Tulip Anyone? Floral Shop Accepts Bitcoin

BloomNation, a newly introduced floral shop is now accepting bitcoins for its products. Yes, you have read it folks; you can buy any type of floral arrangement with bitcoin. Moreover, you can convert bitcoin into tulips. With a single bitcoin, you can buy 220 tulips.

The floral shop began to accept the virtual currency starting last week. It has partnered up with a San Francisco based bitcoin exchange called Coinbase. Also, Coinbase will handle the official conversion process of the bitcoin. It will convert the bitcoin into the United States’ dollar price, accept bitcoin from the customers and pay the florist in dollars. In a way, coinbase is acting as the intermediary between the customers and the florists.

tulip mania

So, what is this all about tulips?

During the Dutch Golden Age, the tulip bulb was newly introduced to the society. The flower was different than any other flower known to the people. According to Wikipedia

“At the peak of tulip mania, in March 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.”

As rapidly as it gained popularity and value, just as quickly it plummeted and the tulip market crashed. The diagram below represents the rise and crash of the “tulip mania.”

What’s a tulip got to do with bitcoin?

Nout Wellink, the former President of the Dutch Central Bank, told students at the University of Amsterdam that the buzz around bitcoin was worse than the Tulip mania in his country during the 1600’s. He said “sooner or later the facade will fall.” Moreover, he said about the rise of bitcoin in popularity

“This is worse than the tulip mania. At least then you got a tulip [at the end], now you get nothing.”

Recently, bitcoin has seen its value drop significantly. The connection that people are making between Tulips and bitcoin is that just as tulip market soared and crashed, so will bitcoin. Farbod Shoraka, CEO of BloomNation, gave an interview via email to TheAtlantic. According to him, the average bitcoin customer buys $150 worth of products on the site. This is far more than the average credit card user.

The Andreesen Horowitz firm has been providing funds for both Coinbase and BloomNation. With the backing of Coinbase, BloomNation was able to venture out into the world of bitcoin and make it available for their customers.

Click for featured image & image