Frappuccino for cryptocurrency

Starbucks, Microsoft and ICE will help consumers pay with cryptocurrency.

Coffee giant Starbucks is teaming up with Microsoft and the world's leading exchange ICE to develop a new digital payment platform, Bakkt, that will allow consumers and institutions to buy, sell, store and spend cryptocurrency online. 

“Starbucks will play a key role in developing practical, reliable and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use in its coffee chain,” said Maria Smith, vice president of partnerships and payments for Starbucks. 

Crypto-skeptics doubt the advisability of such means of payment due to the high volatility of cryptocurrencies, because the price of bitcoin, for example, can fall or rise by hundreds of dollars in a day and this year has fallen by more than 50 percent compared to the previous one. However, the fact that Starbucks is serious about cryptocurrencies could have a positive impact on the price of bitcoin, which has been struggling to find its footing since late 2017.

“This is very important news for bitcoin because everyone is asking where they can spend it. Now you can do this in every Starbuckslocation,” said Brian Kelly, founder and CEO of BKCM. 

Starbucks sees some potential for the adoption of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin in particular, and believes that partnering with a large regulated institution will indeed benefit the digital community. However, Starbucks won't be the first retailer to embrace digital assets. The first company to accept bitcoin in 2014 was Overstock. In addition, Expedia, Shopify and CheapAir have also stated that they accept cryptocurrency as a means of payment.

According to cnbc.com