Crypto is the newest way to pay for things and experiences.
Long ago, things we paid for via barter. You made a trade of some sort, maybe a cow for building materials, that sort of thing. One or two items for other items.
In time, this became impractical. How often could you take livestock or other items you needed a wagon or two to trade? Another way was needed, as humans diversified. Bakers that didn’t grow their own wheat couldn’t necessarily barter for it.
Thus was money created.
Coins were where it all began, minted from precious metals like copper, bronze, silver, gold, and the like. Value was given to each in turn, and you paid with your coins for your goods and services. Item ‘X’ was worth ‘Y’ number of coins, item ‘Z’ was valued at a different amount, and so on.
Coins gave way to notes. The ubiquitous banknotes came into being as early as the 7th century in China.
They would continue to evolve for another thousand years or so. By the 18th century, modern banknotes issued by a central bank became what we know as the bills in our wallets and purses today.
Then, in the 1950s, credit cards came into being. Now you could buy something and make payments over time with a small piece of plastic – and didn’t need to have the full amount of funds required as such.
Modern credit cards and ATM cards have – in many ways – replaced other forms of currency.
As the evolution of how we pay for things has continued, a new option has come into play. Decentralized currencies built on blockchain – cryptocurrencies, or crypto for short – are a product of the 21st century, offering a new way to invest, as well as to pay for goods and services.
Crypto coming into its own
As crypto evolves and continues to become a part of our currencies, it will be ever-more available for buying various goods and services.
When Bitcoin was created in 2009, you have to wonder if those who started it had any idea what it would blossom into. Arguably – a revolutionary new option for both investing and purchasing things.
Now there are more than 9000 cryptocurrencies out there, with various degrees of efficacy and usability. What’s more, some are easier to convert into more common, centralized forms of currency like the dollar, Euro, or Yuan, than others.
Some of the best-known and most accepted cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, US Dollar Coin, Polygon, and more. Beyond these, there are thousands of other cryptocurrencies out there.
One thing they have in common is that nearly all cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain. Blockchain is a ledger or distributed database shared among multiple nodes of a computer network. Blockchain features encryptions that make it extremely secure.
Another common thing about most cryptocurrencies is that they come from decentralized sources. Rather than centralized forms of money – i.e., money created by a centralized back like the US Federal Reserve – cryptocurrency isn’t issued by a government entity.
While many find this disturbing – who backs the funds if there isn’t a central bank? – The reality is that all forms of currency – centralized or decentralized – are fiat currency. What that means is that someone (or a group of someones) determines the value of the currency, then prints, mints, or mines it.
Now, beyond centralized currencies, we have numerous decentralized currencies. But where can you use them to pay for things?
Who is taking crypto for payment?
Various retailers are beginning to accept cryptocurrencies for payment. However, they are not necessarily accepting payments directly. Several are using third-party digital payment platforms through which they accept crypto. Companies that are doing this include:
- Gamestop (video games and collectibles)
- Regal Cinemas (movie tickets)
- Chipotle (burritos and similar foods)
- Whole Foods (groceries)
- Baskin-Robins (ice cream)
According to bitpay.com, some of the companies accepting cryptocurrencies directly for purchasing goods include,
- AMC Theatres (movie tickets)
- American Gold Exchange (silver and gold)
- Newegg (computer parts and components)
- Lush UK (bodycare and cosmetics)
- Microsoft (games, movies, apps)
- Ace Jewelers (watches and jewelry)
- Pacsun (California-style clothing)
- DISH TV (movies, events, subscriptions)
- SlingTV (live TV streaming)
- Tesla (electric cars)
What about professional services? Once again, according to bitpay.com, services accepting crypto include,
- Namecheap (web domain services)
- American Cancer Society (cancer research)
- American Red Cross (disaster and crisis relief)
- The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art donation support)
Numerous online stores are accepting Bitcoin, specifically. These include, according to bolt.com,
- Paypal (online payment processing)
- Shopify (online shopping)
- AT&T (mobile networks)
- Uber (rideshare)
- Overstock (retail goods)
The list is ever-changing and constantly growing. As crypto has become increasingly popular among GenZ and Millennial consumers, more and more companies will be accepting crypto for payments.
Gift cards and indirect payments
While the number of businesses taking crypt payments directly are small, more and more are accepting third-party payment options that allow you to use cryptocurrencies.
Companies in this category include,
- Starbucks (coffee and deserts)
- The Home Depot (home improvement)
- Wikipedia (information)
- Burger King (fast food – but this is not available in the USA, yet) Amazon (online retail)
Additionally, many companies allow for buying gift cards with crypto. These include,
- Adidas (shoes) Airbnb (accommodations)
- Amtrak (US train travel)
- AutoZone (automotive parts)
- Bed, Bath, and Beyond (home goods)
- DoorDash (food delivery)
- Lowes (home improvement)
- Royal Caribbean (cruise vacations)
- Walmart (various retail goods)
Using crypto to get gift cards for a growing number of goods and services is an increasingly available option. Major credit cards are starting to allow for earning rewards in cryptocurrencies.
This includes an Upgrade Visa, Venmo Visa, Brex MasterCard, and American Express. Despite volatility in the market, it certainly looks like cryptocurrency is here to stay.
Where can I walk in and pay with crypto?
Can you walk into a physical store and pay for something using crypto? Yes. Places where you can do this include,
- Starbucks (coffee and treats)
- Whole Foods (groceries)
- Gamestop (video games and collectibles)
- Regal Cinemas (movie tickets)
- Chipotle (burritos and similar foods)
- Baskin-Robins (ice cream)
Many other retailers will accept cryptocurrency – but from third-party digital wallets such as PayPal and Venmo (both of which offer credit cards to access your account to make payments in the real world).
This opens the way to more and more places where you will be able to go and buy goods and services using cryptocurrencies just as frequently as you can use cash and credit cards. With a plastic card backed by Visa, Mastercard, and the like – almost everywhere will be open to paying via crypto in one way o another
Why is cryptocurrency gaining more acceptance?
One of the key facts to consider when it comes to cryptocurrency is that, on the surface, the decentralized currency – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and the like – is the same as centralized currencies.
Why? Because all are fiat currencies. Once upon a time, all the currencies were either precious metals like gold and silver or printed banknotes backed by gold. The gold standard, for example, was how banknotes used to be valued.
Over time, however, the various nations and their central banks moved away from this into fiat currency. What is fiat currency? It’s money as we know it today.
Cash or credit, it exists because you have been told it exists and has value. This includes every type of money in the world we use to pay for things. The dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (YPY), Canadian dollar (CAD), Chinese Yuan (renminbi CNY), and Russian ruble (RUB) are just a few of the many central bank established currencies of the world.
All of these can be used to pay for goods and services. The difference between central bank currencies and cryptocurrencies is who created them. The bank currencies were created by centralized banks on behalf of a nation.
Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, were created by groups and individuals from a decentralized model. Both are still fiat currencies. The advantage of bank currencies is their relative universality and exchangeability. But the security of blockchain will continue to increase the popularity of crypto for buying things more and more.
What makes crypto desirable as a payment option?
The decentralization of currency represented by cryptocurrencies is advantageous to both consumers and businesses. This is because there are certain advantages to blockchain and crypto over the current established models. For example3, transaction fees are lower.
That’s because the middleman is cut out of the transaction, so it doesn’t go through certain third parties.
Additionally, blockchain provides a degree of built-in security. That’s because the cryptology involved in the creation of blockchain provides security that makes it almost unhackable (the crypto itself. Websites and places where you can get and move crypto are a whole other matter).
The market for crypto is growing at an impressive rate. So, too, is its acceptance among retailers. It’s also relatively easy to convert cryptocurrencies to centralized bank currencies.
Countries that accept cryptocurrencies as legal tender
It was only a matter of time before countries started to take notice of crypto. Already, there are multiple nations that accept some cryptocurrencies as legal tender.
Certain countries have shown themselves to be more open and friendly to cryptocurrencies as legal tender than others. This includes,
- El Salvador
- Slovenia
- Germany
- Canada
- Malta
- The Netherlands
- Singapore
- Estonia
- Switzerland
- Portugal
In the United States, the US Congress passed its first law referencing crypto in 2021. This was about crypto exchanges in the United States having to issue a tax form (1099-B) so that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can track profit and loss.
While each state has different rules regarding the use of crypto, most of these are going to concern cryptocurrencies as part of investments and exchanges akin to stocks and the like. Still, more regulation of cryptocurrencies is sure to come.
Business owners and accepting crypto
For retailers and other business owners, accepting crypto as payment will increasingly be a worthwhile option. That’s because it saves you, as a business owner, money on credit card processing feeds.
For example, Bitcoin transactions don’t require a processing fee.
Cryptocurrencies open the way for international sales options. Conversion from crypto to other fiat currencies is relatively easy and painless.
Because crypto works more like cash, high chargeback fees are not an issue for payment disputes in the same way as they are with credit cards. Payments are processed on the blockchain rather than through a third part company. Fees, if any, tend to be around 1% depending on the specific payment tool. And merchants are off the hook regarding fraudulent charges.
The biggest downside to accepting crypto for business owners is the volatility of converting your cryptocurrency to a centralized fiat currency. As the markets have been showing us again and again, the value of cryptocurrencies fluctuates as much as – and sometimes more than – the value of centralized bank fiat currencies.
Crypto for payments is here to stay
Cryptocurrencies are only going to continue to gain acceptance. That means that more and more, you’ll be able to use the crypto of your choice – be it Bitcoin, Etherium, Litecoin, Dogecoin, or something new that works for you – to buy goods and services (or as a business owner, to sell goods and services.)
Bitcoin of America offers an ATM network to expand access to digital assets for all. Working with various retailers, we are taking part in the ever-expanding options for paying via crypto for goods and services around the country.
As a virtual currency exchange – registered as a money services business with the United States Department of Treasury (FinCEN)(RegNum) – Bitcoin of America operates directly with the public, without intermediaries, through a digital platform that facilitates the purchase and sale of digital currencies. You can find a Bitcoin of America Bitcoin Teller Machine (BTM) location in almost every major US city.
Most of our BTM locations are open 24 hours, 7 days a week. The ever-increasing locations are placed for convenience. What this means for you is that Bitcoin of America BTMs are usually located in places where you already shop. That means that, more and more, you can easily buy Bitcoin while you fill up a tank of gas or pick up groceries.