Like many others', Ben’s interest in finance began to grow during the pandemic.

As lockdowns spread in 2020, the world turned to the internet more than ever before for entertainment, information and escape.

Among the myriad ways people chose to spend their time online was trading on the stock market, using an array of platforms to delve into the world of buying and selling shares.

However, as one of the growing number of so-called “retail traders”, Ben soon began to become disillusioned with the conventional financial system which he saw as being rigged to benefit the “big players”.

“It’s as manipulated as heck,” he says.

“So I began thinking about what isn’t manipulated. What’s a bit of a kick in the teeth for Wall Street?”

After many hours of browsing, podcasts and YouTube videos, he became convinced he had found the antidote he had been looking for in Bitcoin, the original decentralised, web-based cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin operates separately to governments and financial institutions with all transactions recorded on a peer-to-peer digital network.

Advocates are attracted by Bitcoin’s independence from these centralised entities, with the currency rising in popularity since its creation in 2009 in the wake of the 2008 financial crash.

"There's no marketing team behind it, there's no PR team, there's no CEO making decisions,” says Ben.

He became such a devotee that he now organises events in the Lake District to bring together fellow Bitcoiners, all organised and documented via the Lake District BTC Twitter and YouTube accounts.

With Ben equally enthusiastic about exercise as he is about Bitcoin, the events have included a 17-mile walk around Derwentwater, a 40-mile ultramarathon from south to north Cumbria and a hike up Scafell Pike.

Attendees have come from as far as Cornwall and southern Scotland and Ireland, with ages varying from 18 to someone in their seventies.

Ben says he and other Lake District BTC event attendees prefer to stay anonymous, due to the concern that the government or other organisations may “come after the Bitcoin” once they realise its true value.

“We don’t want our names, faces, what car we’re driving, we don’t want any of that out there,” he says.

Despite Ben’s caution there is at least one business in Cumbria which is happy to advertise that it accepts Bitcoin.

English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues has launched a new service allowing guests to book and pay in the currency for rooms and leisure services across its venues, which include Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa on the shores of Windermere.

It says the rationale behind the move is primarily to tap into the Bitcoin market both in the UK and overseas.

In particular the hotel group is aiming to appeal to new customers and extend its global reach, especially to Bitcoin users in the US, Chinese and Indian markets.

“There are sound business reasons for hospitality companies like ours to be embracing new technology and plugging themselves into the Bitcoin network,” says English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues managing director Ben Berry.

“There is significant wealth held by Bitcoiners, both in the UK and around the world and these individuals tend to lean towards supporting businesses that support Bitcoin.
“So it makes sense to accept cryptocurrency payments using Bitcoin and offer our customers a secure system to book and pay for their stay.

“A key benefit for our customers is that they can make bookings and payments from anywhere in the world with greater certainty in terms of protecting themselves from price volatility, locking in on exchange rates and avoiding unnecessary banking charges.”

English Lakes uses the Bitcoin digital currency exchange system provided by CoinCorner, based in Douglas, on the Isle of Man, which will be one of the companies attending and presenting at Cumbria Tourism’s Innovation and Future Trends in Tourism Conference in November.

CoinCorner was set up in 2014 to help businesses and the public make use of Bitcoin.

"We're one of the early players in the scene really and we've seen a lot of change over those years," says chief financial officer David Boylan.

“We've tried to be Bitcoin advocates, tried to remain focused on where Bitcoin can be and the problems it can solve for people.

“We're trying to get Bitcoin into as many people's hands as possible, because we believe in it."

As well as acting as an exchange which allows people to buy, sell and invest in Bitcoin, CoinCorner also facilitates payments via its app and Bolt payment card using the Bitcoin Lightning network.

David says it is working with a growing number of businesses to allow them to accept payments, with businesses now making up 50 per cent of their total volume of transactions compared to 10 per cent three years ago.

Increasingly, he says businesses are accepting Bitcoin payments and then holding onto the currency as an investment in order to diversify their reserves alongside savings in Sterling.

Alternatively, they can accept payments and then convert the Bitcoin directly into Sterling if they choose to.

In addition, David says Bitcoin payments have the advantage of being virtually free and instantaneous, compared to conventional card payments, which can take several days to process.

Often those paying in Bitcoin are enthusiasts who, like CoinCorner, want to promote its use because they are convinced of the advantages of using a decentralised currency.

However, David believes that in years and decades to come, paying with Bitcoin will gradually become normal for everyone.

"I think it's a good thing to be an advocate for. There'll be many challenges and hurdles along the way, but I would like it to be adopted as the main currency around the world," he says.