You can use cryptocurrency in more ways than you might think—we’ve rounded up the best places you can spend your Bitcoin.
In briefThough Bitcoin is commonly seen as a speculative instrument, it was actually designed as a payment system.A wide range of online merchants now accept Bitcoin as a payment method.Among retail investors, Bitcoin (BTC) is often regarded as a speculative instrument that may be poised for growth in the future.But Bitcoin was originally designed as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system”—in other words, a decentralized payment method, enabling holders to manage their own finances and make purchases without relying on government-issued fiat currencies.Although Bitcoin doesn’t have the same level of penetration as fiat currencies when it comes to everyday spending, there are already a surprising number of places where you can pay for your purchases with Bitcoin. So with that in mind, here are some of the best ways you can use your Bitcoin the way Satoshi Nakamoto intended—by spending it!A car (but not a Tesla)“When Lambo?” is the semi-ironic refrain of the dedicated Bitcoin holder, with hopefuls wondering when their cryptocurrency stash will be enough to bag them a Lamborghini supercar.If you have the funds, you can buy a Lambo (or, indeed, any other supercar) with Bitcoin right now. Bitcoin-friendly car dealerships like BitCars and AutoCoinCars stock practically every luxury brand, including Lamborghini, Porsche, McLaren, Bugatti, and Koenigsegg, and take payment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.You can even buy a range of other vehicles with Bitcoin too, such as off-road UTVs, motorhomes and classic cars, should your tastes run to something less flashy.
Of course, you’re limited to second-hand vehicles when buying from the above dealerships; most car manufacturers won’t let you buy a brand new motor in Bitcoin. However, electric car manufacturer Karma Automotive has gone a step further, announcing in 2019 that it would accept Bitcoin payments at its main dealership in Newport Beach.One car you can’t buy—brand-new, at least—is a Tesla. Back in March 2021, CEO Elon Musk announced that an option to pay with Bitcoin was live on Tesla’s website—but just a couple of months later, in an apparent U-turn, Musk announced that “Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin.”
The reason for Musk’s Damascene conversion was, apparently, Bitcoin’s notoriously high energy consumption and carbon footprint, which stood squarely at odds with the EV manufacturer’s eco-friendly image.
A private jet
If cars are slightly too tame for you—and you really don’t care about your carbon footprint—you could take to the skies in a private jet bought with Bitcoin.Aviatrade, a firm that sells a wide variety of aircraft, recently added Bitcoin as a payment method for all business jet purchases, allowing customers to purchase jets like the $40 million Gulfstream G650ER using BBT
A yacht
Rounding out the list of excessively opulent modes of transport, you can now rent a luxury yacht with Bitcoin. Colombian yacht rental firm Prime Experiences has announced that it’s taking payment in Bitcoin, and expects to see a 40% growth in customers using it as a payment method. The company has also revealed that it’s in talks with crypto-friendly Miami mayor Francis Suarez and expects the city to become “the next Silicon Valley”.
Real estate
In 2017, a £350,000 ($480,000) house in Essex, United Kingdom became the first house sold entirely for Bitcoin.
Four years later, buying real estate with Bitcoin is still somewhat unusual—the fact that London’s most expensive residence could be bought for Bitcoin made headlines in 2021—but it’s now a far less daunting task.
That’s thanks to the advent of a number of cryptocurrency-specific realtors. They include Swiss consulting firm Bithome, which lists a range of properties throughout Europe, America, and Asia that are for sale for Bitcoin. There are also region-specific platforms like Caliber & Partners’ OpenHouzz platform, which features close to 200 properties scattered throughout Spain—including several multi-million dollar mansions. In April 2021, Argentinian online marketplace Mercado Libre joined the fray, announcing that it would enable purchases of real estate using Bitcoin through a dedicated crypto section on its website.
For those who want to get on the property ladder, but don’t have the coin for a whole property, several cryptocurrency real estate investment trusts (REITs) are currently being developed. If successful, these may allow cryptocurrency users to gain exposure to real estate by purchasing digitized shares.
And if you’re in need of office space, you’re in luck. As of April 2020, real estate company WeWork accepts payment for its co-working spaces in Bitcoin through BitPay, with the first customer to take up the option being Coinbase. Following its direct listing, the crypto exchange can certainly afford it.
Clothes
Whether you’re looking for some casual loungewear or your next designer outfit, odds are you’ll be able to find exactly what you want at the dozens of clothing outlets that now accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method.
These include a variety of sometimes garish socks from MtSocks (a play on the ill-fated Mt. Gox exchange), including this snazzy set depicting the history of the Bitcoin logo.
If you’re after something ever-so-slightly more professional or fashionable, there are now several high fashion and designer outlets that accept Bitcoin as a payment option.
One of the swankiest is surely Lanieri, an e-commerce platform that offers an entire wardrobe of made-to-measure clobber, including Italian-made suits, shirts, trousers, and more.
They’ll even remake your garment free of charge or offer a full refund if it’s not a perfect fit.
If you’re prepared to travel, put your best foot forward and head to Sint-Truiden, Belgium, where clothing and accessory story SUMOR Par elle has announced that it’s accepting payment in Bitcoin for its range of shoes and handbags. “We are a store that keeps up with the trend,” manager Lenny Schoofs told VRT NWS. “It is the future and we cannot continue to ignore it.”
And if you need to wash your clothes, Dublin Cleaners in Columbus, OH is now accepting Bitcoin for payment in its four dry cleaning stores. “I’ve been researching this since the fall, but figured now was the time to take the plunge,” president Brian Butler told Columbus Business First. Just don’t make any money laundering jokes.
Food and drink
The Bitcoin-to-pizza exchange rate has changed dramatically from the year 2010, when Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for someone to deliver two pizzas to him. It is recognized as the first commercial transaction for Bitcoin… but of course, had he held onto that BTC instead of splurging on pizza, it would be worth over $318 million today. Hindsight, right?
Pizza Hut is keeping the spirit of that transaction alive today, at least in Venezuela: the company announced in November 2020 that it has partnered with Cryptobuyer to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. It’s not the first restaurant chain or ordering service to accept Bitcoin, either: German takeaway giant Lieferando takes Bitcoin, too, while Lightning Network will take your Bitcoin and route Domino’s pizzas to you.
Meanwhile, in France, food delivery app Just Eat is now accepting Bitcoin as payment for food deliveries from over 15,000 restaurants. Some of which undoubtedly sell pizza.
On the plus side, a pizza should only cost a tiny fraction of a Bitcoin now, so hopefully you won’t feel any severe buyers’ remorse a decade later
If you’re looking for something to wash down your meal, America’s oldest wine shop, Acker, is now accepting Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) via BitPay. The rare and fine wine auction house has also added Bitcoin and Ethereum to its Acker Markets analytics platform, so you can see exactly how much each sip is costing you.A VPNGiven that they’re all about protecting your online identity, it’s not surprising that virtual private networks (VPNs) were one of the first services to start taking payments in Bitcoin. There are plenty to choose from if you’re looking to pay for your VPN with Bitcoin.NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, Cyberghost and ProtonVPN are among the reputable VPN providers that accept Bitcoin payments.It’s worth noting, of course, that buying your VPN with Bitcoin won’t be completely anonymous; crypto forensics firms and governments can track payments with varying degrees of effectiveness, and most exchanges operate KYC policies.Web servicesIt makes sense that websites and web-based services would accept purely digital currency. In addition to the aforementioned VPN services, there are some other notable web destinations that will happily take your Bitcoin.For example, cloud storage service MEGA accepts Bitcoin, as does the infamous message board 4chan; you can pay in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for its 4chan Pass membership service.
If you feel like spending some Bitcoin on a worthy cause, you could consider donating to one of the organizations that keep the engines of the Internet ticking over. The Internet Archive—well known for its Wayback Machine that stores past versions of websites—accepts donations in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and plenty more. Meanwhile, the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, has teamed up with BitPay to accept donations in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and XRP.
Your next vacationThough the coronavirus pandemic has put a dampener on most people’s vacation plans, holiday destinations around the world are now beginning to cautiously open up. That means it’s now the perfect time to book your next vacation, while flight tickets and hotel rooms are still selling for cheap.Now, platforms are springing up that let you book your holiday using Bitcoin, such as CheapAir and Travala. The latter has inked partnerships with the likes of Booking.com and Expedia, meaning that you can book hotels in over 2 million destinations worldwide, and flights from over 600 different airlines, using Bitcoin and a variety of other cryptocurrencies as a payment method.Booking flights and hotels with cryptocurrencies tends to be slightly more expensive than paying with a credit card on most platforms, but Travala does provide a best-price guarantee, meaning it will match or beat any competitor’s price for the same offer.Some hotels are also starting to accept bookings made with Bitcoin directly; one such is The Bobby Hotel, a boutique hotel in Nashville that lets guests pay for a booking with cryptocurrency using BitPay. The hotel boasts city-themed rooms, a rooftop lounge, and its own 1963 Lincoln Continental that you can take a spin in.The world’s “first” Bitcoin watchIf you’re tired of your old Casio and you’ve got some Bitcoin laying around, then you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s now possible to purchase a new timepiece using BTC.Among the available options, the Franck Muller Steampunk Limited Edition Encrypto Watch stands out as one of the most exorbitant. For a cool $17,380, you can get your hands on one of a limited run of 250 timepieces, featuring a steel case and rose gold dial.
The watch is engraved with a QR code address from the genesis block, and a unique public address etched on the dial with a sealed USB containing the private key to this address.If like us, you find the Encrypto to be “slightly” out of budget, then luxury online watch retailer BitDials may have something more in your price range—offering a range of Tag Heuer, Cartier and Breitling watches for under $3,000.
Gold
Bitcoin’s sometimes called “digital gold,” but you can also buy the real stuff with it.Bitgild and the European Mint will both happily let you spend your Bitcoin on physical gold (or, indeed, silver or platinum) in the form of bars or coins. The European Mint accepts payments through BitPay, with a 1% handling fee, while Bitgild lets you pay from your Bitcoin wallet, or directly from an exchange.Video gamesBack in 2017, Steam, the largest digital game marketplace, dropped support for BTC, but that doesn’t mean it’s no longer possible to buy video games with Bitcoin.
Through Green Man Gaming, you can buy Steam keys with Bitcoin and can purchase digital versions of practically any game—including those for Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo consoles using cryptocurrencies. These are often cheaper than retail prices too.Alternatively, both Xbox and Playstation Network directly accept Bitcoin as payment for games, subscriptions, and other services, while the popular digital storefront and charity-focused game bundle provider Humble Bundle also accepts BTC as payment for all packages and products listed in US dollars (USD).ArtworkEven the big hitters of the art world are now getting involved with Bitcoin; in May 2021, venerable auction house Sotheby’s sold an artwork by Banksy with the option to pay in either Bitcoin or Ethereum.If your budget doesn’t stretch quite that far, there are still plenty of options for buying a work of art with Bitcoin. One is Singulart, an online art store that offers free worldwide shipping and returns on all orders, and accepts payment in Bitcoin. Through Singulart, acclaimed and emerging artists are able to offer their paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other works of art for sale through the online gallery.
