Provo couple wants to live off bitcoins for 90 days

Silicon Slopes -

By Joey Ferguson

PROVO — A couple in Provo is raising $70,000 to make a documentary while they live off bitcoins for 90 days after their honeymoon.

A bitcoin is an online currency that has no affiliation with a government or organization. Any currency, like the U.S. dollar, can be converted into the digital tender.

Austin Craig and Beccy Bingham, soon-to-be newlyweds, will attempt to buy food, pay rent and furnish their home all with bitcoins. The $70,000 will go towards funding the documentary.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitcoinlife/life-on-bitcoin-a-documentary-film/widget/video.html

“We’re excited to learn a lot about this,” Austin Craig, who is one of the two attempting to live off bitcoins, said in a phone interview with his fiance Becky. “It’s going to be highly educational for us by nature because we’re no bitcoin experts.”

Bingham’s employer, Lindon-based C7 Data Centers, has agreed to pay her in bitcoin. Craig, who is a spokesman for Provo-based Orabrush, is working with his employer to receive bitcoins as payment.

Both Bingham and Craig do freelance work, so they will have to find a way to convince clients to pay in bitcoins. If not, they will convert the dollars into bitcoins or not use the money.

The couple is even considering giving up some jobs in order to maintain their 90-day goal to use the online currency.

But they don’t seem too worried about it.

“We’re investing in this project because we believe the documentary will be compelling,” Craig said. “That’s kind of the point of the project is the unknown. There’s going to be a lot to figure out.”

The couple may be in for a wild ride as the bitcoin market is a volatile one.

The amount of U.S. dollars for one bitcoin hit $230.04 on April 8, 2013. A week later, the exchange rate plummeted $161.55 to $68.49 per coin.

“The market for bitcoin is very volatile,” Craig said. “It’s just as likely the market could double the price of the bitcoin. I guess we’ll have to manage it the best we can with what we have.”