Can you use Bitcoin to pay everything online?

[nakamura12]

The answer is NO, because you can't buy everything online. The reason for that is that some people or a group of people doesn't support Bitcoin payment method. If your question is, can I buy something online with BTC then the answer would be yes which is the opposite of the answer of your question and that is, some shops accept BTC as payment or supported Bitcoin payment method. It is like a casino where you can gamble on their platform by depositing fiat money or deposit any cryptocurrency they accept.

[1714605574]

1714605574

[The Cryptovator]

Using Bitcoin directly may not be possible in all the places I need, including my country. However, I can still use it indirectly by selling it peer-to-peer and instantly converting it to fiat, especially through mobile financial services. While Bitcoin cannot replace fiat currency right away, the increasing availability of peer-to-peer services makes it convenient to use almost instantly. Don't expect use Bitcoin like fiat currency. It won't happen so quickly.

[AmoreJaz]

Using Bitcoin directly may not be possible in all the places I need, including my country. However, I can still use it indirectly by selling it peer-to-peer and instantly converting it to fiat, especially through mobile financial services. While Bitcoin cannot replace fiat currency right away, the increasing availability of peer-to-peer services makes it convenient to use almost instantly. Don't expect use Bitcoin like fiat currency. It won't happen so quickly.

i believe that's the only option right now. you need to convert your crypto to your fiat via p2p services or other local exchanges, before going out and buy some items from small shops or stores. don't expect that every store will accept btc because they are not. it will take time before these merchants will integrate btc in their payment method. and even much longer for small stalls or hawkers. usually, they need up front payment because waiting is not their option.

[lionheart78]

Using Bitcoin directly may not be possible in all the places I need, including my country. However, I can still use it indirectly by selling it peer-to-peer and instantly converting it to fiat, especially through mobile financial services. While Bitcoin cannot replace fiat currency right away, the increasing availability of peer-to-peer services makes it convenient to use almost instantly. Don't expect use Bitcoin like fiat currency. It won't happen so quickly.

This example simply implies that we cannot use Bitcoin to pay everything directly.  If your question @OP is about a direct transaction between the seller and the buyer, I would say that it is a no since not all online stores accept Bitcoin as mode of payment.

Since Bitcoin has value, just like what @Cryptovator stated, we can use Bitcoin to pay for the purchase online if we convert it first to fiat and then pay the store via different kinds of fiat payment system.  In short, Bitcoin can be used to indirectly pay everything sellable online through conversion but can't be used to pay everything sellable online in direct transactions.

[Cryptomultiplier]

Let me open your eyes to a simple fact, and that's that, if BTC has gotten to the stage where it is accepted for every online transactions, then it would have become a legal tender or means of exchange for goods and services in your region or country of residence. Even if it not, right now, it hasn't gotten to that stage.
With SEC regulators battle with exchanges and most country government trying to enforce CBDC so as to truncate BTC thriving in the society, it is even like a stroke of luck to find a merchandise or service that can be bought with btc, mostly online.

Telsa tried using BTC for purchase of its electric cars when it firstly launched the technology, and well, we know the battles they had to put up with and their stand right now.

[n0ne]

Using Bitcoin directly may not be possible in all the places I need, including my country. However, I can still use it indirectly by selling it peer-to-peer and instantly converting it to fiat, especially through mobile financial services. While Bitcoin cannot replace fiat currency right away, the increasing availability of peer-to-peer services makes it convenient to use almost instantly. Don't expect use Bitcoin like fiat currency. It won't happen so quickly.

This example simply implies that we cannot use Bitcoin to pay everything directly.  If your question @OP is about a direct transaction between the seller and the buyer, I would say that it is a no since not all online stores accept Bitcoin as mode of payment.

Since Bitcoin has value, just like what @Cryptovator stated, we can use Bitcoin to pay for the purchase online if we convert it first to fiat and then pay the store via different kinds of fiat payment system.  In short, Bitcoin can be used to indirectly pay everything sellable online through conversion but can't be used to pay everything sellable online in direct transactions.

Compared to the past days now we were able to see lot of services having direct acceptance of bitcoin. This is happening as a result of more people showing interest on cryptocurrency as investment and giving try to buy something with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

When we use fiat converted from bitcoin, it gets added to the fiat payment. Offline services with bitcoin acceptance is limited and got accumulated in specific countries. More online services now have bitcoin acceptance, however those are just for namesake in most cases.

[Odusko]

There are a lot of limitations to Bitcoin's scalability ranging from general acceptability or network limitations, in the sense that not all merchants accept Bitcoin and those that did accept Bitcoin must have to run their payment system using layer 2 wallets and networks such as the bitcoin lightning network.
Bitcoin has gone through a lot of processes that most of its holders have placed a high value on Bitcoin as an asset rather than as a currency, and they will rather use paper money to oay fo goods and services and hold their Bitcoin.

[serjent05]

There are a lot of limitations to Bitcoin's scalability ranging from general acceptability or network limitations, in the sense that not all merchants accept Bitcoin and those that did accept Bitcoin must have to run their payment system using layer 2 wallets and networks such as the bitcoin lightning network.

Or integrate a third-party application that instantly convert Bitcoin to fiat in order for the merchant to avoid the effect of Bitcoin volatility.  Among these limitations, the government regulation is still the biggest problem of Bitcoin since these applications that process Bitcoin payment needs to have a license from central banks in order for their application to be legitimate and their operation to be legal.

Bitcoin has gone through a lot of processes that most of its holders have placed a high value on Bitcoin as an asset rather than as a currency, and they will rather use paper money to oay fo goods and services and hold their Bitcoin.

I am still baffled if this kind of Bitcoin as an asset approach is beneficial for the Bitcoin ecosystem.  We all know that for a technology to prosper it needs to have a use case and be integrated and use by the masses.  Looking at Bitcoin as an asset and hodling it seems counterintuitive.

[Smartvirus]

So I want to know in such situation, what will you do? I am asking this question because bitcoin is a digital currency for exchange of goods and services. I know that there are some services you pay ahead but what of the ones you are buying instant? You just came to the place and you want to buy from the hawker and zoom off, and you are to pay with bitcoin because there is no physical cash in your wallet/pocket/hands.

Everything in life has got advantages and disadvantages or should I say, limitations. Having yo think of bitcoinbor cryptocurrency as an all perfect system would be wrong because, it’s none the less another creation and has got to have some down sides to it. It’s no wonder that some of its down sides plays out in terms of instant payment where you don’t get your coins confirmed when you want it without paying a high fee, you can’t seem to process a transaction without a device and your always going to need an internet connection. It’s just the way it works and we’ve have to live with that.

It’s a good thing the bitcoin revolution isn’t here to replace local fiat currency because, fiat does help and even still, it’s not suitable for transfers to hawkers on the streets. How many would be willing or even have such payment media readily in place for petty sales.

[hatshepsut93]

With classic bank transfer payment could be always reversed (even 30 days later). ok maybe for a banana this will not happens but it must be taking in account.

This is not true, reversing a bank transaction is not easy, you need to contact a bank and ask them to do so, and they will review your case manually. You only have a good chance of reversing a transaction if your money got stolen and you reacted swiftly. But banks generally rely of layers of verification to prevent that from happening.

[Wend]

With classic bank transfer payment could be always reversed (even 30 days later). ok maybe for a banana this will not happens but it must be taking in account.

This is not true, reversing a bank transaction is not easy, you need to contact a bank and ask them to do so, and they will review your case manually. You only have a good chance of reversing a transaction if your money got stolen and you reacted swiftly. But banks generally rely of layers of verification to prevent that from happening.

Yes, reversing a bank transaction is not easy or even impossible if we don't have any concrete proof. There are a lot of wrong account transfers happening to people I know, and they can't get their money back because the bank requires too much proof, and it will take a lot of our time. Unless it is a large amount we should pursue it to the end, but if it is a small amount then we should forget about it.

[danherbias07]

We are still not in the era where Bitcoin can be used as a payment option for everything and that includes your bananas.
Even popular stablecoins are not that popular yet to be a payment option even at known stores that accept a broad range of cards and digital money.

I have not tried using my Bitcoin yet as means of paying something because there's just no store that does it. But I do believe somewhere in the future it will happen. Our world, country, or government is just not ready yet for this new type of technology. Banks seem to be also doing a good job at preventing it to happen because now they are also trying to create their own 1:1 digital coins to give a solution to this problem.

Back to your purchase, payments in Bitcoin cannot be reversed. So, I think showing the merchant that you made the transaction should suffice. If it's just a $1 payment then I don't think anyone will cheat especially for bananas.

[LogitechMouse]

Re: Can you use Bitcoin to pay everything online?

Small transaction, no at this moment because of the high gas fees like you said. Lightning Network is the best solution for it so far, but not many are integrating, or using it currently.

Bitcoin can be used to pay everything online as long as both sides agree to it. The only question is who will pay for the fees especially if the amount of things that you're buying isn't that huge compare to the possible fees that you might be paying when using Bitcoin to pay. There are many online stores, and merchants who are accepting Bitcoin as an alternative payment, but to use it to buy things that has a small value is something that Bitcoin holders wouldn't want to do.

[Wimex]

Using Bitcoin directly may not be possible in all the places I need, including my country. However, I can still use it indirectly by selling it peer-to-peer and instantly converting it to fiat, especially through mobile financial services. While Bitcoin cannot replace fiat currency right away, the increasing availability of peer-to-peer services makes it convenient to use almost instantly. Don't expect use Bitcoin like fiat currency. It won't happen so quickly.

your opinion is the most accurate, it is still too early to make daily purchases with bitcoin, there is still a long way to go so that this currency can be seen more widely, the option of making a change to Fiat and in this way if canceling the products is much better. However, when there is a possibility that people can use this asset more freely, they should not make the choice to cancel directly in bitcoin, since by analyzing the comments of each one of you a little, I realized something important, and it is that the majority thought that making payments in bitcoin would be a bit complicated due to the volatility of the market, and this is true, since in such a case that a value of any product is given to be paid in BTC and suddenly the value of  this increases, we would be losing directly... so I came to the conclusion that this currency should not be monopolized for anything, but for specific purposes that favor us instead of harming us.

[OcTradism]

Small transaction, no at this moment because of the high gas fees like you said. Lightning Network is the best solution for it so far, but not many are integrating, or using it currently.

Lightning Network is good for small transaction as it has very tiny transaction fee. You can make transactions that value in satoshi, small and it will be proceeded quickly. The barrier for using Lightning Network is its adoption is not high, smaller than Bitcoin adoption for on chain transactions, so you will have less choices if you choose Lightning Network. Less stores, merchants accept Lightning Network and your choices will be smaller.

Bitcoin can be used to pay everything online as long as both sides agree to it. The only question is who will pay for the fees especially if the amount of things that you're buying isn't that huge compare to the possible fees that you might be paying when using Bitcoin to pay. There are many online stores, and merchants who are accepting Bitcoin as an alternative payment, but to use it to buy things that has a small value is something that Bitcoin holders wouldn't want to do.

We will have to prepare ourselves with different payment options: Bitcoin on chain, Lightning Network, cash, bank transfer, credit/ debit card.

[Ayers]

snip

Bitcoin has gone through a lot of processes that most of its holders have placed a high value on Bitcoin as an asset rather than as a currency, and they will rather use paper money to oay fo goods and services and hold their Bitcoin.

Although bitcoin is still not popular in being used as a payment method, I doubt that when it becomes a full-fledged payment method, will people use it? I mean, everyone knows the value of bitcoin will increase over time, and most of us want to hold or use bitcoin as a speculative tool. Very few people want to use or spend their bitcoin, so even if it becomes a payment method, I don't think people will use it.

People always make excuses that it's not legal yet so they can't use it to pay. But the main reason is that no one wants to squander a valuable asset, or frankly, we care more about bitcoin's profits than anything else it brings.

[Essential10]

I don't have bitcoin yet but planning to acquire it. I have been in the forum for sometimes now though I am not regular, but studying whenever I visit the forum. And noticed one thing about bitcoin. Bitcoin is a digital money for trading, payment of goods and others. But what I noticed is that, bitcoin cannot be used to buy and pay some instant services and goods. Examples, you want to buy banana on the way while driving from a hawker, will you use bitcoin to pay the bananas? Because the way I am looking at it, it is possible but the delay in transfer is the concern here. Bitcoin transfer is not like the bank transfer in which we received instant allert within 2-3 minutes time. I know some people will say set the transaction fee high then you can pay whatever you are buying with instant alert. I don't think someone will pay something with BTC and the transaction fee is very high and double the amount you want to pay for the goods.

So I want to know in such situation, what will you do? I am asking this question because bitcoin is a digital currency for exchange of goods and services. I know that there are some services you pay ahead but what of the ones you are buying instant? You just came to the place and you want to buy from the hawker and zoom off, and you are to pay with bitcoin because there is no physical cash in your wallet/pocket/hands. And because of the delay in payment I was thinking that not everything we see can be purchased with bitcoin, is it true?

If you publish a currency in the market will everyone accept it, never. If you can convince all the people of the world that your coin has value then your coin is successful. As everyone knows about fiat currencies, they are issued by government agencies. The Treasury decides how much money to print. Unlike them, Bitcoins are not issued by any country in the world. They owe their presence to computer computing as well as encryption operations. Not all countries accept Bitcoin. If you can gain trust in Bitcoin among all people in the world, it will become a main currency. Only then will Bitcoin transactions at all levels be beneficial.

[knowngunman]

People always make excuses that it's not legal yet so they can't use it to pay. But the main reason is that no one wants to squander a valuable asset, or frankly, we care more about bitcoin's profits than anything else it brings.

This is the motive behind bitcoin but it is misunderstood by many. Bitcoin is a digital investment (thou very risky). Although you can do whatever you like with your bitcoin such as trading it, staking or using it to pay for goods and services and as well as storing it for future purposes. It's not worrisome if you can not use it to pay for everything because that's not what it is meant for. The bitter truth is that the expectations to see bitcoin overtake fiat is far from coming to reality for now.

[Texac]

For a highly volatile asset, using it as a currency will not bring any benefit but only add inconvenience.  whereas volatility is great for speculation, why don't we take full advantage of it?

It is a two-way thing, For those using Bitcoin as currency like El Salvador does, the volatility goes in two ways if Bitcoin rises it means more purchasing power while if it falls it means less purchasing power, however, I don't see more pain for someone using it as currency differently than from someone who owns it for investment’s sake. All things being equal.

There are people that do many of there transactions using Bitcoin although in a region where Bitcoin is legal and acceptable. There are some regions that have a strict use of Bitcoin or where Bitcoin are illegal to trade. This region will make it difficult for Bitcoin users or investors to use there Bitcoin to buy and trade it online.

The Market is still ranging and that does not halt the use of Bitcoin as a currency. Even though the price is not steady, we can still trade out coins and earn from then depending on what we are looking for or what we want to do with it. There is still time for the market to set a bull trend for significant gain.

I disagree with the part I bolded, bitcoin's volatility also contributes to its inability to become a currency.  of course, governments won't accept a decentralized asset as currency, but bitcoin's volatility will only make people see it as an investment rather than using it as a currency.  like what you are saying, you are expecting an uptrend to make a profit, you do not intend to use it as a currency.  So volatility is one of the barriers for bitcoin to become a currency.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

What should stops me if am a bitcoiner and i wanted to make online shoppings and discover alot of the online shopping malls accept bitcoin for making payments, what else could i need than to embrace this opportunity to buy all items needed and make my payment through their payment channel with bitcoin, this will be an added bonus for me if am a privacy minded customer who will always want to appear anonymous in dealing with the public while making transactions or any other things that involves money or personal information.