What can you buy with Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the talk of the town, but where can you spend it? We've gone around the houses to see what you could buy with Bitcoin today.
We've already covered the big questions like 'what is Bitcoin?', 'how does Bitcoin work?' and 'why is Bitcoin so popular?' in our Bitcoin tutorial.
In this article, we dig a little deeper to discover what you can buy with Bitcoin and what shops actually accept it as payment. There are more places that accept cryptocurrency than you may expect!
7 places to spend Bitcoin
These are the places that accept Bitcoin:
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Gift Off
If you've never heard of Gift Off you may be wondering why we've put them right at the top of this list. But trust us – it's not without good reason.
While it's fair to say that most major retailers in the UK don't accept Bitcoin, it's also fair to say that most do offer gift cards and vouchers. And that's where Gift Off comes in.
Gift Off sells gift cards for pretty much every retailer and service that offers them, and does so at face value. But, crucially, it accepts Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency as a form of payment, which means you can use your Bitcoin to buy vouchers for Amazon, ASOS, Spotify, Uber... basically any and every popular retailer you already shop with.
In fact, they also sell Love2shop vouchers, which themselves can be spent at well over 100 different stores. So, pretty much every base is covered!
So while it's not a direct way of being able to spend Bitcoin in your day to day life, using Gift Off to buy vouchers with Bitcoin is as close as you'll get until the major stores start accepting the cryptocurrency themselves.
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airBaltic
Weirdly, airBaltic only accepts Bitcoin as payment for what they call 'GREEN' and 'GREEN plus' tickets (the two cheapest of their four ticket types) – not especially useful if you're a Bitcoin millionaire who wants to travel in style.
But let's focus on the positives: airBaltic has flights to most European nations, and even goes to parts of the Middle East, too.
Plus, according to airBaltic, they cherry-pick their very best flight deals to post on their website, and their website only. So, it seems you may only have to part with a small portion of your Bitcoin fortune when you book your flights with airBaltic.
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Travala
Credit: gowithstock – Shutterstock
If airBaltic isn't flying to where you want to go, or you need to book some accommodation too, head over to Travala.
Travala allows you to book hotels and flights all over the world using a whole range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Helpfully, when you're browsing the site, you can even change the default currency, so you'll know exactly how much Bitcoin you'll be spending on your trip. And Travala doesn't just sell flights and accommodation – activities are available too, meaning you could end up paying for an entire holiday with Bitcoin.
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CheapAir
Cheap Air has a similar story to us here at STS. The travel agency was launched by Jeff from his college dorm room in Michigan back in 1989. He was planning a backpacking trip around Europe on a student budget and decided to share the wealth of information he'd learnt.
Today, CheapAir.com offers affordable airline tickets from all the top airlines with added details of any flight amenities and extra fees.
In 2013, Cheap Air became the first travel agency worldwide to accept Bitcoin as an alternative form of payment.
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Newegg
Again, although Newegg is a lesser-known brand, you shouldn't let that put you off using their services. Especially since it's yet another shop that accepts Bitcoin.
The online retailer sells all kinds of tech, from games consoles to student laptops, hoovers to coffee machines, and everything in between (with some clothes in there too).
To pay with Bitcoin, all you have to do is decide what you want to buy and then complete the payment process.
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NordVPN
Credit: fizkes, Ilya Sergeevych – Shutterstock
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) helps you browse the internet securely, which is especially important if you use public WiFi. On top of that, a VPN allows you to watch geo-blocked content on streaming sites such as Netflix.
NordVPN is one of the best VPN providers out there, and you can use it on pretty much any operating system (even your phone). And best of all, they let you pay with Bitcoin (even after you use their free trial or student discount).
NordVPN's free trial is a great way to test the service before committing financially, but it's not the only one! We've listed the best free trials for you. -
Etsy
If you're after something unique, Etsy is the place to go. It's an absolute treasure trove of bespoke and homemade goods, and some sellers have gone one step further by accepting Bitcoin as payment.
Not all Etsy sellers accept Bitcoin (in fact, we'd go as far as saying that the majority don't) but if you want to know if someone accepts Bitcoin, just check out their profile. Under payment methods, someone who has listed 'Other' may be open to accepting it.
Also note that it's not an official option provided by Etsy itself. You'll have to contact the seller and complete the transaction through another (but still totally legit) service.
The risks of Bitcoin
Now, before you go off and start splashing your digital cash, just remember that using Bitcoin comes with its fair share of risks.
The value of Bitcoin can rise or fall by thousands of dollars in a day, and as such, some retailers that have previously accepted Bitcoin have now decided to stop.
When we were researching this article, we came across several high-profile examples of companies (including Steam, Dell, and Expedia) that have suspended accepting Bitcoin.
Something else to keep in mind when it comes to cryptocurrency is its huge carbon footprint. The mining of cryptocurrencies generates tens of millions of tonnes of CO2e each year due to being so energy-intensive.
In 2022, a report released by researchers across Europe predicted that 'Bitcoin mining may be responsible for 65.4 megatonnes of CO2 per year.' This represents 0.19% of global emissions and is comparable to country-level emissions in Greece.
For this among other reasons, a number of organisations including Greenpeace, the RNLI and Wikipedia have also stopped receiving Bitcoin donations.
Such is the volatility of the cryptocurrency, our list of companies and organisations that accept Bitcoin may be incorrect by the time you're reading it. That said, it was 100% accurate at the time of writing, and we'll do our very best to keep it up-to-date!
For a full-blown introduction to the biggest cryptocurrency going, check out our main guide to Bitcoin.
