Javier’s Food Truck

Javier, a smiling bearded man in a cream shirt and rust-colored apron, leans out of the service window of his red-and-cream food truck on a sunny street in Austin, Texas.

Javier runs a food truck in Austin. He added crypto payments through his existing point-of-sale system after a customer asked if he could pay in USDC. USDC is a stablecoin: a type of crypto worth exactly one US dollar per token^[1]. Its value does not move the way Bitcoin’s does, which makes it practical for everyday business transactions. The customer scanned the QR code on Javier’s payment screen. Done in seconds. Javier’s till showed a dollar amount, same as any other sale. His processor converted the USDC and settled dollars to his bank account overnight^[2]. He did not need to know what a blockchain is. He just needed to know the order was paid.