A lot of people own cryptocurrency, but the often-puzzling question is how do you spend cryptocurrency?
Back in 2010, when Bitcoin was valued at a high of 40 cents, a man in Florida famously bought two pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoin (worth roughly $200M at today’s price).
These days, Bitcoin has exploded into a global phenomenon and earned its place as a “store of value” and “digital gold”. However, it’s certainly not as widely accepted for payments as many would have thought or hoped.
The same can be said for all other major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Dogecoin and Solana.
For the most part, cryptocurrency is treated as an investment, rather than money that you spend to buy goods and services.
When owning a crypto, like Cardano or Polygon for example, both of which at times have proven the ability to 100x+ a return on investment, investors often wonder why would you ever part with them when they can increase in value?
Still the movement for companies to accept crypto payments continues to grow even if it’s at a slow pace.
How to Spend Cryptocurrency
For businesses that want to accept cryptocurrencies, the crypto industry has made it possible with several different tools.
As a customer, you may have already seen or even used some of the options below when you were checking out of an ecommerce retailer’s shopping cart.
Coinbase Commerce is among the most popular tools and it allows businesses to receive crypto payments from customers anywhere in the world.
When you make a payment via Coinbase Commerce you have the option of paying with ten different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin.
CoinPayments is another popular tool used by many businesses and you might see their payment buttons on ecommerce sites you visit.
One of the cool things about making a payment to a retailer through CoinPayments is that you can pay with over 175 cryptocurrencies via their gateway.
CoinsBank, BitPay and NOWPayments are some of the other providers of crypto payment services.
Best Way to Spend Cryptocurrency
There’s no best way to spend crypto, but you can sure buy plenty of useful things and have a lot of fun while you’re at it.
Spending crypto also allows you to use blockchain technology in a practical way and get a better feel for how it works. It also gives you a better idea for how it may transform the way more businesses operate in the future.
These are some of the companies and platforms, big and small, where you can directly exchange your crypto for goods and services.
1) Buy a Gift Card on CoinGate
CoinGate is a popular gift card site that allows you to buy from a choice of more than 2,000 gift cards using Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies.
You can choose from a variety of categories, including ecommerce, travel and entertainment.
Gift cards available include Amazon, Xbox Live, Airbnb, App Store & iTunes, Spotify and more.
CoinGate has the option to pay via their invoice, which supports 12 cryptocurrencies, or via BinancePay, which supports any crypto supported by that platform.
2) Buy an NFT on Magic Eden
Magic Eden is the premier NFT platform for the Solana ecosystem and in the last year or so has risen to greater prominence due to often high daily trading volume
At one point, Magic Eden surpassed Open Sea in trading volume, which is pretty incredible for the Solana ecosystem as a whole.
If you own Solana, you can send it to a Magic Eden-supported wallet, like Phantom, and buy some pretty amazing NFTs.
Portals is an NFT collections on Magic Eden that I own, which grants you access to your own apartment in the Portals metaverse.
DeGods is a digital art NFT featuring degenerates, punks and misfits. It’s one of Solana’s top NFT collections overall.
Both collections carry valuations that surpass their original mint price, however new NFT collections at more reasonable valuations are being released on Magic Eden all the time.
If you need some Solana to make a purchase, you can buy it on Coinbase.
3) Buy a Domain Name on Namecheap
Namecheap is a US-based company that provides domain registration and web hosting services, including managed WordPress hosting.
The company boasts more than ten million registered users.
As their name suggests, Namecheap is one of the cheapest places on the web to register a domain name for your website.
In most cases it’s way cheaper than registering with other popular web hosting companies who bundle their services.
In addition to other major forms of payment, Namecheap now accepts Bitcoin as a payment option when you purchase their products and services.
This makes them among the first domain registrars to accept crypto payments.
4) Get a VPN from ExpressVPN
If you’re not familiar with the term VPN, it stands for “virtual private network”. It’s a tool for encrypting your internet connection, and keeping you hidden and safe while you’re online.
It’s ultimately a tool that can help keep you from getting crypto hacked.
If you trade crypto or make a lot of crypto transactions, a VPN can add a level of security and encryption that can be well worth the small monthly fee.
ExpressVPN was founded back in 2009 by a pair of tech entrepreneurs and now has more than three million active subscribers in 180 countries.
The company accepts Bitcoin via BitPay, as well as other electronic wallets. They’re also set up to accept Ethereum, XRP and a variety of stablecoins.
5) Make a Cryptocurrency Donation to Save the Children
When you think about “how can I spend my cryptocurrency”, it’s easy to then think, “what cool stuff can I buy for myself?”
But with Save the Children, a charity organization that champions the rights of children, including their health, education and safety, you can flip the narrative by giving instead of receiving.
Back in 2013, Save the Children was the first NGO to accept Bitcoin donations.
Today, in addition to Bitcoin, they accept dozens of cryptocurrencies as a donation, including Ethereum, ApeCoin and Sandbox.
6) Buy a Car on BitCars
Looking for a late-model Bugatti Chiron supercar? A classic Mercedes 300 SL Roadster? How about a Concorde Atego motorhome?
At BitCars you can buy a variety of such exotic, rare and hard-to-find vehicles with Bitcoin.
Cars are located all around the world, mostly in Europe, and can be shipped to your location for a fee.
You can inquire about cars that are on their website, or any car in which you might be interested, and they’ll look for it on your behalf.
BitCars is the same company that brought the crypto community BitDials, an online marketplace of luxury watches and jewelry that can be bought with Bitcoin.
7) Buy a Luxury Watch on PrestigeTime
Rolex. Blancpain. Chopard. If you’re looking for a stylish timepiece, there’s a pretty good chance PrestigeTime has what you’re looking for.
Specializing in both new and preowned watches, if there’s a brand or style you’re looking for that happens to not be on their site, there’s a good chance that they can source it for you.
PrestigeTime accepts a number of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, via their service provider net-cents.com.
8) Buy a Yacht from Denison Yachting
Someday, if the crypto markets are exceedingly good to you, then perhaps you’ll consider buying yourself the ultimate present: a yacht.
Denison Yachting is actually a yacht broker and a yacht charter specialist. They can help you purchase superyachts, motor yachts and sailboats, but they can also help you charter a yacht in places like the Caribbean and Mediterranean.
Denison Yachting is a family business with a long history in the yacht business dating back to the 1930s.
Today, the company accepts Bitcoin for charter and purchases via BitPay.
Final Thoughts
The answer to the question “how do you spend cryptocurrency” is not always an easy one, but as you can see above, the opportunities do exist.
Crypto is projected to become more regulated in the coming years with larger financial institutions coming aboard. As such, we’ll most certainly see an uptick in the number of businesses, both big and small that accept crypto as a payment.
In the meantime, there’s a slow, but steadily growing base of businesses that welcome Bitcoin and other payments for their goods and services.
Disclaimer: The above is the writer’s opinion and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research and/or consult a financial advisor. Any actions taken based on the information above is at the reader’s own risk.