'The Future Of Currency': Baltimore Hair Salon Now Accepting Bitcoin
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Federal Reserve's system that lets banks send money back and forth electronically went down Wednesday morning.
It's an issue you wouldn't have to worry about if you were using a Cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, which some businesses in Baltimore are starting to do.
At Dryland Salon in Canton, you can now get a blowout and pay for it with Bitcoin.
"This is the future of small business I believe," Lynnae D'Alleva, Owner of Dryland Salon, said.
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The full-service salon, owned by sisters Lynnae and Kate D'Alleva, started accepting the form of Cryptocurrency in January.
"We started accepting Bitcoin because I know that Baltimore is a great city for women in tech. And we have a lot of very technically savvy women that come to our shop all the time. Those women are so ready to adopt new forms of technology, like Bitcoin," Katie D'Alleva said.
Chase Maselka is one of those customers.
"I just think that it's really the future of currency and it's going to just become increasingly prevalent in the consumer place," Maselka said. "As a young consumer, I think it's something to get involved in earlier versus later."
Dr. J.P. Krahel, an Associate Professor of Accounting at Loyola University, said there are several reasons Cryptocurrency is attractive.
"This time last year, Bitcoin was under $10,000. Now, it's hovering around $50,000," Dr. Krahel said.
It's also decentralized, meaning it's free of government interference. But there are some downfalls.
"Of course there have been plenty of falls along the way, so you have to have the stomach for it," Dr. Krahel added.
But with such a small percentage of customers paying with Bitcoin, it's a risk Dryland Salon is willing to take.
"It's wild that you can have money that has nothing to do with a bank. You do not have to go see somebody else to have a bank in your hand. And I think that is so liberating," Katie D'Alleva said.
The prices are still set in US dollars. They converted into what value would be in Bitcoin.