So you got your new Bitcoins! Now… what do you DO with them?

For those who don’t know, Bitcoins are a form of digital currency (aka cryptocurrency or digital token), recorded on a blockchain – which is a digital, decentralized, public-ledger, shared on a network of computers, which allows for easy peer-to-peer (P2P) actions. Bitcoin was the first of such currencies, and is sometimes referred to as ‘digital gold’ because of it’s high price on the market (which did as of recently surpass the price of gold at one point). It is currently the highest priced digital currency on the market. To own Bitcoins, one needs a digital wallet to store their Bitcoin keys: special encrypted codes signifying each specific digital token.

Bitcoins can be used as a speculative investment or as a digital currency you wish to purchase things with. Now to obtain Bitcoins, one may either: purchase them, individually “mine” them, or pool mine them. There’s another way to acquire Bitcoins, you’ll read about that near the end of this article. And of course, there are also sites called Bitcoin Faucets, such as moonbit, which give “free” Bitcoin pieces to users in exchange for doing simple tasks and checking back to the website. However, these carry risk & are usually paid in Satoshi – the smallest unit of of the digital currency, which is equal to 0.00000001 Bitcoin. Now once you actually have your “digital gold”…

A big question for many people is: “what can I actually do with Bitcoins?” That’s a good question, and this article is about to blow your mind with all of the possibilities.

First of all, it’s hard to quantify what one could or could not buy with Bitcoins, as they allow for easy P2P transfer of value across the web for… anyone willing to accept them in exchange for a product or service. Secondly, we were surprised in our research to find just how many places DO accept Bitcoin payments, for a large variety of items and services. For the average person it would seem that almost anything you’d need to purchase can be bought with Bitcoins somewhere. Sites like: coindesk.com, coinbase.com (which also has a tutorial on how to spend your tokens), usebitcoins.info, & hongkiat.com all have extensive lists of Bitcoin-accepting merchants, and spendbitcoins.com actually has a search menu for finding ones selling the item or service you’re looking for. Additionally coinmap.org and bitcoin.travel have maps where you can find cryptocurrency accepting merchants. Some of these resources have helped immensely in pulling this article together, which is by no means exhaustive. So let’s begin!

#1. Trade Forex With Bitcoins

That’s right, some companies allow you to trade on the forex markets using Bitcoins, such as simplefx (please do your research before using), and/or allows users to make deposits and withdrawals with Bitcoin, such as our partners at Saba Capital (who also accept our DinarCoins for deposits & withdrawals as well, and offer MetaTrader 4 tools). That said however, the Forex market is the highest liquidity market around today, which is because of it’s volatility. Adding the volatility of the cryptocurrency market on top of it, only increases the volatility factor, & the complexity of trading, and makes higher wins AND larger losses a very real possibility, and often unforeseen. We’ve written about that in our article: On Forex And Digital Currencies.

#2. Online eCommerce Sites

Right off the bat, and in general terms, there’s a plethora of online shops accepting Bitcoins, and selling a large variety of things. Microsoft for example has started accepting Bitcoin for adding funds to US accounts, in order to purchase it’s digital content across it’s different platforms.

*Other online shops, accepting Bitcoin include (some may be limited):

–Dell, offering computer technology.

–DISH Network, offering television channels.

–Overstock, offering electronics, jewelry, furniture, and more. Available in over 100 countries.

–Newegg, offering computer software and hardware, plus a variety of appliances and goods. Based in Los Angeles.

–Showroomprive.com, offering homeware, cosmetics, fashion accessories, clothing, and more. European based, in partnership with Paymium, to accept Bitcoin payments.

–TigerDirect, offering computers and consumer electronics.

–Monoprix, an online French retail chain, offering a variety of products from food, to courses, to clothing, and more.

–Bitcoinshop.us, a US only – cryptocurrency only – online shop. Accepting Bitcoin, Litecoin, & Dogecoin, and offering a range of products from watches to air-conditioners, and more.

–Memory Dealers, offering computer memory and various networking hardware equipment.

–AirBaltic, offering airline basic class fares. Based in Latvia. Certain destinations unavailable for Bitcoin purchases.

–Air Lituanica, offering flights purchased with Bitcoin. Based in Eastern Europe.

–CheapAir.com, based in California, and offers travel booking services.

–BTCTrip, offering online flight and hotel booking services. Also accepts Dogecoin and Litecoin.

–Expedia, offering travel services, is allowing Bitcoin purchases for hotel bookings.

–Theatre Tickets Direct, based in the UK, offering ticket booking services. Mostly for London based shows.

–Honest Brew, offering craft beers online in the UK.

–Coco Mats ‘n More, offering mostly coconut fiber doormats, including custom, funny, and Bitcoin logoed & ‘Bitcoin Accepted Here’ door mats.

–The Roast Station Project, headed up by ‘The Java Nomad’, offers fresh coffee beans from Bali.

–Water Filter Crocks, offering handmade clay water filters for regular and emergency use.

–Purse.io, offering a P2P market platform that brings together people who want to get a discount on Amazon items, with people who want to buy Bitcoin using PayPal or a credit card. Coindesk has written a review of the service here.

-REED Jewelers, as mentioned in section #4, also has an online presence, though they are mostly a brick and mortar retail chain.

–Foodler, offering an online food ordering service for restaurants around the world. Buy Foodler credit with your Bitcoins.

–Takeway, offering an online food ordering service for restaurants around Europe. It’s Netherland website accepts Bitcoins through Bitpay.

–Shopify, offering users the ability to create online stores, now offering them the ability to accept Bitcoins as a payment option. In similar categories, Digital River (a commerce-as-a-service site) opened a Bitcoin payment option for it’s merchants.

–RentHop, offering property listings in the US, is giving New York based advertisers discounts on advertising if they pay with Bitcoin.

–Treehouse, offering technical education online, based in Orlando, Florida.

–University Of Nicosia, offering online education.

-Many Online Services, offering things like website hosting, etc. have hopped onto the Bitcoin bandwagon. Wikipedia has an extensive list.

-Many VPN providers now accept Bitcoin.

–Goldmoney (formerly BitGold) and Amagi Metals are offering precious metal bullion in exchange for Bitcoins.

-Bitcoin online marketplaces include: Bitcoin Market, Cryptothrift, Flibbr, and Bitmarket (a subreddit on Reddit.com).

–BitPremier, offering an escrow service for your high-end luxury items (sales are in Bitcoin).

–All Things Luxury, offering luxury jewelry. Bitcoin payment available at checkout.

–Sean’s Outpost a Florida based charity which currently accepts Bitcoin.

–WordPress, allows a plugin to receive Bitcoins as tips.

–Bitgivefoundation.com, allows you to donate to various causes.

–Changetip, allows you to receive or send tips via Bitcoin.

-You can even set up a charitable donation to accept Bitcoins.

–Green Man Gaming, accepts Bitcoins for games and other apps.

-The Minecraft server is using Bitcoin’s network to power their in-game currency.

#3. Bitcoin Gift Cards (may be restricted to the country where the card is purchased)

–eGifter and gyft (eGifter available for US citizens), accept Bitcoins for purchasing gift cards, which greatly expands your ability to use your Bitcoins. These gift cards can be used at retailers like Amazon, Target, Nike, and Walmart, etc. iTradeBTC & GiftCardZen also have a wide range of options. Gift Off may be a great option for those in the UK and Europe in general. Users can use at least 15 cryptocurrencies to get gift cards for at least 177 retailers. Australians can get their gift cards through Bitcoin Gift Cards.

#4. ‘Brick & Mortar’ Shops (physical store locations), Accepting Bitcoin

–Keystone Pet Place, offering a wide range of pet services, located in Mount Joy, PA, USA.

–REEDS Jewelers, offering fine jewelry, watches, and clocks both online and at their multiple retails locations along the Eastern US. Their headquarters are found in Wilmington, North Carolina.

–CeX, a retail chain offering technology exchange in the UK, is now accepting Bitcoin in many of their stores across England. They also put up Scotland’s first Bitcoin ATM.

–Sacramento Kings, an NBA franchise, offers jerseys, hot dogs, beer, and tickets, among other items available for purchase with Bitcoins, which is accepted online, and at their home stadium, the Sleep Train Arena.

–San Jose Earthquakes, a Californian soccer club, is accepting Bitcoin payments for tickets, concessions, and at the gift shop of their home stadium: Buck Shaw Stadium.

–Medicover Group, in Warsaw, Poland, was said by coindesk in 2015 to be soon allowing patients to pay for their full range of healthcare services with Bitcoins.

–One Shot Hotels, a Spanish hotel chain is accepting Bitcoins for their two locations in Madrid (one of which also has it’s own Bitcoin ATM). Other branches were planned to also accept Bitcoin.

–Cai-Capital, a UK property firm in Cheltenham, accepts Bitcoins and other virtual currencies.

–Pembury Tavern, a UK pub in London which accepts Bitcoins.

–Old Fitzroy, an Australian pub in Sydney which accepts Bitcoins.

–The Pink Cow, a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo accepting Bitcoins.

–Burger Bear, a London based burger stop which also does catering. Accepts Bitcoin and Dogecoin.

–See this list of restaurants accepting Bitcoin.

–Ships & Trips Travel, allows users to pay for cruises with Bitcoins.

-Some car dealerships accept Bitcoin as well.

–Buying gas with Bitcoins is actually in the works.

–Virgin Galactic, offering space flights paid by Bitcoin.

Bonus!

The following list comes from hongkiat.com.

BitcoinStore

BitcoinStore is an online marketplace that sells a variety of electronic gadgets, at prices cheaper than sites such as Amazon and NewEgg. BitcoinStore offers international shipping, albeit with a few exceptions that are listed in its FAQ.

BitPremier

BitPremier is a luxury Bitcoin-only marketplace, where you can find anything from high-performance sports cars to works of art and even real estate.

Coingig

Coingig is an online marketplace that conducts its transactions solely in Bitcoins. You can find everything from books to t-shirts to gift vouchers on Coingig. International shipping, as with similar online marketplaces, will depend on individual sellers.

BitFash

BitFash acts as an intermediary, allowing you to buy fashion items from Fashion21 and ASOS using Bitcoins, with more brands coming soon.

PizzaForCoins

PizzaForCoins allows you to order from any nearby Domino’s, Pizza Hut or Papa Johns. Pay in Bitcoins to PizzaForCoins, and they’ll order your pizza(s) for you. PizzaForCoins is currently available for United States and Australian customers only; the United Kingdom service is currently offline, while a Canadian service is “coming soon.”

The Swiss Pharmacy

The Swiss Pharmacy provides high-quality medicine, both branded and generic. The Swiss Pharmacy accepts Bitcoins alongside traditional money, and will ship worldwide, with some exceptions that are listed on the website.

Young Pioneer Tours

Young Pioneer Tours operates budget group and individual tours to North Korea (including the Rason Special Economic Zone) and other parts of the world tourists often avoid. Prices on the website are listed in Euros, but Young Pioneer Tours accepts Bitcoins.

TravelForCoins

TravelForCoins acts as a middleman between you and travel sites such as Expedia; you pay in Bitcoins to TravelForCoins, who will pay for your flights using standard currency. Your tickets will be put under the names you provide to TravelForCoins.

BitcoinCommodities

BitcoinCommodities sells gold and silver coins, bars and sheets. As the name suggests, it accepts Bitcoin payments. Orders ship internationally, either from Germany or drop-shipped from the USA.

BitBrew

BitBrew sells a variety of coffees to customers all around the world, exclusively using Bitcoins. Coffees are roasted the day before delivery.

Kickass Kombat

Kickass Kombat sells Japanese martial arts weapons, clothing, DVDs, gifts and accessories. They ship worldwide, and accept payments in Bitcoin.

Nestorgames

Nestorgames is an independent board game manufacturer with a large selection of board games to choose from. Bitcoins can only be used to purchase bundles; Bitcoin purchases get a 10% discount on the price of the bundle.

BooshWorks

BooshWorks offers both discount and full-service printing, including screen, offset and wide format printing. They accept both USD and Bitcoin.

Wholly Hemp

Wholly Hemp manufacture and sell skin care products made from hemp seed oil. 25% of their proceeds go to charity. Prices are not listed in Bitcoin on the site, but you can pay using Bitcoins at checkout.

Bonus 2:

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, there is another way to obtain Bitcoins. The new Blockchains.my digital wallet is a new and highly advanced eWallet designed for both newbies and cryptocurrency veterans alike. It offers not only a peer-to-peer function, but also a merchant function which enables you to both find cryptocurrency accepting merchants and enables you to become one. You can get paid in several different ways, including with Bitcoin and our gold-backed DinarCoins, among other digital currencies, and still with other various payment methods.

In Closing:

As you can see, almost anything you can buy with regular cash, you can also buy with Bitcoins (at least somewhere in the world or online). What this article hasn’t talked about is that Bitcoin-accepting merchants are growing, and many of us will likely see more and more popping up in locations where we live in the near future.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies certainly are exciting prospects in the world of personal finances. We’ll see what the future holds. Thank you for reading this article, we hope you enjoyed the resources.

Have a great day!

The DinarDirham team.



The following were of great use to this article:

http://www.coindesk.com/information/what-can-you-buy-with-bitcoins/

https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/1834716-where-can-i-spend-bitcoins-

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/places-to-spend-bitcoins/

References: