British second-hand electronics exchange CeX tests in-person bitcoin payouts

The Glasgow location of British used-electronics store CeX announced a trial program to offer customers bitcoin rather than cash for their trade ins. For three days, the company’s Sauchiehall store will drop the U.K. pound sterling entirely from trade purchases, paying out exclusively in bitcoin. While clearly a publicity stunt, the move will allow some people who have yet to purchase bitcoin a simple, relatively low-risk way to do so.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, CeX commercial director David Butler also tied the experiment to both the growing bitcoin adoption in the U.K., and to the rising Scottish national movement, saying:

In our store, the staff and customers live and breathe technology so it’s only appropriate we looked at Bitcoin as a way for our customers to buy and sell electronic goods. … While we are temporarily dropping the pound from our Glasgow store, at a time when Scottish Independence is high up on the news agenda, we are doing so to give customers a choice in how they trade with us.”

CeX is no stranger to bitcoin trade ins, and has been accepting bitcoin payouts online since April. Interestingly, there were no plans from CeX to payout trades in would-be national Scottish virtual currency Scotcoin, which also launches tomorrow.