Paying with Bitcoin.

[Bitco55]

So, after reading a thread and realizing that paying with Bitcoin would mean that you'd be paying with future returns, I went on to research the topic of paying for goods and services with Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is decentralized meaning that it can be transferred to anyone without the interference of intermediate/ central authorities. This also implies that buying goods and services would be faster and easier if more people owned and accepted Bitcoin. If Bitcoin was adopted and accepted as a means of exchange in many countries then there would be a huge improvement in various and global economies.
It'll enable more people to access financial services and knowledge, reduce the rate at which bank charges are being paid, values gotten by sellers will increase rapidly, anonymity and many others. Apart from the loss on the buyers's part, Bitcoin has lots of disadvantages which would be challenges and pose lots of unhealthy risks if adopted.

After doing my research, I came to realize that this may probably be influenced by personal choices. Because looking at it thoroughly, some people would pay for items using things like Gold, Land, and other assets. But in the eyes of a money literate, that may be totally wrong.
So, I would love to ask and get this confusion over with. Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

Thank you

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[TheUltraElite]

Yup it is completely ok to do so.

But the question is - where will you find a user who is willing to accept bitcoin for selling their product to you?

There lies the limitation, but we as a community are working on this, trying to increase the adoption and mainstream acceptance. My own experience over the last 7+ years on this forum, I have seen crypto grow from a cultish thing to a maintream buzz and this means we are growing steadily.

At present, merchants accepting bitcoin are few and gift cards are another option (fees hurt!). Directly selling bitcoin for fiat and using the fiat to buy your goods is another option but it might not be feasible in many countries.

[Mia Chloe]

Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

Why do you think Bitcoin was created in the first place?
If not for the fact that Bitcoin has gained stability and adoption rate exponentially over the years that it can now be used as a perfect asset, it was initially meant by the creator SATOSHI as a peer to peer currency without the government as a third party.
Another thing that makes people use Bitcoin as an asset than a P2P currency aside from the returns is because of the fact that fees can sometimes be uneconomical due to congestions in the mempool otherwise, Bitcoin is a perfect P2P currency.

[avikz]

Why not? I don't see anything wrong if someone is willing to pay in Bitcoin and the other party is willing to accept it. That's perfectly alright!

But unless it is a cross-country transaction, Bitcoin transactions will cost you more than banking system. So it all depends whether the person is willing to pay a huge fee for a simple domestic transaction or not.

Also, the risk of loosing future gain is real. We all are holding Bitcoins because we are optimistic about its future value. So if someone is willing to accept that fact and still wants to go ahead. That's fine as well.

It's impossible to see a perfect solution here. It all depends on the individuals who are paying and who are accepting it.

[Mate2237]

Op I don't think there is anything to explain here because the first thing anyone would do when he or she join bitcoin investment or want to join is to know the meaning of bitcoin and it advantages and disadvantages and if you have known the meaning then the way you see it from the article and that is how it is. Bitcoin is digital currency which is meant to buy things and pay for services digitally. So if anyone likes to accept bitcoin in his or her business and you have bitcoin to pay for it then you pay and get you product or person render the services you paid for so what are you asking us to tell you our reasons of accepting bitcoin. This is ridiculous.

If using bitcoin to pay for gold and land is wrong as you said after your research then there is no need to argue again because you have read it by yourself and yet you are saying it is wrong. Then you let it be.

[legiteum]

[...]
If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

Thank you

The answer is "yes", but... why would you? Paying for something with Bitcoin is just like paying for something with your TSLA or MSFT shares. You can technically do it, but why would you? Bitcoin might be a good investment, but it's turned out to be very poor for transactions, as they are extremely slow and extremely expensive compared to the available alternatives.

So don't pay for things with Bitcoin directly, just convert some of your BTC to USD (or whatever sovereign currency) and perform the transaction the way you normally would. There's no advantage to paying directly with Bitcoin (assuming the payee even takes it), and lots of disadvantages.

Although it didn't start out this way, today Bitcoin is in all practicality an investment instrument, not a currency.

[Z-tight]

So, I would love to ask and get this confusion over with. Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

BTC was created to be a p2p electronic cash, so it is great to use it for the original purpose it was created. If you have stores around you that accept BTC or there are commodities and services you want to pay for online, and they accept BTC payment, paying with BTC is a cool thing to do. The idea of spending BTC is different for many people, i prefer to spend BTC on cheap commodies, i.e. a cup of coffee, but it will probably be different for an early adopter or someone who has a lot of BTC, such people would not mind buying a luxury car with BTC, so you should do things on your own level.

[sunsilk]

Yes, that's basically why Bitcoin was made and that's to be used as an alternative currency and payment method for fiat.

You're one of the contributors of Bitcoin economy if you're spending it for goods or anything that you're going to pay for it. I am not saying that spend all of it for paying Bitcoin but you have to save for yourself as well.

You can use it with both things, for spending and holding. And don't feel bad whenever there will be some chance that you'll get to spend it.

[kryptqnick]

Bitcoin was meant to be used as money, so paying with Bitcoin meant using it as intended. There's nothing bad in it for Bitcoin because usage means liquidity, and it's not good for a currency when it is just stuck and not moving at all. As long as you're okay with the fees and waiting time (for the first confirmation on Blockchain), using Bitcoin is totally fine. But here I want to point out that you, op, are talking about the positive impact of wider Bitcoin adoption, whereas it's not that simple: Bitcoin can't handle too many transactions, so that sort of adoption requires off-chain solutions. Otherwise, the fees will get very high, and lots of transactions will get stuck.

[Lucius]

But the question is - where will you find a user who is willing to accept bitcoin for selling their product to you?

To begin with, maybe on this forum if we visit the Services and Goods boards - a lot of people offer their services and goods for Bitcoin. Outside the forum, there are many sites that contain links to various online and physical merchants that accept Bitcoin such as https://spending-bitcoin.com or https://btcmap.org/map

At present, merchants accepting bitcoin are few and gift cards are another option (fees hurt!).
~snip~

I would not agree that there are too few of them, although it still depends from country to country - US&Canada have approximately 90% of all crypto ATMs, and some country have far more places where you can pay with Bitcoin than several countries combined.

~snip~
So, I would love to ask and get this confusion over with. Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

Personally, it's perfectly fine and acceptable for me to pay with Bitcoin because it should be a cryptocurrency in the first place. People who have never used Bitcoin as a currency will always find an excuse not to, whether it's that the fees are too high, or they have nowhere to spend it.

[nimogsm]

So, I would love to ask and get this confusion over with. Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

Thank you

Bitcoin is an asset convertible into any currency, and this is its advantage as an instrument. It can be used as a savings asset and wait for profit, or you can use it here and now or convert it into currency and pay it all at the user’s discretion.
For example, I have different categories of savings in cryptocurrency, the first is a reserve that I systematically replenish and the second is something that can be converted and spent and traded or used in various activities, this is an advantage since I am not tied to only one source.

[Abu-Naim]

So, I would love to ask and get this confusion over with. Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

It is ok to pay for goods and services with any currency you have available if the seller is willing to accept as a means of payment. Taking bitcoin this special by some people is because it is a digital currency that is yet to be completely legalized globally, and many people also wants its global adoption, if not it is just the same as using your money for payment.

You main question in this aspect is because Bitcoin is a digital currency that have potential of becoming globally accepted, and the amount of bitcoin you are using to pay your goods might worth 10x more its current value that is you are curious and asking why spending the bitcoin instead of fiat, but the truth is that, you can only use what you have to make payment, if you only have bitcoin, then you have no choice than to use the bitcoin you have for payment.

[GideonGono]

It would depend on the transaction fee if I could save more on using crypto or Bitcoin then Yes I would use it, even if it means losing a chance to earn more in the future specially if I really need what I am paying for.
But if it would only be the same as paying with fiat and I do have fiat to pay for it then I would rather use Fiat than my crypto.
So for me it would depend on the situation.

[kentrolla]

First of all Bitcoin was not created as an asset to hodl or investment rather as a P2P transfer medium without any third party intervention and to be honest it's absolutely okay to use Bitcoin for buying stuff as it can go either way because price will be fluctuating. I personally have sold Bitcoin and exchanged it to buy stuffs when there was emergency and yeah now people have better P2P options and Bitcoin cannot match their speed even but in terms of security Bitcoin wins the race.

Need to understand one thing that you need fiat in first place to buy Bitcoin.

[Hamza2424]

Bitcoin was meant to be used as money, so paying with Bitcoin meant using it as intended. There's nothing bad in it for Bitcoin because usage means liquidity, and it's not good for a currency when it is just stuck and not moving at all.

Sadly I'm saying that the volatility of Bitcoin is not a big deal for Bitcoin to be an efficient payment mode and currency, but the network fees and scalability issue of Bitcoin is making things messed up, Bitcoin cant be a good option in the future anymore as a payment mode.

Bitcoin from now onwards will be treated as an asset class. After the ETF approvals I can say more confidentially that now with the transaction load we cant use Bitcoin because its way more expensive to use the Bitcoin network.

[Pandu Geddon]

So, I would love to ask and get this confusion over with. Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

Yes, you can do this with service providers and businesses that accept Bitcoin as a means of payment. You can also trade with your agreement with the seller personally. I mean if your country doesn't legalize Bitcoin and crypto as a means of payment. but the seller of the service or goods you are targeting understands and uses Bitcoin. You can ask and make a personal agreement with the seller regarding payment using Bitcoin.

I have also done that for buying and selling computer equipment. Coincidentally he is not too far from my area. I asked if he accepted Bitcoin for payment, and he said yes. then the transaction can be carried out. it would probably be seen as bartering. between goods and Bitcoin assets that I own. This applies in countries that do not legalize Bitcoin as a means of payment.

[Ndabagi01]

So, I would love to ask and get this confusion over with. Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

It is perfectly acceptable to purchase items with bitcoin; after all, it was created to serve as an alternative to the traditional currencies we use. Paying for items with bitcoin is dependent on whether the person you want to transact with is willing to accept payment in that currency or prefers fiat or another valuable asset that can be traded. Bitcoin, like any other asset, is highly volatile, and while it has many advantages, it also has some drawbacks. If you can weigh your chances and decide how long you want to keep them, you'll be profitable; otherwise, you'll be at loss.

It would depend on the transaction fee if I could save more on using crypto or Bitcoin then Yes I would use it, even if it means losing a chance to earn more in the future specially if I really need what I am paying for.
But if it would only be the same as paying with fiat and I do have fiat to pay for it then I would rather use Fiat than my crypto.
So for me it would depend on the situation.

This is the same as knowing what you stand to lose or gain when trading any of the currencies available with the person. Transaction fees could be considered, but it doesn't really matter to me if I can get more than what I'm using to send plus the value I'm sending in the long run, depending on how much I want to keep that asset. Every method works; simply calculate which one will be most profitable for you.

[Dunamisx]

Make use of bitcoin for any purpose you see it could best applicable for just as to serve you right, the reason why Satoshi created it is for everyone to make use of it for our financial economy lives, don't focus much on the challenges that may comes in with bitcoin adoption, everyone of us will have to use it and avoid being distracted through any discouraging means targeted on us in stopping us from using bitcoin as payment medium.

[Vincom]

So, I would love to ask and get this confusion over with. Is it ok for you to purchase items with Bitcoin? If yes or no, please state your reasons so we can all learn from it.

I consider BTC an asset, not a payment method.

Currently, people in some countries can use BTC to pay via the Lightning Network very quickly and cheaply, but their effects on the economy are not too different. Privacy concerns can be replaced by the ability to easily manage and retrieve bank accounts. A normal person tends to choose the latter.

In El Salvador, economic success comes from the publicity that BTC brings to the country, helping to attract tourists and investment. This would not have happened if BTC were widely accepted globally.

Additionally, governments do not want to give up economic management through fiat. I'm not saying the government is always right, they can even make the situation worse, but at least the government has the necessary tools at hand to save the economy when necessary through fiat.

Therefore, I think I should just continue to consider BTC as a financial tool in the investment field, I am not willing to spend in BTC, and I am also not willing to accept payment in BTC 

[SatoPrincess]

It’s not wrong to use Bitcoin as an exchange for goods and services. Bitcoin is both an asset and a currency, sadly many people see it only as a asset and completely disregard the currency part. If we don’t use Bitcoin as money, how do you expect Bitcoin to have mass adoption? Companies and small businesses will have no motivation to add Bitcoin as a payment method if they don’t have enough patronage. I expect bitcoiners to take advantage of opportunities that gives them the chance of buy and pay for stuff with bitcoins.