By RYAN MELLON | Staff WriterStarting Friday at Four54 Grill, you can pay for your cheeseburger without handing over cash, credit or debit cards.
The restaurant on New Holland Avenue will start accepting bitcoin as a form of payment and host Lancaster County's first CoinOutlet bitcoin ATM.
Bitcoin is digital money that uses peer-to-peer payment with no middleman or central authority, according to bitcoin.org.
What that means for restaurant owners like Four54 Grill's Leigh Menkes is no credit or debit card transaction fees.
"I like the idea," Menkes said of bitcoin transactions at his business. "It's popular in other countries and I like the idea of getting in at the ground floor."
CoinOutlet CEO Eric Grill said his bitcoin ATM allow users to buy and sell bitcoins.
To buy bitcoins, users will insert cash into the machine and scan their private bitcoin wallet ID to transfer the virtual currency to their secure account.
Grill said customers who wish to pay with bitcoins at the restaurant will scan a code with their smartphone or device which will prompt them to send the exact amount of virtual currency.
"Privacy is the benefit," Grill said. "Look at all these companies that get credit card information stolen. That can't happen with bitcoin. You're in full control of your money and determining where that money goes."
For now, as bitcoin is in the process of growing in the U.S., Grill said the use of the digital money is more of a novelty but that the currency is quickly gaining popularity.
Grill said that Four54 Grill will have the first bitcoin ATM in Pennsylvania and just the second from his business in the U.S.
There are 11 CoinOutlet bitcoin ATMs throughout the world, Grill said, and he has plans for 30 more ATMs in the U.S. by the end of November.
Menkes, who has owned Four54 Grill for about a year and a half, is confident the currency will catch on here.
"For a lot of people, this will be a far more straight forward means of currency exchange," Menkes said. "I think it's just going to get stronger."
But for now, Menkes said customers will still be able to purchase their food with cash, credit and debit cards.
The restaurant, at 454 New Holland Avenue, will have a grand unveiling of the machine Friday starting at 6 p.m.
Grill will be in attendance and will show people how to use the machine.
