Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Graham and Ashkahn share their experiences on accepting Bitcoin at Float On… including what it was like to have a Bitcoin ATM located in a 24 hour facility.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: And today’s question is: “What are you thoughts about taking cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, et cetera?” I don’t know if that was the name of a cryptocurrency, just … an et cetera there.
Ashkahn: It’s based on dot systems.
Graham: Dot chain as a form of fame. What do we think about taking cryptocurrencies as payment?
Ashkahn: I like it.
Graham: I like it, too.
Ashkahn: Okay.
Graham: Done. Yeah, you should do it.
All right, next question is-
Ashkahn: So, they’re cool. I like cryptocurrencies. I like the concept.
Graham: I’ve taken pies as payment too. I like taking anything-
Ashkahn: Yeah, we’re taking note of anything as payment. Maybe we should … we won’t necessarily get into bartering everything right now.
Graham: No, I was just saying the reason that I like cryptocurrencies is because I do like taking pretty much anything as a form of payment.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
The cryptocurrencies specifically, we’ve never accepted anything other than Bitcoin … yet.
Graham: I don’t think we’ve ever been asked.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Yeah. It’s interesting.
It’s one of those things where like, people don’t tend to ask too much. It’s like you kind of put it out there that you accept it and then people come out of the woodwork as being: “Oh, sweet. I can pay with this thing.” You know? Otherwise, people would just be wandering around asking every business like: “Hey, you guys accept Litecoin?” Like getting told “No!” like 99 of a 100 times.
Graham: You wouldn’t do that?
Ashkahn: So, yeah, we’ve only been accepting Bitcoin, but we have been accepting Bitcoin for-
Graham: Years.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Several years now. Like three, four years. Something like that. And in fact, we had Oregon’s first Bitcoin ATM in our lobby for a period of time, which was its own crazy adventure.
Yeah. It wasn’t really related to our shop. It was just an independent ATM that was specifically made for like buying and selling Bitcoin and transferring Bitcoin between wallets. And they put it in our shop because we’re open 24 hours a day, so it was nice to have it accessible and because we like Bitcoin and wanted to support it.
Graham: … which ended up being awesome on a lot of levels.
Ashkahn: Yeah. It ended up being terrible on a lot of levels.
Graham: Really like one main level.
Ashkahn: One main level.
Graham: Yeah.
It was also like we got … people who did use Bitcoin were totally stoked that we had that there.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: We got a lot of questions about it and even attention from people.
Ashkahn: Sure.
Graham: … being like, “What is this?” Is this come kind of monetary arcade game you got in here?
Ashkahn: We got some press from it too, like, where there’s a few articles.
Graham: Yeah, at least two articles specifically who contacted us because we had a Bitcoin. Then we’re like: “Wait. What are you guys doing here?”
Ashkahn: “What is this place?”
Graham: It’s just crazy!
Ashkahn: The downside was that we were, I mean people were coming in to use this thing who were coming in to use an ATM and were not really interested in floating or anything like that.
Graham: And 19 out of 20 of those people were totally fine, you know, coming in, everything’s okay. Like 95% interaction with our Bitcoin machine I feel like was completely fine.
Ashkahn: Yeah. And 1 out of 20 people were like clearly using Bitcoin in some sort of underground black market internet situation and they like look the part and they are like-
Graham: Human trafficking or like I don’t even know. They come in. It’s like, smell a little odd, perhaps. They don’t make eye contact, like, hoodie and sunglasses. They have their own mini laptop they’re bringing up and like typing it in next to the ATM.
Ashkahn: I wouldn’t even say … the big problem specifically for us was that this Bitcoin ATM just had the worst user interface and was constantly having problems. People would come in to use it and they’d be standing there for 30 minutes trying to get it to work. They’d be looking at us like: “Hey, when this screen comes up, which of these buttons are we …?” I’m like “I have no idea. I don’t know. I don’t know how this machine works.” Sometimes it was in the middle of transitions and they were just blocking up space … Anyway, it got to the point where we were like: “Okay, we need to get this Bitcoin ATM out of our shop.”
To me it’s kind of like, the way we’re supporting Bitcoin is by accepting it as a business.
Graham: Mmm hmm.
Ashkahn: And that’s a stronger stance than having some random ATM in our lobby, in my opinion. So we still accept Bitcoin and I still like to support Bitcoin in that way. We just don’t have a Bitcoin ATM in our lobby anymore.
Graham: And if someone asked and it wasn’t too crazy to set up, I would happily support other blockchain currencies as well.
Ashkahn: Sure.
Graham: Like Ethereum and Litecoin.
Ashkahn: I think we can. Our wallet accepts that. I don’t think it’d be that hard to set up.
Graham: I think we probably do accept them; it’s just that we haven’t really had the incentive to get that out there and push it or anything like that.
Ashkahn: The other thing you need to know about accepting these is that people just need to, your staff needs to be comfortable in terms of knowing how to do it. Luckily, that’s gotten a lot easier nowadays. If you’re willing to go with one of the online wallets and … this conversation’s about security and stuff around those, but if you’re willing to ignore those for a second and use one of these online wallets-
Graham: If you’re willing to be a patsy.
Ashkahn: Then often there’s all sorts of solutions in terms of just printing out a QR code or having a number you can give to someone or telling them a certain email or even having a page on your website that has kind of a pre-populated QR code or something like that, that you can just really easily hand someone when they come in. So, you know, people will probably book without paying and deal with this when they come into your shop to actually float … is kind of the easiest way I’ve found to do it. But if you put in a little bit of effort in the first place, you can usually generate something from your wallet that’ll make it easy for your staff to just accept these. And then you would just … when they come into float, you would just do the exchange rate at that point. Yeah, you do the cost of your float and charge them that day’s rate for the exchange rate between that and what the Bitcoin monetary value is.
Graham: Yup. And in the helm we just have that set up as another form of accepted currency, which you can do in a lot of your scheduling systems too. So we just add a little Bitcoin area where they enter in the value that they got from that.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: And that’s about it. Do it. I say … “Wait for something to go wrong before you correct” is also one of our general philosophies, right? So, you know, when we come up with these crazy ideas, our first instinct is always, well, let’s try it out and see what happens. In this case, it’s been going on for years with nothing going bad, so I highly encourage you to do it at your own center.
Ashkahn: Yeah, definitely.
Graham: And I think that’s it. Do you have anything else you want to say?
Ashkahn: Not really, I mean, other than I guess like the general, you might lose that money. It might just drop to a very low value.
Graham: Sure. Someone comes in with $20,000 and drops down to 200 the next day.
Ashkahn: Or the opposite could happen. Ours went up in value. So from the time that people paid us … When we had the ATM, we were doing the most transactions because I think it was so in people’s face that we were accepting Bitcoin. Since that time, the price went up before we sold it. So that was nice. And yeah, I guess there’s … you have to figure out taxes in terms of Bitcoin if you really want to do anything properly.
Graham: Oh yeah. And this is not a tax podcast.
Ashkahn: Yeah, so … You should ask someone about that and how it’s supposed to happen.
Graham: What do they call them again? Account-ant? Accountaunt?
Ashkahn: Yeah, something like that.
Graham: Your aunt. Ask your aunt about it.
All right, everyone. Thanks for tuning it and we’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Ashkahn: Right.
Graham: Oh, and … Send us questions too. Go to … what was our website?
Ashkahn: floattanksolutions.com/podcast
Recent Podcast Episodes
Should I Wire my Float Tanks into the Wall? – DSP 265
Ashkahn is currently recovering from his talk and the after-party last night, but Jake and Graham have gracefully taken the time to answer a construction question again today.
On the docket today is a question about wiring a float tank directly into the wall. Graham and Jake provide an overview of why some people may prefer this (it’s much easier to keep waterproof, e.g.), and why at Float On they use the twist lock for their outlets and how to properly utilize them.
Can I Keep My Old Ceiling With My Buildout? – DSP 264
Hopefully everyone had a lovely time at the Friday Activities and the after-party.
Ashkahn is still busy running the conference, but Graham and Jake have stepped in to talk about construction!
Today the guys talk about keeping a drop ceiling or T-bar ceiling in an existing space that you’re converting to a float center. The short answer is don’t keep it, as it can cause problems, but the guys do have some workarounds if your landlord is opposed to changing the ceiling.
What to Expect When Expanding from 1 to 3 Tanks? – DSP 263
Ashkahn is busy preparing for everything that happens tonight and tomorrow for the Conference, but that doesn’t mean Daily Solutions will stop being daily.
Graham and Jake talk construction and what to expect when you’re expecting… a giant expansion for your float center. What’s it look like when you go from one tank to three? How do the demands change? What needs to be put in place to make sure that you’re not hitting snags?
Fortunately, these guys know the score and are happy to share.
All About Floor Drains – DSP 262
As Ashkahn gets everything ready for the Start a Center Workshop (happening today) and the Float Conference this weekend, Graham and Jake tackle answering construction questions on the podcast.
Today they’re talking about floor drains. What to consider for drains and how they might pair with different types of flooring. Given the hefty price tag for these more advanced drains, having as much research before making a decision on these is essential. Luckily, the guys have done the hard part already and identified a lot of things to consider.
How to Deal with Float Room Humidity – DSP 261
Graham and Jake are at the helm again while Ashkahn puts the finishing touches on the Float Conference.
Today, the guys are talking all about humidity and how to deal with it when constructing your float rooms. They talk about all the little nuances that you (or your contractor) might not think about when it comes to humidity and how soundproofing and regular airflow may not always go hand in hand.
Latest Blog Posts
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #24
Alberta is often called the Texas of Canada. Part large oil industry, part cattle country.
Don’t Mess With Alberta!
At the base of the Rocky Mountains, replete with an Olympic Stadium, Calgary is a world-class destination for winter sports. The float community developed here similarly to Edmonton – there wasn’t anything nearby except for one or two residential float tanks, and then, in a short period of time, several centers opened all at once. Instead of competing, they’ve decided to work together and have developed one of the tightest knit float communities we’ve seen. They even have monthly Float Dinners, much like we do with the float centers in Portland. They don’t keep meeting minutes, so it’s hard to determine what they talk about at these dinners; my guess would be salt, the effects of salt on various substances, and how salty salt damage can make someone salty.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #23
After Montana, we blazed our way back into Canada. The drive was long, but the scenery was beautiful. We followed the Rockies north, driving up to Edmonton. It’s a bit of a detour but, there are so many float centers in Edmonton, it seemed crazy not to stop by.
The city itself is primarily made up of workers from the oil fields – high risk, high income jobs that fuel the economy. At least until recently. Our visit was right in the middle of the Fort McMurray wildfire which has displaced a lot of the workforce, forcing 100,000 people to leave their homes. Many came to Edmonton, being the nearest metropolitan area to Fort McMurray. Some already split their time between the two cities, living in Edmonton and traveling to Fort McMurray for weeks or months at a time for work.
It’s understood that, in economic hardship, luxury commodities are typically the first thing people cut back on. Surprisingly, this doesn’t seem to be the case for floating. In fact, more people seem to be trying it to help alleviate the stress, many centers even offering free or discounted services to those displaced in an effort to help in a small way.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #22
We’ve got two more stops in Colorado Springs before heading west. It’s a town known for its military base and long history of weapons testing. With such a large military presence, it comes as no surprise that the float center owners here are veterans, themselves.
After that, we shoot across to Salt Lake City. Utah is filled with gorgeous sights, from breathtaking lakes to stunning painted hills. With an international landmark famous for its effects on buoyancy, Salt Lake City should be pretty familiar with the concept of floating. With five different float centers, and the manufacturer of the Zen Tent out there, there could be some cause and effect.
After that, we head up into Idaho and Montana to close out the Central United States portion of our Tour. We’ll follow the Rocky Mountains north, taking in the scenery along the way.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #21
Denver has been home to a vibrant float community for a long time. Some of the earliest commercial centers that started up in the ‘70s and ‘80s were out here. 30 years is a long time, and most of the old centers aren’t around anymore, but there’s a conscious community that has been floating since the old days and they love how much the industry has evolved and grown.
