British Rap Star Zuby Music Accepts Bitcoin Payments For His Services In Addition To Filing HODL

British rapper Zuby announced on Twitter that he not only accepts Bitcoin payments but also has no intention of immediately converting them to fiat currency. This demonstrates that he's at least done some research. In Bitcoin slang, he stated that he prefers to " HODL " rather than sell immediately.

It is always amazing to hear that a company or individual is prepared to accept Bitcoin in exchange for goods and services. It's even more amazing when they really know enough about cryptocurrency to want to have it.

Zuby is not the first, and he joins the growing list of celebrities who flirt with cryptocurrencies. Previously Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Snoop Dogg, Akon have already done so, some controversially. And more recently Rita Ora, who in an instagram post appeared using a Bitcoin mask filter 

Bitcoin acceptance may not be what we think

There are numerous stories about Bitcoin's " acceptance " among high-profile companies and individuals. Some fairly large companies, such as AT&T, have recently begun allowing customers to pay for goods or services using the leading cryptocurrency.

However, there is a problem with this. When a large company claims to accept Bitcoin, most of the time, they don't. In the AT&T example, the company used the BitPay payment processor to facilitate payments. When someone pays AT&T with Bitcoin, BitPay acts as an intermediary. The company immediately liquidates that money in fiat currency and sends the funds to the telecommunications company. Payment is no longer peer-to-peer and censorship resistant, as Hong Kong Free Press discovered last year. 

Political pressure can force BitPay to censor a payment, which is at odds with what drew many people to Bitcoin.

Zuby Music has it very clear 

Another problem with using such a payment processor is that the payment immediately creates a selling pressure, as the company needs to exchange Bitcoin for fiat money to pay the intended recipient.

Although British rapper, author, and podcaster Zuby is working with Coinbase Commerce to facilitate payments for his goods and services, he claims to be an accumulator, rather than an immediate seller:

In response to the above tweet, a Twitter user asked Zuby if he would save them or instantly convert them to fiat. The singer replied simply:

Another user recommended that you consider switching to the open source cryptocurrency payment processing platform BTCPayServer. The service is defended by many of the BitPay critics. Zuby replied that he would indeed be looking to use BTCPayServer in the future.

Zuby's embrace of Bitcoin, as well as his apparent willingness to hold the crypto asset and use services that support the underlying ideas of the industry, appears to have impressed at least one follower. Shortly after the rapper's announcement today, Twitter user Caleb Gregory quickly became the first person to pay for Zuby's merchandise using cryptocurrency.