It’s not a surprise that people invest in bitcoins to make a profit, but what to do with the accumulated coins except exchange them for fiat currencies? We found out what you can buy with bitcoins today.
Cryptocurrencies are now primarily an investment tool. Still, this does not mean that they cannot be used as a means of payment. And with the growth of institutional interest in the first cryptocurrency, the list of what can be bought for bitcoin is also growing — literally every month, new products are added to it.
What Can I Buy With Bitcoins?
Nowadays, many companies are gradually starting to demonstrate more and more interest in the world of crypto. Therefore, in recent years, the list of possible purchases for cryptocurrency has been constantly growing, and the largest companies have added the possibility of paying with bitcoins.
In addition, bitcoin, even being volatile, has proven to be beneficial for residents of countries with hyperinflation. For example, the people of Venezuela appreciated cryptocurrency, where hyperinflation amounted to 54,000,000% from 2016 to 2019. Because of this, the demand for bitcoin in Venezuela is growing at a rapid pace.
We have selected the main examples of what can be purchased for bitcoins in the world right now. Let’s get started!
Retail
To begin with, let’s look at how bitcoins work in retail. One of the first companies to accept bitcoin for payment was the American store Overstock, which sells household goods and electronics. In 2014, it allowed users to pay with cryptocurrencies for certain goods. Prices in BTC in the store are pegged to the dollar — coins are withdrawn from a client’s wallet at the current rate during payment.
Small Business
In the age of online commerce, small and niche sellers no longer need to rent premises and stand idle waiting for a buyer – all they need to do is register their online store with a special service like Shopify. In 2020, this company added the ability for all merchants to accept hundreds of different cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. Shopify is now used by more than 800,000 stores around the world.
Fast Food
Above, we have already mentioned Venezuela and the spread of cryptocurrencies there as a more stable asset. Since 2019, the country has been piloting a Bitcoin payment program at Burger King restaurants. Also in Venezuela, you can eat at Pizza Hut for bitcoins and ether.
Other companies seem to be much less interested in cryptocurrencies. Still, the history of using bitcoin as a means of payment began with the purchase of fast food — in 2010, the American programmer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas ($40 at the rate of that time). Of course, Hanyecz could not order food directly — he transferred bitcoins to another person who had already ordered pizza for real money. In the future, the pizzas turned out to be quite expensive — at the current exchange rate, Hanyecz paid more than $437 million for them.
Trips
You can even fly away for bitcoins. Back in 2014, AirBaltic became the first airline in the world to accept BTC as payment. To do this, it entered into an agreement with the payment processing system BitPay.
Bitcoins are also accepted by travel agencies such as CheapAir. In 2013, the company allowed to pay for air tickets with cryptocurrency. A year later, the leader of the Expedia tourist market did the same. True, the company soon abandoned this idea due to the high volatility of the exchange rate of the first cryptocurrency.
Property
Suppose you have a hundred or two bitcoins lying around. What to spend them on? You can, for example, buy real estate — it’s good that several agencies have become interested in cryptocurrency in recent years. For example, in March 2019, a luxurious house was put up for auction in Australia, bidding on which was accepted in two cryptocurrencies — bitcoin and Binance Coin (BNB).
Local newspaper The New Daily called it the first-ever cryptocurrency real estate deal, but in fact, history knows an earlier example. So, in 2014, BitPay acted as an intermediary in selling a house on Lake Tahoe for 2,739 BTC (at that rate, it was about $1.6 million). Now the same number of bitcoins is worth more than $119 million.
In 2021, the largest real estate agency in California, Caruso, recognized bitcoin as a payment method. It agreed to cooperate with the Gemini crypto exchange. Bitcoins can pay for the rent of both residential and commercial spaces. Shortly thereafter, the largest network of WeWork co-working spaces began to accept BTC to pay for the rent of workplaces.
Transport
A large amount of bitcoins can be spent on personal transport — for example, a car. Since 2013, BTC has hosted a Lamborghini showroom in Newport Beach, California. The company also entered into an agreement with BitPay to make payments.
In March 2021, the automaker Tesla directly allowed buying cars with bitcoins. However, in early May, the company suspended the sale of cars for BTC due to the low environmental friendliness of cryptocurrency mining.
Conclusion
In fact, nowadays, you can buy almost anything with bitcoins. It is enough that a seller accepts ordinary bank cards.
If you’re interested in buying BTC, you should definitely think about doing this at Switchere. On our platform, you have an opportunity to buy BTC in the fastest and most convenient ways using any available payment method. Moreover, we offer some surprising bonuses! Users of our platform enjoy a 0% service fee for the first order.
Have you ever spent your bitcoins on goods and services? Feel free to share your experience in the comments below!
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