We’ve always been pushing the boundaries as a brand and this is our latest attempt,” notes Suveett Kalra, as he talks about his restaurant Ardor 2.1. The Connaught Place-based restaurant is the first in Delhi to accept cryptocurrency as a means to pay for a new Digital Thali. “Since everything has become digital, from bookings to menus, we thought why not complete the circle and have a completely digitised experience from start to finish?” notes the restaurateur.
“This is a pilot project, and we begin today. I am curious to see if there are any takers in the first place, which is why we have created a specific menu offering, for which there’s an additional 20 per cent discount if you pay by cryptocurrency,” says Kalra. He adds that if there are indeed enough takers, he might consider extending the payment option to the entire menu.
“I know cryptocurrency has become a buzzword. A friend in France suggested it to me as a model. Since then, a couple of Indian friends have told me it is going to be the next big thing.” Admitting that there is still a “grey area” in the market and so it is not one he wants to rush into, Kalra points out, “I always do my research and have found out that there’s a Supreme Court judgment that allows you to engage in any trade.”
Ready to obey all guidelines set by the necessary ministries, Kalra mentions, “We are offering a 20 per cent off on the thali itself for people who will be paying by cryptocurrency, and we will immediately convert that into INR so that it is registered. Individuals may proceed with these kinds of transactions as they want, but companies need to stick to certain laws, and that is what we are following as a company. ”
While Kalra says the restaurant will accept certain cryptocurrencies, and it has the requisite wallets, he does not want to step on any toes, legal or otherwise. The restaurant does not want to become an arbitrator in the market. He says, “There are a lot of eventualities to be worked out. Apart from all that, values change by the minute. If our thali costs x amount, and someone says they will pay in crypto but it’s become x minus 0.0005 amount and so even the discount matters, well, we don’t want to get into that.”
“For instance, who would have thought 10 years ago that all, if not most, tasks could be done and co-ordinated over a Zoom call? That is the reality today, and all kinds of payments could be done through cryptocurrency tomorrow,” Kalra concludes.
Crypto 101
As per every account, cryptocurrencies, also often referred to as coins, are digital currencies that are secured through cryptography, which is the enciphering and deciphering of messages in secret code or cipher. Many of them rely on blockchain technology — a distributed ledger of all transactions that is decentralised, accessible to and by all, in order to ensure security as well as independence.