Major franchises in Gibraltar including Costa Coffee, Card Factory and Hotel Chocolat now accept Bitcoin over the Lightning Network or on-chain.

The LN is ideal for microtransaction cappuccinos, postcard payments or ice cream investments as reporter Joe Hall found out during a Gibraltar shopping spree.

Payments are instant, frictionless and charge merchants less than the typical Mastercard or Visa payment rails. Neil Walker, managing director at Sandpiper GI — the group managing the retail franchises — told Cointelegraph that when using a Lightning-enabled card, “It's no different to using a contactless credit card.”

CoinCorner, a Bitcoin exchange on the Isle of Man, partnered with Sandpiper GI, to help in equipping merchants with Bitcoin Lightning point of sale (PoS) devices.

Gibraltar welcomes 8 million tourists onto the rock per year, from countries including the United States, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Plus, Walker estimates that roughly 15,000 cross-border workers cross over from Spain to work in Gibraltar on a daily basis. Gibraltar uses the Gibraltar pound while Spain uses the euro, so currency conversion, remittance and tourism could be strong drivers for adopting a global, borderless currency.

While the Isle of Man has made itself the mantle, “Bitcoin Island,” Walker quips that Gibraltar could be called “Bitcoin Rock.”