In a tweet published on March 27, 2019, gift card reseller Bitrefill announced that it will now allow its customers to purchase Airbnb vouchers in exchange for a plethora of digital currencies.

These Airbnb gift cards can be used to pay for reservations and bookings of vacation homes, rentals, events, and tours. The move will allow travelers across the globe to use cryptocurrencies for the purpose of funding their next vacation.

Notably, Airbnb accepts a limited number of fiat currencies, and users are often charged more for the platform’s rather pricey currency conversion service.

Airbnb: Finally a Way to Pay With Crypto

While Bitrefill initially started out as a prepaid mobile top-up service, it has since started selling gift cards for over 750 services. As the platform’s name suggests, Bitcoin (BTC) and a handful of other altcoins are the only supported payment methods.

To that end, in the announcement tweet, Bitrefill confirmed that Airbnb gift cards can only be purchased in exchange for Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Dash (DASH), Litecoin (LTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE). In a follow-up tweet, a company representative said that users could also pay with Ripple (XRP) provided they access the service with their Coinbase account.

According to Bitrefill, Airbnb gift vouchers have been in great demand by the platform’s user base, especially of late. However, Airbnb gift cards will only be available to accounts that have a payment method issued in the United States. This is because the accommodation startup only issues gift cards that can be redeemed by American users. Furthermore, Airbnb customers will only be able to use such vouchers for stays lasting shorter than 28 days.

Bitrefill will offer gift cards in increments of $25, $50 and $100. The company sells a plethora of gift cards for other platforms as well, including Amazon, Netflix, Ikea, Flipkart, Hulu, and eBay.

Increasing Threat to Airbnb’s Market Share

Airbnb began as a startup for disrupting the traditional hospitality industry and has seen tremendous growth due to its wide acceptance and unique business idea. However, several competitors using the same business model have popped up in recent times. What’s more alarming is that several rival companies have resorted to accepting crypto-based payments to skirt the problems of high commissions and fees.

Cryptocribs is one such company that has built its businesses on top of the cryptocurrency paradigm. The only difference between Cryptocribs and Airbnb is that the former allows users to pay hosts in a digital currency of their choice.

A few other projects have also tried to raise capital through token sales but were never able to deliver a working prototype. At this time, it remains to be seen if Airbnb will begin accepting crypto payment options in order to fend off competitors who are looking to eat away at its market dominance.

Similarly, Bitwage, a payroll and HR services firm that began operations in 2014, allows US companies to pay their employees in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The platform also allows employees to determine a percentage-based allocation of their salary in crypto and fiat for easier withdrawals. The service can be used to pay both full-time employees and freelancers.

Have you used cryptocurrencies to buy a gift card on Bitrefill or other websites? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.