Upper West Side Restaurant Lets Customers Pay In Bitcoin

Upper West Side eatery La Sirène is now accepting bitcoin as a form of payment, according to news from The New York Post. Patrons of the New York restaurant, opened by chef Didier Pawlicki, will find that they can pay with cash, check, American Express and the cryptocurrency, but not the more traditional plastic options like Visa and Mastercard.

La Sirène joins a mere handful of New York restaurants accepting the controversial cryptocurrency, which JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon described as a “fraud” and whose company released a report comparing it to “pyramid schemes” just last month.

“While we don’t know whether the price of cryptocurrencies will go up or down in the near term, the history of currencies, governments and financial fraud tells us that the future for cryptocurrencies will likely not be bright,” wrote Marko Kolanovic, the analyst responsible for the JPMorgan report criticizing bitcoin.

The cryptocurrency, which often fluctuates in value, has been associated with money laundering and other criminal activities. It is often the currency of choice for users on the dark web.

Last month Ron Insana, writing for CNBC, declared that bitcoin was a “bubble.”

“Bitcoin is in a bubble, make no mistake. The episode, for some, will end badly, while others reap the rewards of getting in on the action early and, more importantly, getting out before the bust,” wrote Insana, predicting how the cryptocurrency boom will burst.

Chef Didier Pawlicki declined the New York Post’s requests for contact, explaining that he’d “just opened the restaurant and wasn’t ready for press.”

The New York Post was able to reach one staff member at the Upper West Side dining establishment over the phone to ask why Pawlicki was accepting bitcoin as a payment option.

“He’s interested in that, so we always accept it,” said the staff member. The same staffer said that customers pay with the currency “a couple of times a month.”