(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Maison Ikkoku is known for a lot of things. The 80-seat restaurant and bar in the historic Kampong Glam neighborhood has a picturesque patio with views of the nearby Sultan Mosque, Singapore's largest. The menu lists a Japan Kumamoto Emperor A5 wagyu steak with potatoes, edamame, and miso, starting at S$208 ($150). It also includes a roster of cocktails, such as the S$28 La Vie en Rose with aged sake, French rosé, and edible gold glitter.
And then there's the crypto.
A sign on the door advertises that payment is accepted in Bitcoin, as well as Ether, Tether, and Binance Coin. You won't find a menu with prices listed in cryptocurrencies—Leong says that's because of regulations. Crypto prices are also so volatile, the conversion could change daily.
But Chief Executive Officer Ethan Leslie Leong, a more than 30-year veteran of the food and beverage business, says crypto has been a serious boost. He became interested in it a few years ago and saw an opportunity to engage the burgeoning community. Now that Covid-19 restrictions are lifting, get-togethers have attracted employees of centralized exchanges, individual traders, and hedge fund managers, Leong says.
The Singaporean government has been facilitating the use of blockchain technology for years. And numerous crypto-related companies and leaders in the industry—Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and nonfungible token (NFT) investor Vignesh Sundaresan (aka MetaKovan, owner of the $69.3 million NFT by the artist known as Beeple)—are among those who've made the city-state their home base in the past couple of years. Crypto.com is also based in the principality; it bought the naming rights to the Staples Center in Los Angeles in the largest such deal ever, at $700 million over 20 years.
Not many restaurants take crypto payments at the moment. Adoption has been so slow in the U.S., places such as the pan-Asian Cambo Flare in Big Lake, Minn., offer diners as much as 50% off if they use cryptocurrency. But Maison Ikkoku isn't alone in Singapore.
At Joo Bar, a 10-minute walk away, owner Jamie Lim has been taking payments in tokens for four years. He claims to have the only establishment in Singapore processing its own Bitcoin transactions; he even runs his own node. Although he'll accept many cryptocurrencies as payment, including Ether and Dogecoin, he converts them into Bitcoin immediately. “I'm a pure Bitcoin guy,” he says, but he adds that he isn't a Bitcoin “maxi”—a maximalist who denigrates other forms of crypto. He wants to encourage adoption overall.
Lim also offers a 15% discount at both Joo Bar and his restaurant 8 Korean BBQ, where those who pay in Bitcoin can avail themselves of offerings such as Joo Summer Punch, which runs S$50 a jug, or the S$18 Nymph of the Nile soju cocktail with organic white peony tea, Hendrick's gin, basil, and citrus. Food options include kimchi stew with pork belly and Korean glass noodles for S$24. Joo Bar's website lists other Bitcoin merchants in Singapore that, it says, “we know personally.” Included are a sweets shop called Glaze, a luxury car dealer, and a mobile phone store.
Isaac Tang, a Joo Bar regular, is predisposed to pay in Bitcoin because the decentralized nature of crypto allows merchants to bypass the banks. “Transacting in Bitcoin has improved significantly since its inception,” he says. “These days it's a simple matter of scanning a QR code.” The markdowns are just icing on the cake: “I have been paying in Bitcoin since 2018, and so the Bitcoins Jamie has earned from me easily offset his discount.” (The value of the cryptocurrency has risen almost 900% since 2018.)
For now, Tang remains the exception rather than the rule. Lim says he's attracted many crypto fans to his bar, but very few are willing to part with their digital assets. “The takeup rate is extremely low,” he says. This sentiment was confirmed on my own recent trip to Maison Ikkoku, where I was reminded that crypto is still an emerging payment system. A friend paid our tab in Ether—about 0.1 ETH for drinks and snacks—but had to go through several attempts on her Crypto.com app before it worked. That glitch is pretty typical, she says, for the rare occasions she uses crypto. She prefers to HODL, often pronounced “hoe-dull”—slang for holding on to one's tokens amid swings in value.
Leong agrees that not a lot of people pay in crypto yet, anyway—on average, a couple of customers a week. For now, accepting cryptocurrency is primarily a signal to attract like-minded (and presumably deep-pocketed) regulars. “We create a place for people to meet,” he says. “It's not just in the metaverse. It's real life.” Leong adds that he's even connected people looking for jobs or business partnerships. But, he quips, “I didn't take any agent fees.”
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