Among the hustle and bustle of covering two conferences back to back I had a chance to have some coffee with Edward Clements, one of the pioneers of online bitcoin retailing.

Clements has been involved the bitcoin scene since May 2011, when he launched BitBrew.net one of the oldest continuously operating purveyors of consumables for bitcoin.

BitBrew - based in San Antonio, Texas - specializes in organic and fair-trade coffees from around the world, and features a fair selection of flavored and regional varieties.

Clements isn’t just a coffee retailer however. He’s also involved with the Bitcoin100, an organization that exists to convince new charities to accept Bitcoin donations. To encourage Bitcoin adoption by charitable organizations, Bitcoin100 donates the Bitcoin equivalent of $1000 to non-political, secular charities that prominently display an option for supporters to contribute via Bitcoin on their website.

Clements’ newest venture is Bitcoin General Store, where he’s partnered with Utah-based Bees Brothers to create a Bitcoin retail site that does much more than coffee. With that in mind, I asked him to start off our interview by telling me about that.

HR: Tell me about your new store. What are you attempting to do with it?

EC: “Our focus with the Bitcoin General Store is to ‘close the loop.’ We try to buy products in bulk with bitcoin, and then turn around and offer it on our website.”

“[For example] I’ve got some blue lasers in from an international source. They’ve been pretty popular, but if individuals tried to buy from him directly they would have to pay all these extra fees. So I bought them in bulk from him with bitcoin, and I can pass those savings on to anyone in the United States who’s interested in buying one.”

“Unfortunately we still haven’t found a shipping option (laughs). Fedex and UPS still don’t accept bitcoin.”

HR: You’ve been around the bitcoin community for quite awhile. What do you think about the rapid rise in interest?

EC: “I knew we would eventually reach the point we are now, but I thought it would take a lot longer. I think anybody who’s been in it as long as I have is just as surprised as I am that it exploded like this. So many people see the value in it, and see how well it works.”

“A group of small businesses emailed me and said ‘Hey, we heard about Bitcoin, we want to know what this is, can you come and talk to us.’ So I’m speaking to a group of businesses next month to give them a little Bitcoin 101. I think you’re going to see more of that… businesses are becoming more curious about it. And once they hear that the fees are significantly lower, that there are payment processors available that will allow them to get cash right away - there’s really is no negative side to it. There’s plenty of Bitcoin holders who want to spend their bitcoins, and are looking for places to spend their bitcoins.”

HR: Will this growth continue?

EC: “If anything growth will probably ramp up, but it might not be as visible. You’re going to see more payment processors where Bitcoin is in the background. Less and less Bitcoin addresses - and less QR codes - and more just click and send/receive.”

HR: Have you kept your Bitcoin over the past few years?

EC: “Actually, no. And I still don’t. I put them back into the economy. Whenever I have the opportunity to buy something I would have bought with dollars - but there’s an option to use bitcoin - I use bitcoin.”

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