Bitcoin shop to open in Hong Kong

Asia Nexgen Bitcoin Exchange is to open its first offline bitcoin store in Hong Kong.

“The biggest issue people have right now is buying bitcoins. So far, people have to put money in and trade it through an online exchange. Now, you can walk into the store, hand over your cash and send the bitcoins to your digital wallet,” Asia Nexgen Bitcoin Exchange CEO Lo Ken-bon told South China Morning Post.

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment system and digital currency introduced as open source software in 2009 by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto. It is described as a “cryptocurrency” because it used cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money.

Bitcoin as a form of payment for products and services has seen growth and merchants have an incentive to accept the currency because transaction fees are lower than the two to three per cent typically imposed by credit card processors.

Bitcoin Group HK said it will also install bitcoin ATMs in Hong Kong’s International Finance Centre and Wanchai Computer Centre.

Hong Kong Bitcoin ATM also plans to set up a machine in Mong Kok.

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