Glasgow branch of CEX to accept BitCoin

A nice promotional wheeze from highstreet second-hand retailer CEX – they’ve announced that for three days in Glasgow, as an experiment, they’ll be accepting the infamous cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

That’s right – no longer is Bitcoin just for buying drugs or illegal guns. According to MVC, who cite RetailWeek (which is sadly behind a paywall) the store is doing it as an effort to “show how an independent Scotland would fare were it to lose the pound”.

Apparently the retailer, which sells used phones, consoles and games, will both accept Bitcoin for payment and also pay back store credit in the currency too (though at risk of dispensing some useful consumer advice, perhaps ask for Sterling).

It’ll be interesting to see whether the “trial” is expanded, though the speculation (that I’ve just made up) is that if it expands any further, CEX may be better off switching out for a more stable currency, like the Zimbabwe dollar.