There was pizza at the start. You can now spend your bitcoin on much more than pizza, at a range of online and physical locations. While there are more extensive lists available, we hope that this demonstrates the range of alternatives available.
Common Household Items and Online Tipping
Overstock.com has you covered with over a million things for sale, all of which are accessible in bitcoin.
Gift Certificates
While we wait for major retailers such as Amazon and BestBuy to take bitcoin directly, some forward-thinking individuals have devised a workaround. Use bitcoin to buy gift cards from sites like eGifter or Gyft, and then redeem them at places like Amazon, BestBuy, and hundreds of other well-known merchants.
Computer and Video Games
Microsoft, for example, has lately begun to sell games and other programs for bitcoin. Others, such as this Minecraft server, are actually running their in-game cash on the bitcoin network!
Travel
You may book a hotel via Expedia or a ticket through CheapAir.
Car dealerships are also getting into the flow of things, and although paying for gas with bitcoin has yet to materialize, machines are in the works! Virgin Galactic, not to be outdone, will transport you to space if you have that type of bitcoin. That’s pretty much all! Okay, it doesn’t really, since this is only the top of the iceberg, and every day, more and more companies take bitcoin.
What is the Best Way to Spend Bitcoin?
Paying with bitcoin is comparable to sending an email in some respects, only instead of sending a message to an email address, you’re sending money to a bitcoin address.
One of the advantages of using bitcoin to make a payment is that you don’t have to provide as much personal information. If you’re buying real things, you simply need to provide your name and address. If it’s a digital item, your email will typically enough, and if you’re making a gift, you may not even need to enter any information.
Rather of asking for a credit card number after you provide the needed information, the website will show bitcoin payment information, which will include at least one of the following:
a link that says “Sign in to Coinbase”
a QR code that says “Sign in to Coinbase”
A Bitcoin address is a unique identifier for a Bitcoin transaction.
Depending on the sort of bitcoin wallet you’re using at this point, the procedure may vary significantly.
Use your Coinbase Wallet to Make a Payment.
If the merchant you’re paying accepts bitcoin payments via Coinbase and you have a funded Coinbase account, you may finish the transaction by simply logging in and confirming the order. The procedure is complete after you confirm the order, and the merchant will be informed of your payment.
Paying Using a QR Code
At the checkout, the majority of bitcoin payment processors will additionally issue a QR code that symbolizes a bitcoin address and payment amount.
QR codes make it simple to pay using your smartphone’s bitcoin wallet software (such as the Coinbase app for Android or iOS). Simply scan the QR code, and the recipient bitcoin address and payment amount will be pre-filled. The payment is complete after you submit the transaction.
This is an excellent alternative. If you don’t have a Coinbase account or want to pay using a bitcoin wallet other than Coinbase.
Make a Payment to a Bitcoin Address.
You may manually input this as the receiver of a transaction in your bitcoin wallet software if you can’t scan QR codes or if the merchant only offers a bitcoin address.
To transfer money to a Bitcoin address, you’ll need to provide your Bitcoin wallet two pieces of information: the recipient’s bitcoin address and the quantity of bitcoin you want to send.
Both of these will be presented on the payment page at checkout, however in the case of donations or other more flexible payment structures, some will leave the amount up to you.
Simply put the address and amount into your wallet’s “send” box and submit the transactions.
If the merchant uses Coinbase, the checkout page will refresh immediately after you transmit the payment to reflect that the funds have been received, and the purchase will be recognized as complete. The method may change somewhat for various payment processors or direct payments without a processor.
