your payment.