What Can You Buy With Bitcoin?
The short answer to this question would be “Almost everything”. But there is a lot to talk about when you want to buy stuff with bitcoin. For example, is it even legal or how to use bitcoin to buy things? And what about other assets? Can you spend crypto on anything you want? These are the questions frequently asked by beginners. However, it is already clear that more and more people understand how easy and fast crypto payments are.
Over the last few years, bitcoin and other digital currencies have gained a lot of recognition and popularity. Many consider cryptos to be the future of finance, and that is why so many enthusiasts are promoting mass adoption. Let’s take a look at this topic and find out what you can and can’t do with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at the moment, as well as if it is going to change anytime soon.
So what can you buy with Bitcoin in 2023?
Nowadays, more and more businesses all over the world are adding cryptocurrencies as payment methods. Most countries don’t mind cryptocurrency, so it is usually legal. For example, a lot of shops in Ukraine have started using POS crypto terminals since last year, thanks to their cooperation with Whitepay. Although bitcoin is often used for paying for goods and services, large transactions with it and other cryptos are still quite rare. It is still more popular to use bitcoin for long-term investments. However, there are a lot of offers to buy stuff with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies worldwide: from groceries to airplane tickets.
Here are a few cool things to buy with Bitcoin:
Anything you want from Amazon (there are no direct crypto payments, but you can use cards like BitPay).
Apple products and other technologies (again, only with special crypto cards so far. For example, Microsoft already accepts bitcoin at their online store).
Books (some shops offer crypto gift cards).
Vehicles (a lot of car dealerships offer cars to buy with crypto. The list of dealers ranges from those who sell Lamborghini and other luxury cars to those who offer more common cars like Subarus).
Clothing (big retailers are beginning to allow their clients to shop with bitcoin directly).
Jewelry, watches, and accessories (they can be bought either directly with crypto or using a special card. For example, some luxury retailers offer watches like Rolex and similar brands for bitcoin and other cryptos.)
Flowers and gifts (again, the way to do it depends on the seller).
Furniture (many shops offer to buy goods with crypto).
Groceries (some major chains already allow their clients to shop with bitcoin).
Music instruments.
Insurance (In 2021, for instance, Swiss company AXA started accepting bitcoin for all types of insurance except life insurance).
Real estate (it is considered to be one of the bigger purchases, so such crypto payments are still very rare. However, if you were wondering, “Can you buy a house with bitcoin?”, the answer is yes).
Hotels (many major groups and hotels are already offering crypto payments).
Movies, music, and games (from supporting your favorite artists to buying CS:GO skins, you can buy items with crypto fast and easily).
As you can see, there are a lot of cool things to buy with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. And the list is getting more and more options every day. Of course, when Bitcoin was first introduced in 2008, no one expected so many areas for it to be implemented. However, over the years, the popularity of Bitcoin among sellers and buyers has grown exponentially. So the question is not “Can you spend bitcoin on this or that?” it is “How do you use bitcoin to pay for something?”.
How to buy things with cryptocurrency?
There are a few different ways to go about it. For instance, you can use one of the crypto debit cards available on the market. They are usually preloaded with the digital asset of your choice. Cards of this type allow you to spend crypto while the seller gets fiat money. Many of these crypto debit cards work with Mastercard and Visa to make sure that the transactions are seamless.
The principle of work of crypto debit cards is similar to normal bank debit cards. But, unlike bank cards with national currencies, you can preload them with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. When you go to a shop and pay with it, the sum is withdrawn in crypto and sent to the seller in fiat currencies, for example, dollars or euros. When you don’t have enough funds on your balance, you can reload it.
Another option you can use is POS terminals and payment solutions built by companies like Whitepay. We offer secure POS crypto terminals that allow people to pay with crypto in offline stores in less than 5 minutes.
Here is how it works:
The salesperson selects ‘Crypto’ on the main screen of the terminal.
You choose the currency and network you want to use.
The salesperson enters the price you need to pay in the currency used in the store.
You agree with the terms and conditions of the service. Meanwhile, the rate is fixed for 120 seconds.
You click the Pay button and scan the QR code generated by the system.
You will be redirected to a page with payment information, such as wallet address, network, and the amount you need to pay. Use this data to buy items with crypto from your wallet.
Confirm the payment. That’s it!
So the process is really simple. If you paid the wrong amount, this information would be available on the receipt, and you just need to send the missing sum to the same address. The process of paying via Whitepay in online stores is quite similar, and all the information you need is displayed on the payment page.
Can you spend Bitcoin on anything else?
Of course! One of the areas which are becoming increasingly more popular is crypto donations. Why is this happening? Donations in digital assets are more anonymous than regular donations, and you can actually send your funds from any country to anywhere in the world.
Crypto donations are currently wildly used to support Ukraine. Even the president has his own platform called United24, where anyone can donate to the army or humanitarian needs. This feature is possible thanks to the Whitepay solution, which allows sending crypto payments in three clicks and without extra steps. Ukraine was one of the leaders in using cryptocurrencies before the full-scale invasion, so there is no surprise that this way of getting donations has become quite popular during the war.
Are there drawbacks to buying with crypto?
There are two sides to every coin, right? Although buying things with crypto is becoming more and more popular, there are some disadvantages to it. However, we are sure that most of them will be eliminated as time goes by and crypto payments become more frequently used. At the moment, such cons are:
Not all businesses accept crypto as a payment method so far. Though the number of places where you can pay with crypto is constantly growing, it is not like you can go to any store and pay with any crypto you want.
Some cryptos have higher fees than others. For example, despite bitcoin being so popular, it also has quite noticeable fees.
Even with a lot of options to spend crypto on, bitcoin is still considered to be a long-term investment tool. The number of large purchases with bitcoin is quite low.
Bitcoin is not always the fastest payment option, although it is the most popular crypto. When the network is faced with too many transactions, it becomes “bloated”, meaning it goes slower.
Cryptocurrencies are gaining more recognition day by day, which helps to expand the list of places where you can shop with bitcoin or other digital currencies. At the moment, you can already pay for groceries, luxury goods, cars, gadgets, traveling, clothes, and lots of other things with crypto.
There are several ways to do that, such as crypto debit cards and POS crypto terminals. However, there is definitely a long way to go for crypto payments. One day they are going to be available in every store, just like bank card payments. And there are a lot of things we are doing to speed up this process. For example, offering safe and user-friendly POS crypto terminals to businesses worldwide.