Although cryptocurrencies have been around for over a decade, the industry is still relatively new, with people only really adopting digital currencies as a viable method of payment in the past five years or so. This is set to change soon, thanks in part to new regulations that have been put forward by the Cryptocurrency Act of 2020 that aims to make it easy for everyday Americans, businesses, and institutions to participate in the cryptocurrency industry.
While America waits for the legislation to come into effect, people who have already started trading in virtual currencies may be wondering just how they can spend their newly acquired currency. But, before we look into how people can use cryptocurrency to pay for everyday expenses, we need to examine why they can’t already do so.
Why Don’t More Places Accept Cryptocurrency?
There are several different reasons businesses give their customers when asked why they do not accept cryptocurrency as a viable payment method, but the most common reason is due to the volatility of cryptocurrencies as a whole.
Many businesses refuse to accept cryptocurrency as payment for items because cryptocurrencies are infamously volatile. In one of the most famous cryptocurrency crashes of the past year, the price of Bitcoin surged to almost $14,000 at the end of June only to plunge to $9,600 less than two weeks later. While cryptocurrency investors may be prepared to handle this kind of fluctuation, many businesses are unwilling to take the risk of losing thousands of dollars should these kinds of crashes occur shortly after they have accepted cryptocurrency as payment for goods.
How to Pay for Things with Cryptocurrency
Thanks to the growing popularity of cryptocurrency, many big American companies have embraced the challenge and now accept cryptocurrency as payment for everyday items. With the launch of the Bakkt app in 2020, coffee-lovers were thrilled to learn that Starbucks now accepts Bitcoin payments through the future’s exchange app.
Another major player in American retail, Whole Foods recently partnered up with a spending app called Spedn to offer its customers a way to pay for their groceries using Bitcoin, Litecoin, and the Gemini dollar. Other companies that Spedn gives cryptocurrency users access to include Gamestop, Regal Cinemas, Baska Robbins, and more.
Other Ways to Use Cryptocurrency
For those cryptocurrency users who don’t have access to physical stores that accept cryptocurrency, online shopping is still the easiest way to spend those hard-earned tokens. Some of the most popular companies that now accept digital currency include e-commerce giants Amazon, masters of the bargain Overstock, consumer electronic retailer Newegg, as well as a host of travel companies including Virgin Atlantic, and CheapAir.
It must be said that online shoppers, in particular, should take special care with the storage of their cryptocurrency, as purchasing from websites can open users up to being hacked should a data breach occur. For this reason, hardware wallets are easily the most popular choice for safety-oriented cryptocurrency users. Devices such as the ledger nano s, a popular hardware wallet that is easy to use and that supports over 1000 different cryptocurrencies, help users keep their cryptocurrency safe from hackers by ensuring that their digital currency is stored offline behind layers of encryption.
According to market research, the value of the cryptocurrency market is set to reach $1.758 million by 2027 so shoppers should start seeing more and more companies and businesses accepting this rather hot commodity as a payment method soon.