In this guide, we will explore all the things you can buy with Bitcoin you’ve been hodling for so long!
With the growing popularity, bitcoin has gained acceptance in a lot more sectors and the general outlook of cryptocurrencies has been very positive. In May 2018, a programmer was able to purchase a pizza worth something around $30 with 10,000 BTC. Historically, that’s the first-ever product purchased with Bitcoin Back then, it may seem like a not so fair bargain, accepting Bitcoin to buy something tangible, and standing now, it still seems like an unreasonable bargain, given that cryptocurrency is worth so much more.
What can you do with a Bitcoin?
Travel and Tourism
Tel and tourism. Thousands of people travel day in and out every day. Some companies went a step ahead to make it easier for their users to transact and pay for their travel bookings using bitcoins.
Expedia, one of the largest travel booking agencies can now accept bitcoin payments as a form of payment for online hotel bookings you may make through their website. Their payment channel is powered by Coinbase and accepts currently bitcoins at the moment.
Furthermore, companies like CheapAir, accept airline bookings through bitcoins as well. They started out as the early adopters of Crypto and putting it to use for realistic purchases for its users.
Speaking of some bigger guns, although all the seats are currently booked, Virgin Galactic, the brainchild of Richard Branson, guaranteeing a trip to the space accepted, and will in future as well, payments for seats in its space voyage in bitcoins. That’s the futuristic combo we thrive for.
Food and Drinks
Craving for pizza but got no change? Pizzaforcoins is a California-based service that allows you to purchase pizzas from major pizza chains such as Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and more, using yours truly, bitcoin. How the platform works is that it lets you enter your location, and shows available pizza places in your neighbourhood. Once you select and place the order, it is relayed to the respective restaurant once you make the payment which also appears in BTC. You can make payments using up to 50 cryptocurrencies at the moment, given its integration with Shapeshift. You can either have the pizza delivered to you or pick it up from the location.
If you aren’t based off in the US, then you can give Lieferando.de a go, a German food delivery service with over 11,000 restaurants under its belt. It recently added payments via bitcoins. It uses Bitpay to process its transactions, hence allowing you to pay for your food in either Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash.
Another Russian food delivery service, with over 90 restaurants in its partners, added a cryptocurrency payment option to its checkout options. Before the option was added though, none of the restaurants individually supported cryptos. So, that’s a big step in the right direction for food lovers and crypto enthusiasts alike.
Gaming and Entertainment
Among the big players in the industry, Microsoft’s Xbox store and Windows Store allows you to purchase games, movies and more using bitcoins as a mode of payment. You can load the bitcoin into your Microsoft account and get ahead to use it as a payment method whenever you are checking out. However, a small caveat is that you cannot refund the bitcoins you deposit so just be mindful of the amount you load into your Microsoft account.
For smaller niche players, you can also buy games and redeemable gift cards from various platforms such as BitPlaza, Coinmall and Zynga. These platforms allow you to pay for your game purchases using Bitcoin as money.
Shopping and More
A lot of stores have added cryptocurrency payment options to their website with the growing popularity of digital currencies in general and bitcoins in particular. Etsy, a globally renowned e-commerce platform allows sellers to set bitcoin as a method of receiving payments from their purchasers. Furthermore, Blockonomics worked with WordPress to help it set up Bitcoin payments integrations on its website so people who have websites built using WordPress can accept Bitcoin payments from their buyers using bitcoin simply by adding the respective plugin to their website.
Bitrefill, a platform that allows you to purchase vouchers from top food chains in the US such as Cheesecake Factory, Chipotle, Dunkin Donuts, Burger King and more, using bitcoins. Your favourite food chains with your favourite mode of payments. You can also purchase gift cards for gaming platforms such as Steam, Xbox and Nintendo. Similarly, platforms like Gyft and BitPlaza allow you to purchase just about anything from personal accessories to groceries and gift cards and pay with bitcoins on your checkout.
Reed Jewelers, a renowned name in the American jewelry and accessories industry, has stores in over 13 states along with an online presence. In both physical and online stores, Reeds accepts bitcoin as a form of payment. You can purchase watches, jewelry, diamonds and more.
Another major player in the shopping industry is Overstock, which accepts bitcoins as a form of payment. Not only that, the publicly listed company’s CEO has shared interest and enthusiasm to acquire and work with blockchain-based companies. The company Overstock also conducted an ICO in 2018 to restructure its business and manage to raise over 250 million dollars, one of the highest funds raised through ICO.
Miscellaneous Purchases
Dish, a satellite TV and internet service provider started offering bitcoin payment options as early as 2014. You can purchase a one-time subscription through their website. Earlier they used Coinbase’s integration to accept bitcoin payments and have now shifted to Bitpay as their transaction processing handler.
A company called bitcoin Real Estate allows you to sell and purchase properties using bitcoins. You can go ahead and list your house on the worldwide platform and make purchases using the digital currency. The prices are listed US dollars or Euros or equivalence terms for bitcoins.
If you would like to do some good, and help people, you can achieve that with Bitcoin as well. Binance Charity Foundation, among various others, accepts donations in bitcoin as well. They also leverage the power of blockchain to offer transparency for donors to see where their charity goes.
Companies like APMEX and JM Bullion allow its users to purchase gold, silver and similar precious metals through its website and pay for them by accepting bitcoin. However, the purchases are capped at around a quarter of a million dollars.
Bloomberg and Chicago Sun-times are among the online news platforms that offer bitcoin as a payment option to their subscription model. Similarly, Treehouse, an educational platform accepts bitcoin payment for its courses.
Among some notable innovations for using bitcoins to make payments is the contactless card offered by BitPay, a payment processing company for cryptos. The card is offered as a Visa card which allows conversion of bitcoins and bitcoin cash into US dollars or whichever is the local fiat in your country. However, currently only available to US residents, it allows you to use it just as a normal credit card making purchases all the more seamless just like with the conventional fiat-backed credit cards.
There are many other websites that currently allow for bitcoin too, including but not limited to:
- OKCupid (dating site)
- CheapAir (travel/hotel booking agency)
- PizzaForCoins (pizza delivery)
- Zynga (Mobile apps/games)
- Etsy (e-commerce, some Etsy sellers accept bitcoin as payment)
What Can You Buy With Bitcoin: Conclusion
We’ve come a long way from shunning cryptos to a world where it is finally becoming an accepted form of payment. We are one step closer to the mainstream adoption of digital currencies. For now, however, it is definitely possible to make most of your transactions through bitcoins from groceries, accessories, food and entertainment. What are you planning to buy with bitcoin?
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