How to Do Online Shopping with Bitcoin (and What To Do If You Prefer Shopping In Person)
Now that cryptocurrency has grown in mainstream acceptance, online shopping with Bitcoin is getting easier and easier. Online shopping has always been popular and accessible but now Bitcoin is becoming more widely used across the internet for online purchases. Online shopping, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has all but replaced in-person shopping and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are gaining popularity among average consumers. Some people prefer to hold cryptocurrency as an investment, but some people choose to make purchases that they pay for using their Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency. While the use of Bitcoin is growing more and more every year, some people still may not know how to do online shopping with Bitcoin. Fortunately, we can help with this useful guide to how Bitcoin can be used as a payment method. Here, we will detail a few ways you can online shop with Bitcoin.
How Long Have People Been Shopping with Bitcoin
If you know much about the history of Bitcoin, you may know that it initially did not have monetary value. In fact, when Bitcoin debuted in 2009 its value was actually less than 1 cent. This is because Bitcoin derives value from the scarcity of the supply of coins, which become more scarce as they are mined. At the outset, not much Bitcoin had been mined, so it was not yet very valuable.
The first known purchase where the purchaser paid with Bitcoin took place in May 2010. The items purchased were two Papa John’s pizzas. For this reason, May 22 is observed throughout the crypto community as “Bitcoin Pizza Day,” and crypto enthusiasts enjoy calculating how much the amount of Bitcoin paid for the pizzas at the time would be worth on each anniversary of the event. However, while the purchase was revolutionary at the time, nowadays people have been able to buy everything from AMC movie tickets to Whole Foods groceries with some form of cryptocurrency.
Potential Advantages of Paying with Bitcoin when Online Shopping
Bitcoin has been growing in popularity as a payment method for online shopping. Its decentralized nature and ability to provide an additional sense of privacy appeals to some customers. To pay with Bitcoin on an ecommerce site, customers usually need to set up a Bitcoin wallet to store their funds or use an app to facilitate the transaction. Different ecommerce websites have different requirements for what the customer must do and what kind of crypto they can use for payment.
The process can look something like this: After you fill your cart and go to check out, you will see cryptocurrency as a payment option at checkout. You can scan your QR code or enter your crypto wallet address to send Bitcoin from your wallet to the merchant's address. The transaction is then processed on the blockchain.
Compared to paying with credit cards, paying with Bitcoin can make users feel that their financial information is more secure, as they do not have to have their traditional bank account information tied to their purchase when they pay with crypto. However, it is worth considering that transactions can take different amounts of time to confirm on the blockchain depending on current conditions. Additionally, while cryptocurrency transactions such as buying Bitcoin from an ATM often don't require you to enter your name, the store may still request customer details, such as for shipping purposes. One other thing to remember is that the value of Bitcoin changes over time, so, as with the Bitcoin pizza mentioned above, the equivalent in U.S. dollars of the Bitcoin you paid for your purchase could also change over time. This isn’t necessarily a reason not to pay with Bitcoin, but you should be aware of it. For many people, the novelty and excitement of paying with Bitcoin are a big part of the appeal.
When more people and places embrace it, Bitcoin has the potential to allow borderless payments that provide more accessibility. If more sites adopt Bitcoin, it will become easier for customers to choose it as a payment method. Retailers benefit from Bitcoin too since transactions have lower fees compared to credit cards. Customers and merchants can work together towards a time when paying with Bitcoin will facilitate simpler, faster, more private online shopping.
Online Shopping with Bitcoin Is Easy
Online shopping has become super easy nowadays with internet payment options like PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and now with Bitcoin. As Bitcoin has become a household name, people have started to wonder where it could fit into their lives as a way of paying for things. Due to the likely overlap between people who prefer to shop online and people who embrace other digital technologies such as cryptocurrency, over time many ways to do online shopping with Bitcoin have developed, including through BitPay, Bitcoin wallets, Bitcoin exclusive online stores, and Bitcoin gift cards. Here are some online Bitcoin features that make online shopping with Bitcoin super easy!
Bitcoin Wallets
You may have heard of Bitcoin wallets and wondered whether you need one to go shopping with Bitcoin. Afterall, when you go shopping with traditional currency, you have to get your wallet out to may. However, it might not be fully intuitive how a wallet for a cryptocurrency, which is inherently digital rather than physical, would even work.
Essentially, a Bitcoin wallet is the location of your cryptocurrency's public and private keys, which in turn allow you to access your cryptocurrency. It can be located on a physical device, a piece of paper, or the internet.
As you may have guessed Bitcoin wallets do have an important role to play when shopping with Bitcoin. When you make a purchase with Bitcoin, that transaction is included in the blockchain, a public ledger where all Bitcoin purchases are recorded. A transfer of value is then made between Bitcoin wallets. Bitcoin wallets hold a seed or private key. A seed is a piece of secret crypto data that is basically used as your signature, verifying that the purchase was made by the owner of the wallet. Once the transaction is verified, the purchase cannot be altered by anyone except the owner of that Bitcoin wallet.
There are many different Bitcoin wallets suitable for cryptocurrency users at all levels. Bitcoin wallets provide what may feel like a safer space for users to store their Bitcoins than on the open internet. Bitcoin wallets (including hardware and paper wallets) can make you less susceptible to hacking and give only you control over your currency. Make sure your Bitcoin wallet is compatible with online payment methods like BitPay and your online shopping experience will go smoothly.
Choosing the right Bitcoin wallet for you can be a complicated decision, so we have a Bitcoin wallets guide to help you get ideas for what to look for in your search. Additionally, if you want to know about the security concerns associated with different types of wallets, we also have a post about ways to help boost the security of your Bitcoin wallet.
Bitcoin Debit Cards
Bitcoin debit cards are on the rise and making it easier than ever to shop with Bitcoin online. With Bitcoin becoming more popular as the years go on, many different avenues have been created to make shopping with Bitcoin easier.
When Bitcoin debit cards were first introduced there were many high annual fees and long waiting lists. Some companies even tried to launch Bitcoin debit cards that unfortunately failed. Now that Bitcoin is more popular and mainstream, there are many options available and it isn’t as hard to get access.
BitPay
BitPay is a Bitcoin service provider that provides Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash payment processing services for merchants. BitPay makes shopping online with Bitcoin simple and secure. With business, online stores can immediately store Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash in an account once the purchase is confirmed. Alternatively, it can be converted to USD in real-time. BitPay supports eight currencies, including United States dollars, and is recognized in over 30 countries.
BitPay’s transaction processing fee for businesses is currently 1-2%, plus $0.25 per transaction, which tends to be less than other online processing rates for credit cards, which can be as high as 3.6%. This means that you can checkout online using BitPay, with these fees debited automatically from the ledger. Then, the Bitcoins are converted into dollars (or the business’ choice among various options) and then deposited into the business’ bank account. This means that if a business wants to accept crypto as a payment method, by using BitPay they can still receive that payment in their preferred currency such as U.S. dollars.
As an individual shopper, if you have a Bitcoin wallet that is compatible with BitPay (most of them are), then your online shopping with Bitcoin will be comparable to any other online shopping experience, maybe even better! BitPay has even come up with their own Bitcoin wallet to make it easier for Bitcoin users to make purchases in one open-source. BitPay allows you to buy and sell Bitcoin through your wallet and gives the option of having a BitPay card. A BitPay card is the Bitcoin equivalent to a debit card. You can use a BitPay card at any ATM and any business that accepts Mastercard; BitPay says that crypto cards tend to have insignia indicating that they are accepted either where Visa or Mastercard are accepted.
Wirex
For shoppers who also like to travel, or travelers who think shopping is one of the best parts of any vacation, Wirex is another type of card that allows you to spend your cryptocurrency with ease. Wirex is a multi-currency exchange card that makes shopping around the globe simple. When you use Wirex you get up to 8% Cryptoback™ rewards for your purchases. Wirex is the ultimate travel card and allows you to pay like a local without having to fumble around with the country’s currency. You also get in app alerts to help you be aware and keep track of your spending. It also allows you to use the same card for traditional and cryptocurrency.
Wirex also does what you might find that many other crypto exchange platforms don’t and that is go the extra mile to protect your payments. If you’re well versed in the crypto world you know that fraud is something that is hard to fix. If it happens there isn’t a lot that you can do to save your crypto. Wirex has systems in place to prevent these problems. Wirex has state-of-the-art technology including facial recognition, biometrics and real-time processes as security measures. You also get to choose which devices your account can be accessed from and they also have fraud analytic tools that help you ensure that you are the only person getting into your account. You can shop easily with Wirex and start your international travels today.
Additionally, Wirex offers a wallet which it says is “the world's first non-custodial wallet with no seed phrase vulnerability, supporting 8 blockchains.” If you are looking for a wallet than can handle not only cryptocurrency but also your NFTs, this might be something for you to look into.
Bitcoin debit cards are one of the easiest ways to spend your Bitcoin online or in person. As Bitcoin becomes more popular it will only get easier to shop and travel using Bitcoin. You might find that taking advantage of these opportunities and getting yourself a Bitcoin debit card today makes your online shopping experience with Bitcoin better.
Shopping with Bitcoin Gift Cards
Another way to online shop with Bitcoin is by purchasing Bitcoin gift cards. Bitcoin gift cards are super simple and function just like any other gift card or prepaid card. There are tons of companies that offer Bitcoin gift cards and like other gift cards, they are often available in sets of value options with a limit of $500. They are redeemable and can be sent as Bitcoins or as fiat currency, like United States dollars or Euros. You may find it helpful that BitPay has a directory of merchants that accept crypto for online shopping, and it includes those designated as featuring gift cards.
Bitcoin-Exclusive Online Stores
While you can make purchases with big companies using Bitcoin like Microsoft, Overstock, and Etsy, there are also the more rare Bitcoin exclusive online stores. Today, as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies become more widely available around the world, some online stores have been created for Bitcoin purchases only, where cryptocurrency is the payment method. These operate in support of a world where online shopping with Bitcoin was something everyone did everywhere. In a world where everyone shopped with cryptocurrency, the philosophy and hope is that there would be less theft, fraud, and credit would become less necessary. At one time, online stores like Pirate Hash, Bitcoin Tunnels, and 21X offered merchandise and artwork in support of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency usage, and in the future there may be additional, similar stores by and for crypto enthusiasts.
In-Person Shopping with Bitcoin
If you prefer shopping in person, keep in mind that there may be stores and even restaurants in your community, including some Subway locations, that accept Bitcoin as a payment method. For example,BitPay, described above, may be an option that physical stores can use to facilitate paying with Bitcoin.
Also, if you want to buy your crypto in person during your shopping trip, a conveniently located Pelicoin Bitcoin ATM is the best place to do so.
Whether Online or In Person, Shopping with Bitcoin Is A Way of Participating in Shaping the Future Economy
Just learning about how to pay for purchases with Bitcoin shows that you are forward-thinking and interested in new (and sometimes better!) ways of doing things. Bitcoin is a great resource for online shoppers who want to perform transactions quickly and safely. It’s a straightforward way to do online shopping and there are new ways of online shopping with Bitcoin every day. As long as you have a Bitcoin wallet and card, your online transactions will be easy and sufficient. Whether you are using BitPay or another type of Bitcoin wallet, Pelicoin Bitcoin ATMs, The Gulf South's most secure Cryptocurrency ATM network, is compatible with your Bitcoin purchases, sales, or cash withdrawals. With no ATM processing fees, you can use your digital wallet to make transactions or create a paper wallet at the ATM if you don’t have a digital wallet.
For first-time Bitcoin buyers, Pelicoin makes it easy to begin building up your digital assets. At any of our over 30 crypto ATM locations across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas, users can create their own digital wallet to keep track of their crypto assets from wherever they are. Pelicoin ATMs are simple and user-friendly. If you are a beginner, our ATMs are made for making shopping with Bitcoin accessible for everyone. Call one of our helpful support team members to answer your questions. Find a Pelicoin Bitcoin ATM today!