Technology enthusiasts are celebrating the first city bar to accept payment in Bitcoins.

Blind Tiger Club is thought to be the first venue in Brighton and Hove that allows customers to pay for their drinks using the highlypublicised technology.

Bitcoin is a decentralised virtual currency, meaning it does not physically exist or have a central bank such as the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England.

Instead, Bitcoins are stored in ‘virtual wallets’ on computers and are traded for real-world currency using online exchanges.

 

MORE:

 

Around 20 people who are backing the technology met at the Grand Parade venue to test out the new payment system.

One of them, 25-year-old Nick Chowdrey, co-founder of Bitcoin Brighton, said: “I think we are in a phase where the internet was in the mid-1990s where people are a bit reluctant to use the technology.

“However I don’t see how it’s not going to be adopted because it’s a genius idea.

“I think you will find more webbased companies and more bricks and mortar firms starting to accept Bitcoins as payment as they know their value will go up in time.

“They could be a brilliant investment in the long term and could possibly be worth a lot more in ten years’ time than they are now.”

Bitcoins hit the headlines in the past year after its value increased by up to 1,000% since the start of January 2013.

Its launch in 2009 also coincided with the tipping point of the financial crisis, where people began to lose trust in the global banking system.

In America, Bitcoin owners can spend them to order takeaway pizzas and even book a flight with Richard Branson’s space-tourism firm Virgin Galactic.

There are a finite number of Bitcoins in the world, with a limit of 21 million set to be reached by the end of this year.

Visit the Bitcoin Brighton Twitter page here