You Won’t Believe What You Can Buy with Bitcoin Nowadays 🚨 This article is 7 years old...
You Won’t Believe What You Can Buy with Bitcoin Nowadays
3 min read
Updated: Nov. 7, 2017 at 7:12 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Bitcoin is having a moment. It’s a prolonged moment, but a moment none-the-less. Its unprecedented rise in value has attracted the attention of crypto and traditional investors.
Meanwhile, others are busy trying to determine if Bitcoin is a bubble, and, if so, when it will pop. In this way, Bitcoin and its followers are engaged in a protracted guessing game about its value and usefulness. Of course, Bitcoin wasn’t created to be a hypothetical currency that deals only in speculation.
It was intended to be a practical improvement over traditional monetary systems. So, with all this attention, it seems like a good time to investigate the question: what can Bitcoin actually buy?
It turns out the answer to that is pretty interesting. Bitcoin is rising in value, and for those looking to spend their holdings, there are plenty of compelling options. Here are just a few things that you can buy with your Bitcoin.
According to CNN, the development “is offering studios for 30 bitcoin, and one-bedroom apartments for about 50 bitcoin.” While payment is accepted in Bitcoin, the price is pegged to the value of the dollar, not the rapidly changing value of Bitcoin. This development isn’t a completely novel idea. Bitcoin enthusiasts can search for properties worldwide that accept Bitcoin as the payment.
A Vacation. More specifically, a hotel room. Expedia has partnered with Coinbase to accept payment in Bitcoin when booking hotel rooms through the service. This may just be a harbinger of things to come because Lifewire writes that Bitcoin payment “may be expanded to included payments for flights, activities and more.”
A Gift Card. While Bitcoin is making its entrance into real-world payment systems, it’s not yet ubiquitous in the way that many shoppers would like. However, there is a fairly simple workaround.
There are several outlets that allow people to purchase gift cards to major retailers using Bitcoin. This strategy isn’t quite as easy as using Bitcoin directly with retailers, it does give Bitcoin holders the opportunity to purchase items from retailers like Amazon, Target, Lowes, and much more.
A Gaming Empire. Users of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming platform can purchase video games and other account additives using their Bitcoin. Business Insider reports that Microsoft lets users “use Bitcoin to purchase games, movies, and apps in the Windows and Xbox stores, as well as the Microsoft online stores.”
Bill Gates has long been a champion of the digital currency, so it’s no surprise that Microsoft’s most progressive products are utilizing the most progressive digital currency to give users greater flexibility in their purchases.
A Cheap Gift. Last minute Christmas shopping for discount items became a little bit easier when overstock.com announced that it would accept Bitcoin as a payment method. Overstock is one of the first retail operations to integrate Bitcoin into its shopping cart payment systems.
Utilizing Coinbase’s crypto-wallet, Overstock equips shoppers to pay using Bitcoin as easily as they could with a credit card. Moreover, Bitcoin’s rapid escalation in value is leading to another revenue stream for the retail outlet. Overstock.com is shifting its cryptocurrency investment strategy keeping half of the bitcoin it takes in as payment.
While offering discount goods, Overstock.com is capitalizing on Bitcoin’s value to increase its earnings and to diversify its revenue streams. Still, that shouldn’t stop Bitcoin holders from making purchases at the outlet. As the value of Bitcoin rises, the items become “cheaper.”
The cryptocurrency market is difficult to read, and at times, value fluctuations seem to be completely unmerited and shockingly drastic. Still, amidst all the uncertainty is the absolute certainty that no currency is closely competing with Bitcoin in value.
Bitcoin recently surpassed $5,000 and it’s gaining mainstream attention from Goldman Sachs, The Wall Street Journal, and the Government committees.
Even so, its most compelling component is its usability. Bitcoin holders can use their accounts to make real-world purchases as easily as with cash or card. Some, like luxury apartments, are pretty outlandish, while others are pretty mundane. Either way, it’s a reminder that Bitcoin is a useable currency with a myriad of applications.
Posted In: Culture
