Back in 2009, this lesson would have consisted of a single sentence: you cannot spend your bitcoins anywhere.

In 2018, fortunately, things have changed. Today, you can spend your bitcoins virtually anywhere in the word. Bitcoin is accepted at more retailers than ever before. Realtors in Dubai accept bitcoin. Hotel reservation websites accept bitcoin. Gaming platforms like Steam accept bitcoin.

In the last lesson we learn all the important aspects to be able to trade. For today, and continuing with the exclusive material that masterthecrypto send us, we will have the opportunity to learn the following topics:

Many merchants now accept bitcoin as payment.

How to find a place to spend your bitcoin.

How to use bitcoin debit cards to spend your bitcoins anywhere VISA and MasterCard are accepted.

How to separate good bitcoin exchanges from bad ones.

How to avoid losing your bitcoins to a hacked exchange.

How to verify your identity and start trading bitcoin as soon as today.

Where To Spend Your Bitcoin?

So you’ve got some bitcoin. Now, you’re ready to spend it. Where should you go?

Bitcoin is an amazing cryptocurrency. Even Though it’s not yet as accepted as the Euro, the US Dollar, the Pound Sterling, and other major world currencies. Now days you can spend your bitcoin in a lot of places that accept Visa or Master Card, also the list of retailers and companies that accept cryptocurrencies are growing by the day — for a complete list of possible ways to spend Bitcoin in everyday life, visit our Bitcoin payment list.

A growing number of retailers are using point of sale systems that accept crypto payments. Square, for example, is one popular point of sale system used by retailers around the world. Square started accepting bitcoin via its Cash App in 2018.

Other point of sale systems allow retailers to accept bitcoin as easily as they accept any payment method. Sometimes, these systems require special hardware to be installed. In most cases, however, retailers can integrate bitcoin payments into their existing POS systems.

All of this adds up to one simple lesson: it’s easier than ever for retailers to accept bitcoin payments without installing special hardware, and that means there’s never been a better time to find retailers that accept bitcoin in your local area.

How to Spend Your Bitcoin in the “Real World”

Making a bitcoin transaction in the “real world” is surprisingly easy.

Typically, the retailer will have a POS system that displays a QR code. You open the bitcoin wallet on your phone then scan the QR code. This QR code represents the store’s bitcoin wallet. You scan the QR code with your phone’s camera (accessed from your wallet app), then confirm the total amount to be paid.

You can repeat this process with online merchants. In this case, the online merchant will display their public key address — which will look like a string of letters and numbers like xioj340jxvuia323jxdfnadsfa. You copy and paste the public key into your wallet’s “Send To”, field, then confirm the amount to be transferred.

This process is relatively easy — but there’s an even easier and more accepted way to spend your bitcoin.

Spending Bitcoin Via a Credit Card or Debit Card

A growing number of payment platforms now offer bitcoin credit cards and prepaid bitcoin debit cards. When you have a bitcoin credit card or debit card, you don’t need to worry about scanning a QR code in the store, nor do you have to wait 10 minutes for the transaction to be complete.

Instead, all you need to do is use your bitcoin debit card or credit card as easily as you would use a VISA or MasterCard.

When spending bitcoin via a debit card or credit card, you don’t even need to shop at special stores! The retailers don’t need to have special hardware. You don’t even need to tell the retailer that you’re using bitcoin.

Instead, you pull out your bitcoin card and pay just like you would pay with any debit card or credit card. Many payment platforms offer contactless cards. You tap the POS machine with your card, and the payment is completed instantly.

If the retailer accepts Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and similar options, then you can almost certainly use your contactless card without issue.

The “secret” behind these cards is simple. Before using your card in the real world, you’ll load it with bitcoin. The payment platform transfers your bitcoin into USD — or any other fiat currency — based on the current market price of BTC. Your card is now loaded with fiat currency, and your bitcoin has been deducted from your balance.

Most bitcoin debit cards and credit cards are free to use. Many cards also offer cheaper foreign exchange fees than conventional VISA and MasterCard cards offered by your bank. There’s really no better way to spend your bitcoin in the real world.

Major Retailers That Accept Bitcoin

Over 100,000 retailers accept bitcoin. Some of the notable names include:

Microsoft.

Steam.

Expedia.

Newegg.

REEDS Jewelers.

Golden Gates Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Tesla.

Overstock.com.

eGifter (gift cards).

Shopify.

Dish.

KFC Canada.

Playboy.

Subway.

Namecheap.

Wikipedia.

T-Mobile Poland.

Any retailer that accepts VISA or MasterCard will accept your bitcoin prepaid debit card.

Overall, 100,000+ merchants worldwide accept bitcoin. Over 50 million merchants with VISA or MasterCard POS machines now accept bitcoin thanks to prepaid bitcoin debit cards.

In today’s lesson, we learned how easily you can spend bitcoin around the world. In the next lesson, we’ll explain how bitcoin mining works.

How Bitcoin Exchanges Work

The bitcoin network does not need exchanges in order to operate. Bitcoins can be bought and sold on a peer-to-peer basis. If you find someone willing to buy bitcoin, then you can transfer bitcoin to that person with no centralized party — like a bank or an exchange — required.

However, this P2P exchange system isn’t practical in the real world. That’s why we need exchanges.

The primary role of a bitcoin exchange is to collect orders from people who wish to buy bitcoin, then match those orders with people wanting to sell bitcoin. This is the “order book” of a bitcoin exchange.

Today’s top exchanges process millions of dollars in bitcoin transactions every day. They match bitcoin buyers with bitcoin sellers. They facilitate price discovery in bitcoin markets, basing the price of bitcoin on whatever the last buyer paid for 1 BTC.

Exchanges play another crucial role: exchanges store your money. You can deposit your bitcoin into an exchange, for example, and leave it there.

As we learned in our discussion on bitcoin wallets, however, it’s rarely a good idea to leave your money in an exchange. Exchanges can be hacked or suffer a glitch. You should only temporarily store your bitcoins in an exchange.

How to Choose the Perfect Bitcoin Exchange

Choosing the perfect bitcoin exchange isn’t as hard as you think. Today, there are hundreds of exchanges from which to choose. Every major cryptocurrency exchange in the world offers one or more bitcoin pairs.

Some exchanges allow you to buy and sell bitcoin in exchange for USD, EUR, GBP, and other major fiat currencies. Other exchanges only allow you to buy or sell bitcoin for Ethereum, Litecoin, or other cryptocurrencies.

In addition, some exchanges ban customers from certain countries, while other exchanges are welcoming to users from all over the world.

Here are some things to consider when shopping for a bitcoin exchange:

Deposit Methods: Some exchanges only accept deposits in cryptocurrencies. Other exchanges accept deposits in multiple fiat currencies. Some exchanges let you deposit money using a credit card, while others accept bank transfers and other easy payment methods. Make sure your desired exchange has your desired deposit method.

Nationality: Want to convert your Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, or another national currency into bitcoin? You’ll have to use a local exchange. Smaller cryptocurrency exchanges offer AUD/BTC or CAD/BTC pairs. These exchanges are typically based in their respective countries, making it easy to transfer money using local transfer methods — like BPay in Australia or INTERACT E-Transfer in Canada.

Available Cryptocurrencies: If you just want to buy bitcoin, then you’ll find bitcoin is available on every major exchange. However, if you’re interested in alternative cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, Ethereum, Stellar Lumens, Ripple, or anything else, then you might want to double check to ensure those cryptocurrencies are listed on your desired exchange.

Safety and Security: All exchanges claim to offer strong safety and security. Not all exchanges, unfortunately, live up to that promise. Some exchanges have suffered major data breaches in the past. Try to choose an exchange that genuinely emphasizes the highest level of security for customer funds.

High Liquidity: If you’re choosing one of the most popular bitcoin exchanges, then liquidity is unlikely to be an issue. However, if you’re signing up for a smaller exchange — like a local bitcoin exchange — then you may encounter liquidity problems. Low liquidity can make it difficult to buy or sell bitcoin at your desired position. Low liquidity can make it difficult to fill your order in a timely way.

Identity Verification Requirements: Most major cryptocurrency exchanges require complex ID verification. Don’t be surprised when an exchange asks you to send a picture of your government-issued photo ID, for example, or a selfie of you holding that ID. Exchanges need to comply with KYC/AML verification requirements, and that means you cannot be anonymous on these exchanges.

Top 10 Best Bitcoin Exchanges Today

One of the best ways to find the best cryptocurrency exchanges is to look at a website like CoinMarketCap to find the most popular exchanges by trading volume. If an exchange is consistently within the top 10 by trading volume, you can rest assured that it’s popular among millions of bitcoin users.

Here are the top ten leading bitcoin exchanges based on their consistent position among the highest-volume exchanges:

Binance

OKEx

Poloniex

Huobi

Bitfinex

Bithumb

Bittrex

GDAX

Kraken

HitBTC

All of these exchanges are consistently ranked among the highest by trading volume. They each complete well over $100 million in trades every day. Most of the exchanges listed above accept customers worldwide. Some exchanges, like Bithumb and Huobi, target users in specific countries like South Korea.

Ultimately, choosing an exchange isn’t rocket science. It shouldn’t be difficult or frustrating to choose an exchange. You’re not marrying someone. You’re not committing to an exchange for the rest of your life. You can sign up for dozens of exchanges then pick the one with the prettiest UI. Overall, the exchanges listed above will offer a consistently strong user experience when buying bitcoin online.

See you in the next lesson! With love 💛 Rubika Ventures Team!

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