The District of New Colombia (D.N.C.) in the so-called “heart” of Paraguay has experienced its pizza-purchase moment in the adoption of Bitcoin. Sunday night marked the first commercial purchase in town using Bitcoin as the method of payment for food at Centro Grill, located on the corner opposite the town plaza on the east side of the church.
The restaurant opened recently, and its outdoor seating area often brings a lively atmosphere to the corner, which is fitting for its central location in town. True to the warm Paraguayan culture (pun intended) the venue opens at 6pm on weekend evenings as an ideal social spot where the open air movement can offer relief from the high temperatures of the day. From Friday night to Sunday night, residents and visitors to the town now have a convenient eating-and-meeting spot, right by the park, with all the benefits of the global Lightning payment network.
The shop’s acceptance of Bitcoin happened serendipitously, during a planned Spanish-language Bitcoin meetup. Local Paraguayan shop owners were invited to the venue to learn how to accept Bitcoin payments in their own shops, several of whom expressed a clear interest and intention to attend – but despite this, not a single one showed up! However, the restaurant’s owner, Florian, came and joined the table and readily received the instruction that was prepared for the invitees. As a result, the faithful bitcoiners who were in attendance happily paid for their meal through the restaurant’s newly-configured payment system, making town history in the process.
The attendees had already ordered döners before realising the significance of this historic pizza-purchase moment, but the shop does serve pizza and burgers as well. It is sure to be a regular hangout for bitcoiners, especially around May 22 for Pizza Day. (Yes, that’s a hint: mark your calendars for 2025!)
The staff easily arranged the tables to accommodate this small event, but the venue is able to host larger events as well. With 15 people or more, the menu can be coordinated in advance.
The speed at which Centro Grill added the Bitcoin Lightning payment system is remarkable in itself. The system is so simple, accessible, and effective that it was introduced, set up, and taught to the cashiers of the running business on the fly, and used to pay for the meal all in one sitting! This is an example to everyone that the adoption of Bitcoin is within anyone’s reach. It requires no investment of time or resources—only a collective willingness and decision to do so.
The organiser of Sunday’s event hopes Centro Grill does well, and that other business follow suit. Accepting Bitcoin Lightning payments opens any kind of shop to a growing segment of clients they won’t otherwise reach. It makes a business stand out on maps so clients wishing to pay with Bitcoin will be attracted directly to them. It’s free publicity and funneling, which is something that every business can benefit from.
Heartfelt thanks go to the instrumental people at Bridge2Bitcoin and the Bitcoin community in Paraguay for their roles leading up to this moment. This historic meetup was organised and led by Satoshi, D.N.C., which is a community-service project focused on developing a circular Bitcoin economy in the local area. It works under the umbrella of Bitcoin Paraguay as one of its founding communities. To support the local efforts, please consider giving to the Satoshi, D.N.C. community service fund via fsc@satoshidnc.com (Lightning address), or to Bitcoin Paraguay via donaciones@ln.bitcoinparaguay.org (Lightning address).
