Share this article
Bitcoins buy beer in Cambridge
Cambridge Pubs are leading the way in offering bitcoin transactions for real world items.
By David Gilson
Updated Dec 12, 2022, 12:53 p.m. Published Jun 10, 2013, 1:27 p.m.
Speculating on Bitcoin is all well and good, but what about real world purchasing? Well, there are a few enterprising corners dotted around the United Kingdom where brave business people have begun offering bitcoin payments. Just see Bitcoin Travel for examples, two of which can be found in the venerable city of Cambridge (which has a proud history of computer science).
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
We spotted an article on a blog called Cabumehttp://www.cabume.co.uk/software/bitcoin-buys-you-beer-in-cambridge-pubs.html, which describes itself as "Tech news from the Cambridge cluster". The post tells the story of Andrew Bower who bought a pint of beer for 0.0202 BTC, equivalent to £1.55 (GBP). For those who are super curious, the details of the transaction can be found on Blockchain.info – a QR code for the transaction was photographed in the original article (which is shown on the left).
His pint was purchased at The Haymakers (Cambridge), which is owned by a company run by a former Cambridge University computer scientist, Stephen Early. Early had installed the system and says that he believes this pint constituted the first Bitcoin transaction in Cambridge.
We also spotted on Reddit that another Cambridge pub, The Devonshire Arms, is furnishing its customers with the option to pay by bitcoin. We have less detail in this case, but Reddit user e4xit reported that he had used his blockchain.info app to pay for "a few rounds of beers".
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
These Three Metrics Show Bitcoin Found Strong Support Near $80,000
Onchain data shows multiple cost basis metrics confirm heavy demand and investor conviction around the $80,000 price level.
What to know:
- Bitcoin rebounded from the $80,000 region after a sharp correction from its October all time high, with price holding above the average entry levels of key metrics.
- The convergence of the True Market Mean, U.S. ETF cost basis, and the 2024 yearly cost basis around the low $80,000 range highlights this zone as a major area of structural support.
Top Stories
