2 coins. That's the number of cryptocurrencies a small Dublin café on Aungier Street will accept when a customer wants to pay by phone. The owner, Nash Basel, opened the venue with gains from his own crypto trading and accepts litecoin and ethereum only, routing payments as transfers from a customer wallet to the café's receiving address while a live-price screen shows values in real time. Bitcoin is excluded because its transaction charges make tiny purchases impractical. The owner says he is keeping received coins rather than immediately converting them to euro with a view to funding expansion.

A coffee can cost less than €1 when litecoin or ethereum are strong, and several euros if the coin falls by 50 percent. That contrast is the sharp practical risk anyone who wants to pay in crypto faces at the counter on Aungier Street.

1. The one thing that matters: have the right coin in your phone

The single requirement to buy a drink at this café is simple and uncompromising. First, confirm which coins the merchant will accept. At this Dublin venue the accepted coins are Litecoin and Ethereum. The café doesn't accept bitcoin for everyday purchases because the owner judged bitcoin transaction fees too high to make small payments practical. If you hold only bitcoin, you will need to convert it elsewhere into an accepted coin before you can pay at the counter because the venue doesn't offer an on-site fiat-to-crypto purchase option.

Second, hold those coins in a smartphone wallet that can send a transfer at the point of sale. The reported payment flow is direct: a customer opens their phone wallet and sends the required coin to the café’s receiving address. The transaction is a peer transfer from wallet to wallet, not a card payment processed through a payments terminal.

Worked example: imagine you already have ethereum in a phone wallet. You check the live-price screen in the café, calculate the number of ether you need to meet the euro price, and initiate a transfer to the café address shown by the barista. The sale completes once the transfer is processed and the merchant recognises the euro equivalent, which depends on the spot rate when the transfer settles.

2. The timing problem: spot price and settlement matter

When you pay in crypto the euro cost of a coffee isn't fixed until the transfer is processed. The café’s live-price display gives a public reference point, but the effective euro amount a merchant recognises depends on the rate at the moment the transfer settles and, in the case of on-chain settlement, on when blockchain confirmations complete. That introduces direct price exposure between the moment you initiate payment and the final settlement value.

The owner described the arithmetic plainly. Winning on an investment makes spending attractive because a crypto-denominated price can work out to little in euro terms. But a sharp decline in a coin’s value will push the euro equivalent up substantially. He used the example that a coffee could be less than €1 when crypto is strong or could cost several euros if the coin’s value falls by 50 percent.

Frankly, worked example: if the live-price screen shows litecoin up against the euro, the number of litecoin required for a €2 cup could be small. If network confirmations lag and the coin then falls before settlement, the euro cost recognised by the café will reflect that lower valuation, raising the effective price paid in euro.

3. Merchant choices and exposures

When a merchant receives litecoin or ethereum they face a binary operational choice. One option is to convert incoming coins into euro immediately, removing volatility risk but paying whatever conversion spread or fees the chosen service charges. The other option is to keep the coins on the books and accept exposure to market moves .

At the Aungier Street café the owner, Nash Basel, reported choosing to retain the coins for now. He said he opened the outlet using gains from his own crypto trading and views holding receipts as a way to fund expansion. Keeping receipts in crypto is therefore a deliberate business decision that ties the café’s future plans to the market performance of the coins it accepts.

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Worked example: by holding receipts in ethereum rather than converting to euro at the point of sale, the owner accepts the immediate risk that the euro value may fall. But if the coins rise, the retained balance could subsidise growth without needing new capital in euro.

4. Practical limits and customer behaviour

Low consumer take-up is a real possibility for now. In the opening period fewer than 20 customers paid with crypto while most patrons continued to use cash. The venue became a regular meet-up spot for people interested in blockchain and crypto culture, complete with wall signage that references investor culture, including a sign reading "Hodl 4 Life." That social and experimental demand appears to outstrip routine transaction demand when volatility is high.

The payment process also has friction that deters casual users. Because the café relies on smartphone-wallet transfers in specific coins, a paying customer needs to already possess litecoin or ethereum in their phone wallet. There's no on-site service to buy crypto with euro. The live-price screen makes currency moves visible, but it doesn't remove the need for a paying customer to manage wallet addresses, network fees, and the timing of a transfer.

Worked example: a passer-by with cash or a card will on average find the traditional payment route faster. A regular who follows crypto markets may value the novelty and community aspect and will be the likeliest customer to use a wallet transfer for payment.

The café’s decision to accept litecoin and ethereum reflects merchant-level calculations about transaction charges and speed. The owner cited bitcoin’s transaction fees as prohibitive for small purchases. Litecoins and ethereum transactions, at least at the moment the owner set the policy, presented a lower cost and quicker confirmation profile for an everyday purchase like coffee.

That choice also shapes who can realistically pay. Customers who hold only bitcoin face an extra step. They must convert bitcoin to an accepted coin elsewhere before attempting to pay, adding time, cost, and complexity. The result is a self-selection dynamic: early crypto payers tend to be people who already hold the particular coins a merchant accepts.

Worked example: a customer who keeps litecoin in their wallet will find the café’s payment flow straightforward. Someone holding only bitcoin must use an exchange or a wallet service to swap coins, incur fees on that conversion, and then transfer the accepted coin to the café address.

Merchant motivations combined novelty with business planning. The owner said the cryptocurrency angle was inspired by specialist outlets abroad, including a Prague coffee shop that accepts bitcoin, and noted that other Dublin businesses have experimented with crypto acceptance before. That history places the Aungier Street experiment in a longer sequence of retail attempts to use cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange rather than only a speculative asset.

The venue is also practical proof that culture matters. Wall signage and meet-ups turned the café into a community hub for people interested in blockchain.

But early trading figures underline that interest in crypto culture isn't the same thing as frequent crypto use for low-value transactions. The practical hurdles of wallet management, network fees, and price volatility mean most customers still default to cash for a small spend item.

Worked example: a small restaurant operator deciding whether to emulate this model must weigh community benefits against transaction throughput. If most customers continue to pay cash, crypto acceptance may function more as a marketing and networking tool than a meaningful payments channel, at least until volatility and fees become less of a barrier.

First, check which coins the merchant accepts. At the Aungier Street café the accepted coins are litecoin and ethereum, not bitcoin. Second, hold the accepted coin in a smartphone wallet capable of sending transfers at point of sale. Third, be aware that the euro cost will reflect the crypto spot price at the time the transfer settles. Fourth, accept that take-up is low at present, so you may be part of a small group of payers. Fifth, understand the merchant’s counterparty choice: if the owner converts to euro at receipt you avoid future volatility at the cost of conversion fees; if the owner holds the coins you accept that your payment remains exposed to market moves.

Each of these items follows directly from how the café operates: wallet-to-wallet transfers, a live-price display, no on-site fiat-to-crypto purchase option, and a merchant choice to retain receipts for prospective expansion.

In short: 1. Have litecoin or ethereum in your phone wallet. 2. Expect price movement between send and settlement. 3. Be prepared to use cash if you want speed and certainty.

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The last concrete operational fact is simple and telling: the owner is keeping received litecoin and ethereum on his books for future use in expansion.

This article was created with AI assistance.