At ESPN Bitcoin Bowl, push is on for football and cryptocurrency

MADEIRA BEACH The Alligator Attraction is a classic Florida joint, the kind of place where tizzied tourists can toss turkey dogs to snappy reptiles. But this week, old-school fun will start accepting new-school funds: bitcoin, an online "cryptocurrency" that has gained buzz if not exactly a stronghold in the financial realm the past few years.

"There are so many benefits to bitcoin," says Sonny Flynn, business manager at Alligator Attraction, home of Chompers the star reptile, who, it should be noted, doesn't care how you pay for his snacks. "It's hack-proof. There's no transaction fee. It's almost as if you are paying in cash."

With the ESPN Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl at Tropicana Field on Friday, and thousands of football fans in town to watch the tilt between North Carolina State and Central Florida, some 100 bay area merchants will celebrate by accepting bitcoin paperless digital currency that can be used in lieu of cash, checks or credit cards. (See our sidebar for a bitcoin tutorial.)

Madeira Beach where a "Beach Bash" party will go down starting at 3 p.m. today for teams, cheerleaders and fans is the hub of the bitcoin boom in Tampa Bay. Myriad John's Pass Village & Boardwalk stores are now equipped with the necessary technology to process bitcoin currency. Some software, a tablet and a consumer's smart phone are all that's really needed to make the cyberdeal. Want a scoop of strawberry at the Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor? Bitcoin can sate that sweet tooth.

"As a merchant, it's the greatest thing in the world," says Doug Andrews, recreation director for the City of Madeira Beach. A store sets up with a bitcoin conversion company, one of the benefits being lower fees than dealing with credit-card companies. Then, "every 24 hours, a merchant gets money" converted back into U.S. dollars "wired into their account. This is a very unique concept."

Next year, Madeira Beach will allow scofflaws to pay for parking tickets using bitcoin, making this one of the first towns in the world to uniformly adopt bitcoin as a prime source of payment.

"You can even buy diamonds with bitcoin," says Ashley Wheeler, the Bitcoin Bowl's director of corporate sponsorship and events. Indeed, Continental Wholesale Diamonds in Tampa will also gladly take your bitcoin. The conversion is basically the same: If a diamond ring is priced at $10,000 U.S. dollars, you're still paying $10,000 U.S. dollars even when paying via bitcoin.

Situated next to Tropicana Field, Ferg's Sports Bar and Grill in St. Petersburg will have a bitcoin ATM machine on the premises. Instead of dispensing dollar bills, it will gobble them up, converting the money into digital currency stored on your smart phone, which can then be used to buy, say, an $8.99 plate of nuclear wings.

Local restaurateur Steve Westphal is accepting bitcoin at his hotspots, including 400 Beach Seafood and Tap House in downtown St. Petersburg. John Ruetz, general manager of 400 Beach, says right now bitcoin is a "novelty" at best, although "good PR is good PR," so he's all in.

The brainchild of the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto (who is popularly described as either one person or a group of people), bitcoin gained controversial buzz over the past few years as a nerd-friendly alternative to the physical demands of cash money and the negatives surrounding credit cards, including fraud and charges. Merchants usually get dinged about 3 percent per credit card transaction.

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At ESPN Bitcoin Bowl, push is on for football and cryptocurrency