Based in Amsterdam and Tel Aviv, Merkspace, an international chain of coworking offices, now lets its members pay with cryptocurrency. Using digital currency as a payment method, Merkspace becomes one of the first shared office space providers in Benelux to allow cryptocurrency payments by its members. It will stimulate innovation and at the same time make Merkspace a truly digital workplace. Other shared office-space providers that accept Bitcoin payments include London-based Rentadesk, The Yard in New York, and Berlin-based Launch/Co. Merkspace may be a step ahead as it accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and Ripple.
The crypto-revolution
“We’re at the beginning of a new technological revolution. As a community with a lot of tech-startups, we couldn’t stay behind”, said Sapir Shpigel, founder of Merkspace.
The adoption of cryptocurrencies is increasing worldwide with large enterprises such as Expedia, Virgin, and Microsoft already accepting Bitcoin, while McDonalds and Wal-mart are likely to adopt the digital currencies in 2018.
Merkspace: Helping startups connect with investors
Founded in 2015, Merkspace is one of the few co-working spaces to introduce cryptocurrency payments. Its customers include service-providers, freelancers, startups and small-medium businesses and raised €2.98 million for startups based in Merkspace. To implement crypto payments, Merkspace has partnered with Playtness: a fitness related product and services company that combines real workouts with interactive gamification and virtual tokens. Playtness will be launching their own ICO early March 2018.
“The more companies integrate this payment method, the further and more customer-oriented the technology will develop,” says Naor Fishbein, CMO of Playtness. By adding the payment method, Merkspace contributes to the growth, development, and legitimization of cryptocurrencies.
An ambitious founder behind Merkspace’s expansion plan
Merkspace was founded by Sapir Shpigel, a 23-year old native of Tel Aviv who previously tried to start a dating app. However, failing in that effort helped her come up with the idea is a shared office space where Israeli startups could connect with investors. After opening the first Dutch location in Amsterdam in 2017, Merkspace expects to set up locations in Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht as well. Besides offering workspaces, the company also offer business development support to start- and scale-ups within her community.
