Melissa William, Co-Founder of Pebble.

“Yes — even if I then decide to pay in dollars. Merchants that accept bitcoin are challenging the existing financial system which is expensive, broken and elitist. It shows they are interested in change and willing to explore new solutions. This would make me trust the company more and the products they are selling.”

Paul Puey, CEO of Airbitz

“Absolutely! I already seek out bitcoin accepting merchants and help support them. That’s why we built the Airbitz directory. To connect bitcoin consumers with businesses that accept it.”

Mugur Marculescu, Cofounder at BitPagos

“In the US and other developed places, no, payments are largely not a problem for most consumers. But I was traveling oversees absolutely, because it takes the hassle out of using foreign currencies and caring cash (much safer too).”

Andrew Wagner, Founder of CoinFest

“Of course I am; it’s necessary to incentivize adoption, and dollars are unfortunate to use. I will intentionally avoid merchants who do not accept Bitcoin whenever feasible; it costs nothing to accept, and provides advantages and new customers, so you’re just being stubborn and annoying if you refuse.”

Teemu Päivinen, CEO of Coinmotion

“When buying something locally paying with bitcoin is more of a novelty. Where bitcoin truly shines, is when traveling or paying online. Being able to pay with the same currency in the Netherlands and Japan is undeniably powerful. Once accepting bitcoin becomes the norm, you will never have to exchange money or pay ridiculous bank conversion fees again.”

Adam McKenna, Founder of Multipool

“It depends on how much faith I have in the merchant. Sometimes, the consumer protections of credit are preferred. I am definitely more likely to use a particular merchant if they accept Bitcoin, no matter what method I’m using to pay.”

Ryan Peterson, Co-founder of Honeybadgr

“Yes, but only for the sake of evangelizing the use of bitcoin. There isn’t a significant benefit yet for me as a consumer to use bitcoin versus my debit card unfortunately, but in my opinion there is tremendous value in contributing to bitcoin’s velocity of money and supporting businesses who accept it. Every time you buy something you are casting an economic vote for the product, the merchant, and now more than ever, the currency. Many early adopters are long BTC as an asset class, so it is difficult to incentivize them to spend it as a transactional currency. However, I believe there is a balance that must be struck. Using bitcoin for purchases encourages mainstream adoption and will thusly contribute to the value of your long term holdings as well. Ultimately if no one is spending bitcoin, it won’t be worth anything as a store of value either.”

Matthew Martin, Founder of Blossom

“YES! Merchants that accept Bitcoin show they are making the effort to give choice and options to their customers. Given all things equal, I’m much more likely to purchase from a merchant that accepts Bitcoin than a competitor who doesn’t. I may not even choose to pay with Bitcoin, but the mere availability of the option is a nice vote of confidence in my opinion.”

George Samman, Co-founder of BTC.sx

“It certainly makes life easier when you own Bitcoin. So yes, I would and I love when I see it as an option from people I never thought would be embracing it.”