Want to pay for pay for dinner in bitcoins?Try Ramen Underground in San Francisco.Buy groceries with bitcoins?You can do it at Spar in Arnhem, the Netherlands.In this article, we identify cities that are at the forefront of embracing the virtual currency.Several different metrics were used in making the list, including the number of bitcoin merchants in the city, the number of bitcoin ATMs, and the population size relative to bitcoin activity. allow you to view current bitcoin accepting businesses by city or country.Similarly, CoinDesk's bitcoin ATM map shows the locations of bitcoin ATMs across the world.Here are the 10 leading cities, starting with the strongest bitcoin presence: 1.Not surprisingly, California's tech Mecca figures a prominent role in our list.The city currently has 177 merchants accepting bitcoin and one bitcoin ATM with a relatively small population of 837,000.San Francisco is home to startups such as Coinbase, developer of the world’s most popular bitcoin wallet.

Bitcoin has a strong community in Canada, which was the first country to sign an official law regulating the virtual currency.Vancouver boasts 86 bitcoin-accepting merchants and an impressive 13 bitcoin ATMs.The city of 578,000 inaugurated the world’s first bitcoin ATM and is the headquarters of the Quadriga CX Bitcoin exchange.The capital of the Netherlands has a robust 74 merchants accepting bitcoin and one bitcoin ATM for a population of 779,000.Nearby cities Utrecht and the Hague are also havens for the cryptocurrency.Amsterdam is home to leading bitcoin startups including BitFury and BitPay.The smallest city on our list with a population of only 272,000, Ljubljana has 51 merchants accepting bitcoin and two ATMs.The prominent bitcoin exchange Bitstamp is headquartered in Ljubljana.Israel's financial center and one of the world's leading cities for startups has 58 merchants accepting bitcoin and four bitcoin ATMs in a population of 404,000.The Israel Bitcoin Meetup Group in Tel Aviv is among the most active in the world with 1,785 members.

The largest city in Switzerland and a leading financial center, Zurich has 64 merchants accepting bitcoin and two ATMs serving a population of 366,000.The Florida city of 352,000 people has a surprising 93 merchants accepting bitcoin, more than most of the largest cities in the US, but as yet no bitcoin ATM.The leading bitcoin city in South America, Buenos Aires has 130 merchants accepting bitcoin and one bitcoin ATM in the city of 2.9 million people.litecoin pool topIn a country famous for currency crisis, bitcoin has found a warm welcome so far.sklep za bitcoinThe Big Apple has 120 merchants accepting bitcoin and five bitcoin ATMs catering to a population of 8.4 million.local bitcoin puneThe financial and tech hub is home to bitcoin startup Coinsetter, a 'Wall Street built' bitcoin exchange.bitcoin texas holdem

The UK capital and global financial powerhouse of 8.3 million residents has 88 merchants accepting bitcoin and four bitcoin ATM's.London-based bitcoin startups include Coinfloor, a bitcoin exchange, and Elliptic, a bitcoin vault.The London Bitcoin Meetup group is currently the largest in the world with 2,311 members.Since its origin in 2009, bitcoin has made substantial strides towards becoming the world's first global currency.zcash bitcoin forkThe impressive rate of adoption suggests that that virtual currencies are here to stay in one form or another.king of bitcoin ebookfifteen seconds Buying is so quick, you'll have time to sit down and enjoy some of your new coins thinking about what pretty stuff you want to buy, enjoy a coffee & desert, send overseas to a charity, or buy that boat you dreamed of without talking to your bank for an hour to clear the transfer.bitcoin namecoin litecoin

get ahead Be innovative, get ahead of the crowd.Bitcoin is changing the world: from third-world traders who can sell their wares internationally for lots of small transactions, through to Virgin Galactic offering flights to space for Bitcoin leading exchanges We connect you to the best Bitcoin money markets to get you great rates.That way your Bitcoin can go even further.Watching the price of your Bitcoin holdings vary can also be fun, and some Bitcoin advocates advise holding at least a small amount of Bitcoin long-term.* No risk No risky and complex dealings with foreign exchanges, bank wire fees or local meet-ups with strangers.bitcoin etf chancesYou also don't need to time your transaction to get the right rate.litecoin gbp rateWhen you use BitRocket ATMs you get exactly the rate on the screen and it is done in seconds, the Bitcoin is then safely in your wallet!

Converting the cash in your wallet to Bitcoin is one of the biggest hurdles to getting some skin in the digital crypto currency game.Time was when you had to meet a scruffily-dressed Bitcoin owner in person, at a corner street cafe, to get your hands on a few Bitcoins.Bitcoin’s times are changing though.Startup Lamassu Bitcoin Ventures is aiming to simplify the process with its Bitcoin ATM machine (left).It’s showing off a prototype of its tablettop-sized ATM at the Bitcoin London conference taking place today.Its snappy tagline is ‘fiat to Bitcoin in 15 seconds’  — and in keeping with that promise the process is designed to be as simple as possible.And simplicity means accepting cash only — no card payments — to avoid having to deal with banks, says co-founder Zach Harvey.“With our Bitcoin machine… you don’t need the bank’s approval to start running these Bitcoins machines.You only need cash,” he told the Bitcoin London conference today.In keeping with the nascent Bitcoin ecosystem, the first prototype of the machine was only created in the founders’ garage back in February.

The machine has a touchscreen to step the depositor through the process; a camera for scanning their Bitcoin QR code where they want the exchanged currency deposited (the machine displays the current exchange rate on the front); and a slot for feeding bank notes into the ATM, which they say will support multiple currencies.Once the depositor has put their paper money in, the appropriate amount of Bitcoins are delivered to the Bitcoin address linked to the scanned QR code.The system takes around 10 to 20 minutes before the transaction is confirmed, according to other co-founder, Josh Harvey.Harvey says Lamassu is planning to distribute the ATM machines globally – “ all around the world” — kicking off production at the end of August, for fall shipment.Where are the ATMs going to be situated exactly?Wherever buyers believe there is a Bitcoin demand they can tap in to – whether that’s inside a shopping mall with a high volume of people passing through or a small retailer that already accepts Bitcoin and wants to encourage more of its customers to start using the currency.

The startup is not going to be taking any kind of cut on the currency exchange itself – rather it plans to make a profit on the hardware units, which will sell for $4,000-$5,000 apiece.Likewise, it’s not selling Bitcoin support services around the machine — “we’re keeping out of that because of the regulatory issues,” says Josh.The startup stresses that buyers need to be sure the machine complies with any local financial regulations that might apply to Bitcoin.Developing countries are one obvious target for the Bitcoin ATM, owing to the millions of people who still don’t have traditional bank accounts.“Once people know that all they need to do is use a kiosk to do their banking, why do they need banks?” added Zach.“You can jump over the old technology of banking systems.” So while the payment giants and card companies are doing their best — via the likes of contactless payment technology — to kill off cash and funnel more transactions through their own centralised payment infrastructure, startups like Lamassu suggest cash could still play a role in a future currency mix, as Bitcoin’s hassle-free sidekick.