Dubai Bitcoin: Pizzeria First UAE Restaurant to Take BTC

Dubai Bitcoin & Pizza

For 0.034 BTC, you can have yourself a yummy vegetable slice of pizza in Dubai. The Pizza Guys pizzeria has already had customers buy a slice using bitcoin.

The New York style pizzeria is owned by Rami Badawi and Amber Haque, and just celebrated its 1 year anniversary on February 1st, 2014. The married couple believe that their pizzeria is the first restaurant in the United Arab Emirates to welcome the bitcoin currency. Badawi is enthusiastic about bitcoin, saying:

“There were two reasons we got into Bitcoin. The first was for business. It offers another form of payment for customers and carries a lower transaction cost than a credit card. The other reason was that we see it as a wonderful social experiment that we want to participate in.”

Dubai bitcoin enthusiasts that wish to order pizza use a server which converts the Dirham (Dubai’s national currency) price into bitcoin. This is done through smartphone wallet apps which can scan QR codes. The transaction is just as simple as a credit card swipe. Of course, the transactions are only done on Android phones, as Apple has yet to commit to any bitcoin dealings.

Nevertheless, pizza prices aren’t listed on The Pizza Guys’ menu. This is due to bitcion’s monetary value fluctuations.

Haque chimed in about bitcoin’s impact on society, saying:

“This conversation has been taking place for some time now, and it is very interesting to us. It is changing the way people are thinking about currency. It is such a people-focused kind of currency.”

The pizza owners are optimistic on bitcoin’s future, as they believe its popularity will only spread.

World’s Most Expensive Pizza 

Once upon a time, bitcoin was a new concept of currency, not completely figured out yet. As a matter of fact, bitcoin still isn’t all figured out.

During its early days, those who had bitcoins didn’t have a lot of ways to spend them. One enthusiast figured he’d test out a way to use his bitcoins for some Papa John’s pizza. It is speculated that this was the first bitcoin transaction to ever take place; dated May 21st, 2010.

Of course, we all know that Papa John’s doesn’t accept bitcoin for pizza, especially 4 years ago. So Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer in Florida, took to the internet to experiment his pizza craving theory.

Hanyecz sent 10,000 BTC, which at the time valued at$0.0045 each, to a volunteer in England. In turn, the person in England would order a pizza to be delivered to Hanyecz’s door using ‘normal’ currency. This pizza ordering transaction occurred more than once between Hanyecz and volunteers.

Now 4 years later, bitcoin is worth approximately $600. Had Hanyecz held onto his bitcoins, he would be siting on millions. Thus claiming the title of the world’s most expensive pizza.

Although Hanyecz may be kicking himself; especially since buying pizza in Dubai is cheaper than what he paid for it based on today’s market, he has to be looked at as a pioneer in the bitcoin industry. Had he not experimented by trading 10,000 BTC, perhaps the price of bitcoin would not be where it is today.

It is due to bitcoin transactions that lead bitcoin to grow in value.

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