AT&T Accepts Bitcoin

So, it seems that the global adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) is already well on its way. Announced on Thursday, telecom giant AT&T will be accepting Bitcoin through BitPay, meaning that the firm is now the first major U.S. mobile career to accept cryptocurrency.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve and expand our services,” said Kevin McDorman, vice president, AT&T Communications Finance Business Operations. “We have customers who use cryptocurrency, and we are happy we can offer them a way to pay their bills with the method they prefer.”

Booming Crypto Adoption

This isn’t the first bout of adoption.

Tor, the de-facto go-to privacy- and anonymity-centric browser provider, recently unveiled a donation jar that accepts cryptocurrencies. Tor’s website now accepts payments in nine leading cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar Lumens, Monero, ZCash, and Augur. Interestingly though, users may contact Tor’s staffers if they intend to donate other digital assets that aren’t listed.

The page purportedly encourages crypto philanthropists, many of which frequent the open-source Tor Browser and what it gives access to, to stand up for “universal rights to privacy and freedom” by keeping Tor’s products up-to-date.

Weeks prior to this, Avnet, one of the world’s most prominent electronic components distributor, revealed it had integrated a payment portal from the Atlanta-based BitPay. Avnet’s team sees cryptocurrencies as a step above traditional rails, as a company release argued that such assets can reduce the “time, cost and complexities of bringing products to market.”

And most recently, Flexa, a little-known startup looking to make “cryptocurrency spendable everywhere”, will be making Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Gemini’s in-house stablecoin available to spend in 30,476 retail outlets. Chains accepted the aforementioned digital assets include Crate & Barrel, GameStop, Lowe’s, Nordstrom, and arguably most importantly, the Amazon-owned Whole Foods. It has been reported that the aforementioned chains have agreed to participate in the Flexa ecosystem, implying partnerships.

To accomplish this, Flexa has launched an app it calls “SPEDN” (a play on Bitcoin community not so inside joke “HODL”). This app, currently only available for Apple devices, allows users to deposit cryptocurrency into Gemini-run wallets, then use their phones in physical stores as a way to purchase goods as normal.

Photo by William Moreland on Unsplash