Lesson 7: How To Spend Your Bitcoin

Thanks to Bitcoin exchange guide, click here to get more info (aweber.com)

Back in 2009, this email would have consisted of a single sentence: you cannot spend your bitcoins anywhere.

In 2018, fortunately, things have changed. Today, you can spend your bitcoins virtually anywhere in the word. Bitcoin is accepted at more retailers than ever before. Realtors in Dubai accept bitcoin. Hotel reservation websites accept bitcoin. Gaming platforms like Steam accept bitcoin.

In Lesson 7, you’ll learn:

• Many merchants now accept bitcoin as payment
• How to find a place to spend your bitcoin
• How to use bitcoin debit cards to spend your bitcoins anywhere VISA and MasterCard are accepted


Where to Spend Your Bitcoin

So you’ve got some bitcoin. Now, you’re ready to spend it. Where should you go?

Bitcoin is an amazing cryptocurrency. Eventhou it’s not yet as accepted as the Euro, the US Dollar, the Pound Sterling, and other major world currencies. Now days you can spend your bitcoin in a lot of places that accept Visa or Master Card, also the list of retailers and companies that accept cryptocurrencies are growing by the day - for a complete list of possible ways to spend Bitcoin in everyday life, visit our Bitcoin payment list.

A growing number of retailers are using point of sale systems that accept crypto payments. Square, for example, is one popular point of sale system used by retailers around the world. Square started accepting bitcoin via its Cash App in 2018.

Other point of sale systems allow retailers to accept bitcoin as easily as they accept any payment method. Sometimes, these systems require special hardware to be installed. In most cases, however, retailers can integrate bitcoin payments into their existing POS systems.

All of this adds up to one simple lesson: it’s easier than ever for retailers to accept bitcoin payments without installing special hardware, and that means there’s never been a better time to find retailers that accept bitcoin in your local area.



How to Spend Your Bitcoin in the “Real World”

Making a bitcoin transaction in the “real world” is surprisingly easy.

Typically, the retailer will have a POS system that displays a QR code. You open the bitcoin wallet on your phone then scan the QR code. This QR code represents the store’s bitcoin wallet. You scan the QR code with your phone’s camera (accessed from your wallet app), then confirm the total amount to be paid.

You can repeat this process with online merchants. In this case, the online merchant will display their public key address – which will look like a string of letters and numbers like xioj340jxvuia323jxdfnadsfa. You copy and paste the public key into your wallet’s “Send To”, field, then confirm the amount to be transferred.

This process is relatively easy – but there’s an even easier and more accepted way to spend your bitcoin.

Spending Bitcoin Via a Credit Card or Debit Card

A growing number of payment platforms now offer bitcoin credit cards and prepaid bitcoin debit cards. When you have a bitcoin credit card or debit card, you don’t need to worry about scanning a QR code in the store, nor do you have to wait 10 minutes for the transaction to be complete. Instead, all you need to do is use your bitcoin debit card or credit card as easily as you would use a VISA or MasterCard.

When spending bitcoin via a debit card or credit card, you don’t even need to shop at special stores! The retailers don’t need to have special hardware. You don’t even need to tell the retailer that you’re using bitcoin.

Instead, you pull out your bitcoin card and pay just like you would pay with any debit card or credit card. Many payment platforms offer contactless cards. You tap the POS machine with your card, and the payment is completed instantly. If the retailer accepts Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and similar options, then you can almost certainly use your contactless card without issue.

The “secret” behind these cards is simple. Before using your card in the real world, you’ll load it with bitcoin. The payment platform transfers your bitcoin into USD – or any other fiat currency – based on the current market price of BTC. Your card is now loaded with fiat currency, and your bitcoin has been deducted from your balance.

Most bitcoin debit cards and credit cards are free to use. Many cards also offer cheaper foreign exchange fees than conventional VISA and MasterCard cards offered by your bank. There’s really no better way to spend your bitcoin in the real world.



Major Retailers that Accept Bitcoin

Over 100,000 retailers accept bitcoin. Some of the notable names include:

• Microsoft
• Steam
• Expedia
• Newegg
• REEDS Jewelers
• Golden Gates Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
• Tesla
• Overstock.com
• eGifter (gift cards)
• Shopify
• Dish
• KFC Canada
• Playboy
• Subway
• Namecheap
• Wikipedia
• T-Mobile Poland
• Any retailer that accepts VISA or MasterCard will accept your bitcoin prepaid debit card

Overall, 100,000+ merchants worldwide accept bitcoin. Over 50 million merchants with VISA or MasterCard POS machines now accept bitcoin thanks to prepaid bitcoin debit cards.

In today’s lesson, we learned how easily you can spend bitcoin around the world. In the next lesson, we’ll explain how bitcoin mining works