Nightlife Association Embraces Cryptocurrency With New Partnership

With an association’s help, you soon might find yourself paying for a night at the pub with a little cryptocurrency.

In a new partnership with the decentralized payment system Paytomat, the American Nightlife Association  (opens in a new tab) will help build a system for its more than 30,000 member merchants—including nightclubs, bars, and event venues—to accept cryptocurrency.

ANA will help Paytomat  (opens in a new tab), which is entering the American market for the first time, set up a network of partners and build the necessary regulatory framework to get everything working.

So why cryptocurrency, and why nightlife? In a news release  (opens in a new tab), ANA Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Lev Filimonov characterized the decision as one that would help its members stand out.

“One of the association’s key goals is providing nightlife professionals with trends, tools, resources, and strategies to help them increase performance and revenues,” Filimonov stated. “Accepting cryptocurrencies in a business is a competitive advantage and a marketing booster.”

Yurii Olentir, Paytomat’s founder and CEO, explained that the scale of the bar and nightclub industry, as well as a willingness among merchants to accept bitcoin as a form of payment, made the partnership effective for both sides. Additionally, Paytomat’s platform—which integrates with existing point-of-sale systems and is also available through an app—would make it possible for merchants to accept a number of other major currencies, such as Ethereum and Litecoin.

“Together we’ll develop and implement an effective strategy to quickly engage retailers from across the country, ramp up volume and sales,” h said.

(via Paytomat’s Facebook page)