05 February 2022
A restaurant in northeast Thailand has become a center for traders of cryptocurrency. A cryptocurrency is a form of digital money that is not regulated by any central bank.
HIP Coffee & Restaurant is a café that serves coffee and food. But it has setup screens showing the latest price information on cryptocurrency markets for its customers. The café also offers investment advice to go along with its coffee and cake.
Detnarong Satianphut is a 35-year-old cryptocurrency trader and a customer at the café. He told Reuters, "It's exciting for me to be here because I get to meet people who share the same interests." He added, "We (traders) get to exchange information because in the trading world we are coming up against millions of people."
People pass their time at a cafe which has dozens of screens showing the latest trends and prices on various cryptocurrencies for their crypto investors' customers in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand January 21, 2022. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
Cryptocurrencies have started becoming more popular in Thailand. The latest official data suggest that as much as $7.62 billion in digital currency was traded in November.
In January, Thailand said it would start to regulate the use of digital currencies as payments. Officials warned of risks to the country's economic system.
The HIP café has been in business since 2013. The eatery began setting up its cryptocurrency information screens in 2020.
Since then, workers said the number of customers has doubled. HIP café's supervisor is Oakkharawat Yongsakuljinda. He said the cafe provides a chance for people in the surrounding Nakhon Ratchasima province to get involved in investing.
The café offers free investment advice and is planning on starting its own cryptocurrency coin.
Customers say trading in the café gives them the best chance of success in an insecure market. The value of the most well-known cryptocurrency, bitcoin, recently dropped to a six-month low.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
Jiraporn Kuhakan reported on this story for the Reuters news service. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English.
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Words in This Story
screen –n. the flat part of a television or computer that shows images or text
customer –n. someone who buys goods or services from a business
regulate –v. to make rules or laws that control (something)