The Canadian restaurant franchise Tahini\u2019s serves Middle East-inspired food with a Bitcoin-inspired twist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since August 2020, when the price of Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) was under $20,000, the group has operated on a Bitcoin standard<\/a>, with\u00a0any profits it makes swept into BTC.<\/p>\n The Tahini\u2019s Twitter account has since argued<\/a> that Bitcoin is the \u201cmost Islamic\u201d thing Muslims can do with their wealth, and the group\u00a0educates<\/a> its customers on sound money. It has even become a niche bear market meme, with\u00a0Michael Saylor<\/a> famously saying he might apply to work night shifts at Tahini\u2019s during\u00a0January\u2019s price correction<\/a>:<\/p>\n May apply for night shift at @TheRealTahinis<\/a> to stack more sats. #NewProfilePic<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ZrirLojvrq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) January 23, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cointelegraph spoke with Ali Hamam, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Tahini\u2019s, to understand the whys, hows and unintended consequences of operating under a Bitcoin standard.\u00a0Hamam was the driving force of the Bitcoin adoption in the Middle Eastern chain.<\/p>\n Hamam first learned of Bitcoin in 2016 or 2017 but discarded the innovation as a Ponzi scheme, or \u201crat poison,\u201d as he was dissuaded by its negative press. It took the COVID-19 pandemic and its real-world consequences for Hamam\u2019s Bitcoin lightbulb moment to take place.<\/p>\n \u201cIn March of 2020, we got hit with the lockdowns and the fear. Our sales at the restaurants dropped like 70% in a week. And yet, there was more money flowing around with our employees, our fellow Canadians. Everybody just had more money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Inspired by the writings of Robert Breedlove \u2014 a Bitcoin influencer and entrepreneur \u2014 sound money in the form of BTC dawned on him. Hamam said that he and his company needed to find a better way to store value. \u201cMoney is going to be worthless,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sort of clicked for me that this is a once-in-a-multigeneration type of breakthrough and invention. The idea of absolute fixed money is something that we\u2019ve never seen in history.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Hamam was hooked. He went all in, devouring Bitcoin-focused books, podcasts and, in some cases, not sleeping as he educated himself and fell deeper down the rabbit hole. <\/p>\n \u201cIt grew into a way of life where it\u2019s like, okay, this is something that I should be integrating with every single aspect of my life, from my kids’ education funds to my business.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Armed with freshly acquired knowledge, Hamam met with his business partners at Tahini\u2019s to pitch the idea of running the business on a Bitcoin standard. The argument behind having the \u201cBitcoin standard\u201d \u2014 a term popularized by Saifedean Ammous, author of the eponymous book,\u00a0The Bitcoin Standard<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 is that not Bitcoin is not just a better reserve currency than the U.S. dollar, it\u2019s actually a superior currency. <\/p>\n Consequently, the business should carve out a route with profits in Bitcoin in mind. For Tahini\u2019s, that means keeping a working capital of roughly six months of expenses on hand. According to Haman:<\/p>\n \u201cAnything beyond that number is considered treasury, and we sweep into Bitcoin. So, some months we will buy a little bit more aggressively \u2014 when the price is down \u2014 and then the months after that, we will slow down a little bit. But we kind of have depending on how much the company makes.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To the doubters, Hamam said, \u201cWe always try to manage it in a way where we never have to sell any Bitcoin. That\u2019s the key part.\u201d Hamam claimed that while he has gifted BTC to family and friends, he\u2019s never sold it.<\/p>\n Tahini\u2019s is working to put in place the infrastructure required to accept Bitcoin as payment, but the process is challenging \u2014 not due to regulation or payment processors but because the franchise wants to hold the Bitcoin it accepts. \u201cEven if you\u2019re going to accept Bitcoin, work it out in a way where you never have to sell it,\u201d Hamam explained.<\/p>\n Today we met at Tahinis #HamOnt<\/a> with @shakepay<\/a> and @Innocente_Brew<\/a> and an amazing group of bitcoiners from all over Canada. We all have one mission. To make #Bitcoin<\/a> the Standard pic.twitter.com\/nLhGlHojzd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tahinis Restaurants (@TheRealTahinis) June 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The inevitable publicity bump that comes from jumping on the \u201cBitcoin accepted here\u201d bandwagon is attractive, Hamam said, but \u201cIf you\u2019re selling your Bitcoin immediately after you receive it, then you don\u2019t really get Bitcoin, in my opinion.\u201d <\/p>\n Hamam mentioned the Strike Lightning Network integration as an attractive proposition<\/a>, as it would eliminate the high fees charged by Mastercard, but it\u2019s still \u201cpretty early\u201d to explore payment options when the priority is growing the business. <\/p>\n Ultimately, in a developed economy like Canada with comparably high levels of trust in institutions, Bitcoin is primarily a savings tool. Equally, Tahini\u2019s is not currently exploring paying salaries in BTC, as the franchise does not want to force the cryptocurrency onto its staff. <\/p>\n But that hasn\u2019t stopped Hamam from persuading Canada\u2019s Conservative leadership candidate, Pierre Poilievre, from buying shawarma with Bitcoin on the Lightning Network after Hamam \u201corange-pilled the heck out of him.\u201d It was the first Bitcoin transaction made at Tahini\u2019s, performed by an increasingly pro-Bitcoin politician. <\/p>\n Conservative leadership candidate @PierrePoilievre<\/a> buys chicken shawarma from @TheRealTahinis<\/a> using bitcoin Lightning Network. Transaction cost was one satoshi, which the consumer covers. This was the first bitcoin purchase at Tahini\u2019s. pic.twitter.com\/T5hVlY4fy0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) March 28, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n On a personal level, Hamam and the more devout Bitcoiners among the management team raise questions such as: \u201cHave you heard about Bitcoin?\u201d \u201cDid you know you can buy a fraction of a Bitcoin?\u201d And even \u201cMaybe you should think about putting a few dollars into a Bitcoin retirement plan.\u201d <\/p>\n Inevitably, the orange-pilling is far more successful when the price is on a tear. If the price is dropping, it\u2019s a bit more challenging. When\u00a0China cracked down on crypto<\/a>, for example, some of Hamam\u2019s management team \u201cfreaked out a little bit.\u201d Indeed,\u00a0the 300% gains Cointelegraph reported earlier this year<\/a> have begun to melt away. <\/p>\n Hamam said that his conviction was enough to steer the ship and settle his colleagues\u2019 nerves. Running a restaurant on a Bitcoin standard comes with a side of zealotry. While Hamam sings the premier cryptocurrency\u2019s praises, there\u2019s also a community of passionate BTC aficionados who back Tahini\u2019s investment decision and continue to offer support:<\/p>\n \u201cThe amount of love that I have for the Bitcoin community is \u2014 I can\u2019t even describe it. People that have never even tried our food.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Related: <\/em><\/strong>KPMG in Canada adds BTC and ETH to its treasury<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n However, Hamam said that the Bitcoin community has not directly impacted sales, as it\u2019s still a tiny, albeit vocal, community worldwide. <\/p>\n Nonetheless, the business kept its head above water during the 2021 market turmoil and plans to expand to over 25 franchises in 2022. Hamam is resolute in his decision to put the profits into Bitcoin \u2014 even in the face of a tumultuous economic backdrop<\/a>: <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re still going to gain the same benefits anyone else would gain, or Michael Saylor would gain, or Elon Musk would gain.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The company has \u201caligned itself with the mission of Bitcoin\u201d while, of course, serving \u201cgreat food\u201d to anyone. More and more companies could follow their lead and operate on a Bitcoin standard, while Hamam joked there might be a Middle Eastern dish that riffs on the cryptocurrency hitting franchises soon. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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