Few things are better in life than free money. One of those things is free Bitcoin, and that’s exactly what residents of Bakersfield, California are getting thanks to a mysterious “Bitcoin Man.” Or are they? 

Is this some type of marketing stunt, a billionaire giving back, or something else?

Bakersfield residents have begun to notice a series of stickers pasted all over the city – on subways, or on posts and poles along the sidewalk These stickers have a QR code, that if scanned, immediately sends the user a sum of Bitcoin Cash.

“I called the news and then I sent the bitcoin app for their contact information and email saying hey I just got this weird payment. I scanned it on a pole which is kind of sketchy,” said Indiana London, a local resident, according to a NBC affiliate news station.

This mysterious, self-proclaimed “Bitcoin Man” operates through a public Instagram account where they claim to be giving away “$1,000 in Bitcoin Cash” that’s hidden in “plane [sic] sight.”

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The stunt appears to be a promotion put together by Bitcoin.com to raise interest surrounding its wallet services and Bitcoin Cash. Backers of Bitcoin Cash believe it to be the superior version of the first-ever cryptocurrency, hence why the person behind the scavenger hunt calls himself the “Bitcoin Man,” rather than “Bitcoin Cash Man.”

Users who are lucky enough to stumble upon one of these QR codes will receive BCH, not BTC, regardless of the claims of giving away Bitcoin.

Regardless of anyone’s personal choice between BTC and BCH, free cryptocurrency is free cryptocurrency, and residents of Bakersfield can claim a piece of the $1,000 pie.

Still, those who have learned of the scavenger hunt either by seeing it in person or through the local news, are skeptical, and rightfully so. The cryptocurrency market has been at the center of several high profile scams recently that mainstream audiences could have caught wind of.

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People have also been conditioned to be leery of anything that appears to be too good to be true, especially when there doesn’t seem to be a catch involved.

But the catch here is simply to spread Bitcoin Cash (BCH) awareness and onboard users to the Bitcoin.com wallet service, which is perfectly harmless marketing and promotional efforts from the company behind the Roger Ver-led website.

It’s working too, as its already taken off on social media and has reached the airwaves on local news channels. Whether or not this leads to adoption of Bitcoin Cash is another story, but it’s a fun promotional idea nonetheless that certainly has non-crypto users talking.

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