Bitcoin as a payment method
Who accepts Bitcoin payments from their users and how do pay with digital coins?
Bitcoin (BTC) is by far the most popular crypto coin of all. More and more people are investing in digital currency, and it is rapidly becoming a widely accepted payment method. Payment technology is developing and companies are starting to accept Bitcoin. But, where can you use Bitcoin as a method of payment?
Although altcoins are expanding their growth, BTC is the most-used payment method for companies and small merchants. In this article, we walk you through the companies that accept Bitcoin and explain how to buy and spend your BTC as well.
Companies that accept Bitcoin
This is a list of some of the biggest places that accept Bitcoin, such as Microsoft and Whole Foods.
First, we’re going to take a look at businesses that accept Bitcoin. There are some early adopters, but most of them recently started to accept payments using this digital currency. These major companies are the ones where you can pay via Bitcoin:
Microsoft
Microsoft is one of the early adopters of BTC, as it started accepting payments with Bitcoin in 2014. Users could buy games and applications with digital currencies, but digital coins were far from usual back then, so Microsoft stopped accepting BTC in 2016 and once again in 2018 due to high volatility. We’re eight years into the future, and now it’s way more usual and trustworthy to pay with digital currencies, like Bitcoin.
Home Depot
Among the stores that accept Bitcoin is one of the largest hardware store chains in the United States, Home Depot. Customers can pay in the most well-known digital currency, but the currency gets converted into U.S. dollars immediately, as Home Depot only wants USD on their balance sheets. This means that you can build and rebuild your whole home as a customer while only spending Bitcoin.
Twitch
Streaming video platform Twitch also started accepting payments in Bitcoin in 2014, but they silently stopped in 2019. Although there are a lot of pros to using BTC as a payment method, it’s not stable enough for everyone. One year later, they brought the payment option back. Next to Bitcoin, this platform also accepts Ether (ETH) and less popular digital currencies like PAX, USDP, and Binance USD (BUSD).
Whole Foods
Supermarkt company Whole Foods made it possible for clients to pay with Bitcoin, just like Home Depot. The technology behind the store concept converts digital coins directly into USD, with the same technology as the other Amazon companies.
Whole Foods is not only accepting BTC as a payment method in their shop but also upgraded to the Spedn application so that users can buy food groceries by using Bitcoin and Litecoin (LTC), among others.
Gyft
Gift Card Company Gyft enables users to buy, send and redeem their online gift cards for retailers and platforms like Starbucks, Amazon, and Sony Playstation. As a user, you can execute every transaction with Bitcoin and all of that without any additional fees.
When you’re on the site, it’s as easy as it gets. You choose the desired gift card, select BTC as the preferred payment method and then use your crypto wallet to send the payment.
Benfica
Popular sports brand Benfica, officially Sport Lisboa e Benfica, accepts Bitcoin payments from customers. Users can buy everything from merchandise to tickets for games and pay with their digital assets.
Fans can purchase their goods with BTC, Ether, and the UTRUST token. By accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment method, they attract tech-savvy supporters and make it easy for them to buy sporting goods from abroad.
Save the Children
Save the Children is the biggest and first international NGO that started accepting donations in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in 2013. With the slogan “HODLhope,” they strive for the right of kids to be healthy, educated, and protected.
Virgin Airlines
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Airlines, has always been an innovator, so no surprise there. His companies, Virgin Airlines and Virgin Mobile make it possible for users to pay in Bitcoin. Besides that, users could even pay for space travel with this cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin and other digital currencies are often described as the finance of the future. To team up with the future of travel only seems logical. For 16 BTC, you can buy yourself a trip with Virgin Galactic, which will take you to an altitude of more than 50 miles.
Overstock
Lastly, Overstock is one of the Bitcoin vendors that accept digital currency as a payment option and holds BTC. Overstock is a tech-driven online retailer that’s visualizing dream homes for all.
It’s the fifth year in a row that this big e-commerce player accepts not only Bitcoin but all cryptocurrencies including Ether, Litecoin, Dash (DASH), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Wikipedia
Another early starter is Wikimedia, the company behind the famous open-source encyclopedia Wikipedia. They also started to accept Bitcoin in 2014 to allow people to pay for donations. This would have been number two on this list, but after May 2022, they no longer accept cryptocurrency donations.
Wikimedia has several arguments like concerns about the environment, the risk of scams, and the fact that only 0.08% of the total amount of donations was received in crypto. The company announced that they stop the crypto donations option for now, but will follow developments closely. As security and stability increase, there is the possibility that BTC will once again become an accepted form of payment.
How do you use Bitcoin?
Buying and selling Bitcoin is not that hard. It all depends on a good crypto exchange and your online security measures.
Now you know what stores accept Bitcoin. But, what you may not know is how to use Bitcoin to buy things. You can look up as many Bitcoin shops as you like, but if you don’t know how to pay in Bitcoin, you’re at the same place you’ve started.
How to buy Bitcoin?
Cryptocurrencies are decentralized by nature. This means that you can’t buy them at a traditional bank or investment firm. It’s part of the upcoming regulation plan to make this possible, but users have to buy digital coins on a crypto exchange for now. The most well-known crypto exchanges are Coinbase, Binance, Crypto.com, and Kraken.
If you want to exchange your U.S. dollars for a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, you need to know a couple of things. Always think about your security online. Before you can buy, sell or hold cryptocurrencies, you need to set up an account. Most of the time, you need to provide some personal information like your passport and bank account. After that, you can fund your wallet.
This funding process is no more than sending another currency like USD to your online wallet. If you buy BTC, you need to keep it somewhere safe so it won’t get stolen. Most-used Bitcoin wallets are Ledger, Exodus, and Trezor. Now that your money is safe, it’s time to exchange these U.S. dollars for crypto, so it’s possible to place an order on an exchange of your choice. However, the process of buying and selling Bitcoin can differ depending on the exchange users go for.
How do you spend Bitcoin?
Now, after buying some crypto, it’s time to find out if your favorite store, restaurant, or company is a place where Bitcoin is accepted. In the list above, you will already find some popular places to spend your digital money in the list above.
Spending Bitcoin is becoming easier and easier with global merchants accepting it as a payment method. You read above how users could buy Bitcoin and that it’s essential to keep digital coins in a wallet to be safe. But, what if users want to spend? Then you follow the steps backward.
Choose the product or service of your choice and select Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. You need to log in to your crypto wallet, confirm the transaction and send the payment. After that, the deal is complete, and you’re ready to receive your order.