What can you buy with Bitcoin?

The growth of cryptocurrency adoption over the past decade is astonishing. 

In 2021 alone, the crypto market grew by 300% – from $700 billion to $2.1 trillion at the end of the year. The international adoption of cryptocurrencies has increased by 880%. Estimated calculations show that 3.9% of the world population owns and uses cryptocurrency. That’s 300 million crypto users worldwide.

How to Buy With Bitcoin?

If you are someone who sees crypto not only as an investment but as a payment option, read along to see the variety of products and services you can get with bitcoin. It’s broader than you think, and believe us, it will only grow further.

The easiest way to spend your bitcoin is to use a crypto debit card. It works like a regular debit card, only instead of fiat, it’s preloaded with BTC, ETH, or other cryptocurrency of your choice. 

Another option is shopping online. Here you will need to find crypto-friendly businesses, know your wallet address, and follow the instructions in the payment window. 

If your favorite brand doesn’t accept bitcoin payments yet, don’t quit the idea of buying what you need using only crypto and check the crypto gift cards option. 

What Can You Buy With Bitcoin?

There is still a mismatch between customer demand and merchants accepting cryptocurrency payments. According to this study of 110,000 customers and over 1.5 million Worldpay merchants, only 4% of surveyed merchants accept crypto payments. 

75% of surveyed customers are interested in having the ability to pay with bitcoin, ether, USDC, litecoin, or other cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, 40% of those customers already use digital assets to buy goods and services.

Study shows that the travel, automotive, digital media, and hospitality industries don’t meet the needs of consumers’ demand for crypto payments options.

However, it’s possible to purchase various products from e-commerce businesses using bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Here we will list some options where you can spend your bitcoin for what you want.

Car dealerships

Some automotive and car dealership industry players already accept bitcoin payments. From used car sellers like AutoCoinCars to luxury car dealers like BitCars. You can purchase cars with bitcoin in the blink of an eye. 

If you search for auto parts and other related goods, consider using crypto for AutoZone gift card.

Gift Cards

While major retailers still struggle to accept BTC as a payment option, you can purchase various gift cards using the cryptocurrency of your choice.

Crypto gift cards from well-known brands to small local businesses will show you the fastest way to get what you want. eBay, Target, Amazon, Starbucks, and 1500+ other gift cards are available for crypto and might cover all your needs.

Travel

According to the study mentioned above, the travel industry shows the lowest crypto payments adoption and the highest customer demand. Nevertheless, a variety of options to have the ultimate crypto-holiday experience exists.

Some travel sites accept bitcoin payments. You can book a flight through Alternative Airlines or Travala.com and reserve a place to stay through Airbnb, hotels.com or you can purchase other travel gift cards with crypto.

Technology / Web services

You can spend bitcoin on many companies that provide tech products and web services websites. In fact, this industry is one of the fastest to adopt crypto payments.

Microsoft, AT&T, WordPress, Twitch, Hostinger, Surfshark, NordVPN, and many other web hosting service providers, VPN or VPS companies accept bitcoin payments for their dedicated work.

Gaming

Remember when you had to walk to a video games store to buy some new games you could try on your Nintendo? These days most gamers shop online. The video game industry reaches new popularity levels each year, and more and more leading game-selling platforms accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.

You can use bitcoin to buy games from Xbox, Playstation, or Steam. Or you can top up Minecraft, Roblox, League of Legends, or PubG game credits using a digital currency of your choice.

Jewelry, expensive watches, and luxury goods

Luxury goods makers already saw the value of cryptocurrencies and have begun accepting bitcoin as a form of payment. 

Gucci recently announced that bitcoin purchases for their fashion products will soon be available for everyone. Online retailers like BitDials or Project O offer Rolex and other expensive watches to buy with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. 

You can also find Swarovski, Coccinelle, and other luxury brands and spend crypto to purchase gift cards.

News media and digital content

News media usually accept bitcoin for subscriptions. It’s already a common practice for cryptocurrency media outlets with names like Time Inc. or Chicago Sun-Times to join the crypto-friendly website train.

You can also use bitcoin transactions to cover your monthly digital content subscriptions from Spotify, Netflix, or other streaming services.

Insurance

Insurance providers are very cautious and have only started to embrace crypto adoption. Due to regulatory issues, life insurance is off-limits, but you can now pay premiums with bitcoin in some insurance companies. 

Swiss insurer AXA has enabled private customers to pay for all non-life products with bitcoin to meet growing demand. Metromile, an agency that sells “pay-per-mile” auto insurance policies, also accepts bitcoin for premium payments.

How Can I Buy Something With Bitcoin?

In order to make a bitcoin payment, you have to own it. You can buy BTC in CoinGate or other popular exchanges like Binance, Kraken, or CoinBase. Then you should create a bitcoin wallet and know your digital wallet address.

Whenever you want to buy something with bitcoin, double check your details so you wouldn’t send money to the wrong address. 

Otherwise, paying with crypto at crypto-friendly online stores with a setup crypto payment option is the same as spending Euros or Dollars with your credit card online: you select merchandise, go to checkout, make a payment, and there’s that.

If you’re doubtful about using bitcoin for gift cards, check this step-by-step guide on how to purchase gift cards with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

Also, when you use bitcoin to purchase goods and services, look for Lightning Network. This bitcoin scaling solution helps with faster transactions and lower fees.

Can bitcoin be converted to cash?

If you want to spend bitcoin gains in a more traditional form (cash), you can sell it for a current market price, get paid in fiat currency, and move it to the bank account. 

Bitcoin ATMs will also exchange your bitcoins for cash at a given rate. Or, you use a peer-to-peer transaction to sell your bitcoin. In this case, you will sell your bitcoin directly to another person. 

Why did businesses start to accept crypto as a payment option?

Businesses began to understand the need to accept bitcoin (BTC) and other digital currency payments for their goods and services. This need came from growing customer demand because crypto owners started to use their digital assets as a daily payment option. 

Also, businesses saw the benefits and opportunities that come with crypto-friendly merchants.

Conclusion

It did not take a single night for cryptocurrencies to become mainstream. It took years of education, thousands of people, and many tries to find a scalability solution that satisfies a growing demand for transacting on decentralized networks.

It has become easy for various businesses and e-commerce platforms to be a part of the global economy and accept direct bitcoin payments. 

With the help of payment processors, merchants can integrate crypto payment options and accept over 70+ different cryptos. They can also choose to get paid in fiat currency, stablecoins, or digital assets of their choice. 

With a growing number of crypto owners and a demand to use bitcoin the same way we use euros or dollars, it’s just a matter of time to see the mass crypto payments adoption in different companies.