A luxury hotel in the Lake District as 'become the first in the North West' to accept cryptocurrency as a payment.
The Cranleigh Boutique, which is located in Bowness-on-Windermere, will now allow Bitcoin, Ethereum, Utrust Token and Tether to be used.
The hotel is owned by Lancashire-born hospitality entrepreneur Stephen Hargreaves who is also behind The Boutique Hideout House, Baha Pacific Street Food restaurant, The Fizzy Tarté cocktail & champagne bar, and Lake View Garden Bar.
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Mr Hargreaves said: "We know that the interest and use of digital assets is growing, particularly over the past 18 months, with investors seeking to diversify their assets in times of economic turbulence.
"I’ve been contacted by numerous customers requesting we include a way to pay for bookings with Bitcoin at The Cranleigh Boutique.
"Although initially unsure of the level of appeal, it is very clear that there is a considerable market for this.
"This will be a first for us, for the Lake District and for the North West, but we are renowned for our forward-thinking approach and for applying pioneering methods to our processes.
"We know consumer habits and preferences are changing; we’re spearheading that change across our region."
Mr Hargreaves is to work with provider UTRUST to facilitate payments.
Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator. It can be sent from user-to-user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.
