Accepting Cryptocurrency Payments Since 2009
Cryptocurrency payments have been making headlines since 2009, with the introduction of Bitcoin. It exists digitally and uses a decentralized system to record transactions and issue new units. The currency is fungible—or mutually interchangeable—which makes them useful for blockchain transactions. They can be considered either “coins,” such as Bitcoin, and used in much the same way as money with any merchant that accepts it as currency, or as “tokens,” such as Ether, which is valid with one specific merchant (in Ether’s case, it is specific to Ethereum).
Examples of Cryptocurrency
- Bitcoin
- Litecoin
- Ether
- Bitcoin Cash
- Zcash
- Stellar Lumen
- Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision
- Chainlink
Many Brands are Accepting Cryptocurrency Payments
ATMs
According to Zippia.com, approximately 2,300 companies accept Bitcoin in the U.S. As of April 2022, there were 36,659 Bitcoin ATMs available in the country.
Online
Companies that allow consumers to purchase items online using cryptocurrency include Starbucks, AMC Theatres, Microsoft, AT&T, and individual Etsy artisans.
In-person
Brick-and-mortar retailers entered the Bitcoin world in 2019, when payments start-up Flexa joined forces with Gemini, a digital currency company. The two created a platform that allows retailers to incorporate Flexa into the digital scanners that accept phone-based payments through digital wallets. The technology converts bitcoins into dollars for seamless purchases. Some of the brick-and-mortar retailers that accept crypto currency in this manner include Whole Foods and Home Depot.
Making Cryptocurrency Payments on a Card
Credit card company Visa has partnered with 50 of the leading crypto platforms on card programs that make it easy to convert and spend digital currency at 70 million merchants worldwide. More than $1 billion was spent on crypto-linked Visa cards in the first half of 2021.
Cryptocurrency is still evolving—even the government is trying to figure out how to regulate it to make it more secure for investors. And as more companies begin to accept the digital currency, its potential for growth is seemingly endless.
