Bitcoins have arrived in Barking.

A cash machine for the virtual currency has been installed inside Trendz in Ripple Road – and the manager of the barbershop says it’s really boosting his business.

“The future is bitcoin,” Hade Baba, 32, said.

“It has brought a lot of foot traffic into our shop.”

The ATM, which is the 29th to be installed across the capital, allows customers to insert regular pounds sterling and instantly receive the equivalent value in Bitcoins to a wallet on their smartphone.

According to Timi Sholebo, director of Landmark Bitcoin, approximately £2,000 worth of Bitcoins were sold within the first week of the cash machine being in operation.

“We decided to install it because we did a poll and found that people wanted one in the area,” he said. “It is now the central site for residents of nearby areas like Stratford, Dagenham and Illford.”

Bitcoins allow people to make anonymous transactions on the internet free from government regulation.