Bitcoin and home-baked bread at Charlevoix B&B

The Gte TerreCiel in Baie-St-Paul, Charlevoix, is as revolutionary as a B&B can be in 2014, and it is also as homespun as any guest house of 1914. (TerreCiel is one word because it is a play on the synergy of Earth-sky and yin-yang.)

The revolution begins with the fact that TerreCiel is one of the few lodging establishments in North America that accepts payment in bitcoin, the new digital currency.

Why add this option in addition to good, hard cash and reliable credit cards? I asked the B&Bs owner, David Mancini, who is a 30-year-old former computer programmer.

I think its the future of currency, he explained. And bitcoin is better than credit cards because there are no transaction fees, in most cases.

For my guests from other countries, it will mean convenience and savings. They can eliminate paying charges on currency exchanges and travellers cheques and they dont have to carry cash.

TerreCiel hasnt had any bitcoin clients yet, possibly because most of the world is still trying to figure out how to use it. You can buy bitcoins at an ATM on St-Laurent Blvd. in Montreal or at such Web sources as http://www.localbitcoins.com or http://www.cointrader.net.

You create an online wallet on your computer or cellphone (but not an iPhone), and once you have deposited bitcoins (similar to filling a PayPal account with dollars), you do an e-transfer to Mancinis wallet. If your B&B room costs about $100, and one bitcoin equals $700 Canadian (a recent exchange rate), you would pay about 15 per cent of a bitcoin. The value fluctuates wildly, but it has increased overall at about five-fold during the past six months.

TerreCiel operates on another revolutionary fiscal principle. The B&B has a price list for its accommodations during the high season, from June through October.

The rest of the year, people pay what they want, Mancini said, but only if they book through our website, which 95 per cent of our clients do. If they come to us any other way, by phone or through Booking.com or Hotels.com, they pay the list price.

It is a little crazy, but it works. Most people voluntarily pay a fair market price.

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Bitcoin and home-baked bread at Charlevoix B&B