Have you ever used Bitcoin to pay for anything?

[₿itcoin]

I needed a MacBook so I sold some of my Bitcoin holdings and bought the MacBook
To buy it, I just used a crypto debit card, nothing else. I was able to make my transaction straightforward, like a traditional debit card
no worry about p2p or exchange rates
Even my wife is now using bitcoins to pay his online subscription 

You will find a bunch of ways to spend your BTC.
Various digital platforms provide various benefits for using Bitcoin, which is very convenient nowadays.
not only a convenient but also a secure getaway.

Noobs should aware about volatility of Bitcoin's price before purchasing anything, otherwise will cry later
when the market behaves unstable i might opt to using fiat instead BTC.
above suggestion is only for noobs, but whatever it is, Bitcoin adoption is going on, uses of btc in daily life are increasingly practical & user friendly

[PrivacyG]

I don't understand this argument that you should buy things with cash and save your bitcoin.
You can use bitcoin to do both. Simply convert some of the cash you normally use to pay for
everyday items anyway and do it that way.

I do understand it.

If I have 1000 thousand for monthly expenses, keeping 1000 thousand USD for one month allows me to afford approximately as many expenses as planned.  If I purchase Bitcoin, within one month it can become 500 USD.  Now what do I do, do I borrow money?  Do I take a loan?

Now if my salary was 20 thousand, I would maybe not care that much.  But for the average person, realistically it is more of a luxury to afford purchasing Bitcoin to pay the monthly expenses with.  Not to mention countries that are against Bitcoin, banks who punish customers who like Bitcoin, businesses limiting what you can do with Bitcoin by not accepting it directly et cetera.  I wish I had a VISA or MasterCard Bitcoin card, but I like my Privacy and I will give up my comfort for it.

As much as I hate saying this, it is not as easy as it sounds.

[serjent05]

I think most of the member here had used Bitcoin to pay for their purchase, may it be a game credit, food, drinks, gadget etc...  In one point of a holder being a person supporting Bitcoin will never be complete if they don't try buying something of their Bitcoin holding.

As for me I use it to buy domain names and other digital products, and yes I pay through Bitpay since most of the sellers use it for their Bitcoin payment option.  Btw I also transact in BTC when I rented some rigs from Nicehash once upon a time when merge mining altcoin is somehow profitable.

[Royal Cap]

To be honest, I have not bought any product with Bitcoin yet. Since Bitcoin is illegal in our country, I may not be able to buy anything within the country. However, if I want to through Bitcoin, I can buy virtual products from the international marketplace. I want to buy a subscription to IDM (Internet Download Manager) through Bitcoin. I saw on their website that they support Bitcoin payment.

[philipma1957]

There was a lot of talk about using bitcoin as a payment method during the Bitcoin 2025 conference.
A representative from Steak N Shake was on stage, announcing the introduction of bitcoin
lightning payments to all their stores has been a success so far.

NEWEGG.COM
I buy most of my computer stuff from Newegg which accepts bitcoin payment through Bitpay
which I have used a few times in the last three or four years. For those who don't know Newegg
is a major retailer of computer products in the US. They have been accepting bitcoin payment since 2014.
It's pretty amazing for a large retailer to start openly accepting bitcoin at a time when bitcoin FUD was
at an all time high. But they never seem to get much credit for it. I never hear anyone mention it.

Newegg sells all their stuff online so you don't have to be near a physical location to buy from them.
To me it's a satisfying feeling to actually use some of my bitcoin to pay for things.

 

One of my recent purchases on Newegg.com. To use it choose the Bitpay option during checkout,
then connect to one of the supported wallets. It deducts bitcoin funds from your connected wallet. Very easy.



I used my Coinbase account to fund this purchase. You can use any supported wallet.

Newegg doesn't accept bitcoin payments directly so Bitpay is used as a bridge.
But I don't think that matters. Using Bitpay the merchant saves on credit card
transaction fees, so you help the merchant to save money and also support bitcoin miners
who I believe earn mining fees from the transaction.

BITCOIN DEBIT CARDS
Coinbase has a VISA debit card that you can fund with either bitcoin or cash, so you can use it anywhere
that accepts VISA. Some other providers are crypto.com and Bitrefill that lets you fund gift cards with bitcoin.

JACK DORSEY AND SQUARE
Jack Dorsey said it's important for the long-term health of bitcoin to become widely adopted for payments
not just a store of value. Dorsey's payment processing company Square is supposedly working on integrating bitcoin
payments into their machines so that could be big for adoption of bitcoin as a payment method.

So to help support bitcoin try using it for payments as much as possible. When you help the miners you are also
helping yourself as a bitcoin investor. You don't have to use bitcoin for every purchase but do what you can to support
the bitcoin network and ecosystem. Even if the merchant doesn't accept bitcoin directly you can use a bitcoin or crypto
debit card anywhere that accepts regular credit cards.

If you are a business owner consider accepting bitcoin as a payment method for your business.

I don't understand this argument that you should buy things with cash and save your bitcoin.
You can use bitcoin to do both. Simply convert some of the cash you normally use to pay for
everyday items anyway and do it that way. You never have to touch your main bitcoin savings.

Sure there can be some volatility issues using bitcoin as a payment method but over the long run
it balances out and you break even. Because some days the price of bitcoin may be down but
other days the price will be up so over the long run you're not losing anything.


Used my Coinbase debit card at McDonald's this morning:

there are times paying with BTC works other times it does not.

It is hard to get a person to take the time to convert cash to btc then buy gear

[d5000]

Newegg doesn't accept bitcoin payments directly so Bitpay is used as a bridge.  But I don't think that matters.

I think it matters, but it's better than not accepting Bitcoin at all.

It is a difference if the merchant accept Bitcoin as a currency or only as a payment method, i.e. when you pay to Bitcoin and the merchant gets fiat, not Bitcoin. I don't know how exactly Bitpay hedges against volatility, but it is likely that a large part of the Bitcoins they receive are sold on centralized exchanges. They may retain a part to speculate, or hedge in another way. But it's always an indirect option.

On the other hand, merchants offering Bitpay-style payments do generate demand for Bitcoin payments. That means that people who want to spend their Bitcoins get an option to pay with them. This makes it more likely that they will use Bitcoin to pay things, and opens the door for direct Bitcoin acceptance by merchants who have other ways to hedge.

In summary: Merchants using payment processors strengthen the ecosystem. But merchants accepting Bitcoin directly (e.g. via BTCPayServer) are those who really make Bitcoin circulate.

Using Bitpay the merchant saves on credit card  transaction fees, so you help the merchant to save money and also support bitcoin miners who I believe earn mining fees from the transaction.

If you pay from a Coinbase account directly to Bitpay via Coinbase Pay, the money stays inside the financial system. It's likely that no Bitcoins are really moved, because the companies can simply send the fiat directly, saving the transaction fees and other hassles (e.g. having to transfer the BTC from the payment address to their hot/cold wallet).

If you pay from a self hosted wallet to Bitpay instead the transaction is on-chain and the miners get the fee.

Regarding fees, the merchant saves credit card fees but gets deducted a fee from Bitpay.

I agree with most of your other points and I support your initiative to popularize Bitcoin spending Myself I have bought several things with BTC, from gift cards for groceries, to hosting, and once I even paid a small provider of organic food. However the options in my country aren't increasing really, which is a pity.

[headingnorth]

I don't understand this argument that you should buy things with cash and save your bitcoin.
You can use bitcoin to do both. Simply convert some of the cash you normally use to pay for
everyday items anyway and do it that way. You never have to touch your main bitcoin savings.

Sure there can be some volatility issues using bitcoin as a payment method but over the long run
it balances out and you break even. Because some days the price of bitcoin may be down but
other days the price will be up so over the long run you're not losing anything.

I love your point and your argument to support bitcoin in every little way we can, but I would want to point you to the direction that funds kept for expenses are not entirely good to be kept in bitcoin since the price movement cannot be predicted and you might end up needing the funds when the price is down which would lead you to a deficit and may lead you to tampering other funds to balance up. Hence it is better you hold funds meant for your expenses in stable coins or fiat and if you are so much of a bitcoin advocate, when you want to use those funds, you can convert them back to bitcoin and spend it.

I have addressed that concern in my OP. Again, if you are only using bitcoin for small purchases
like a coffee or to pay for lunch once in a while then the price movement doesn't matter much.
The price can be up or down at the time of your purchase, but over time the ups and downs will balance out
so in the end you aren't losing anything. If you are really that worried about it you can simply pause spending
when the bitcoin price is down and wait for the price to go back up to start spending again.
 

I don't consider debit cards that are funded by Bitcoin as paying for something with Bitcoin, that is not. While you are using Bitcoin to fund the card, you are not using Bitcoin to pay for something. Sure it has many benefits, but again that is not it. You are only really paying with Bitcoin, when you are sending Bitcoin to the merchant. I have done this a couple of times, and it always felt great. It is a positive surprise to find someone accepting crypto where you don't expect it to happen.

Nothing in life is perfect. But don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good as the saying goes.
Bitcoin debit cards aren't perfect, but using them still contributes to network activity, helping to strengthen the network.

People may think buying a cup of coffee is such a small transaction that it doesn't do much of anything for the network.
That is the wrong way to look at it IMO. For example, in the US alone there are 50 million individual holders of bitcoin.

If just 5 to 10 million of these holders are using bitcoin to buy coffee every week or every month,
that is a pretty significant contribution to the network.

[headingnorth]

Unfortunately I do not have much options to make payment using Bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency is in my country. It is not recognised as a legal tender. However, 2 years ago, I needed to buy hosting for my website. So I found a hosting provider who accepts Bitcoin and purchased hosting for 5 years. But I do regret the decision.

If I compare now, the price in today's date, have tripled compared to what I had paid a couple of years back. I think this is a major blocker for a lot of people who doesn't want to lose on future value of Bitcoin. I personally feel, I should have used my credit card to pay for that hosting.

To be honest, I have not bought any product with Bitcoin yet. Since Bitcoin is illegal in our country, I may not be able to buy anything within the country. However, if I want to through Bitcoin, I can buy virtual products from the international marketplace. I want to buy a subscription to IDM (Internet Download Manager) through Bitcoin. I saw on their website that they support Bitcoin payment.

Yes of course, if it is not not possible where you are then you cannot do it.
Hopefully that will change in the future. Bitcoin used to be against the law
in many countries but no longer illegal today, so things can change at anytime.

But I think even if it is not legal where you are, if you are only using bitcoin for small
or infrequent purchases when possible I doubt the authorities will know or even care about that
kind of thing in most cases. At least I hope not!

[reagansimms]

Unfortunately I do not have much options to make payment using Bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency is in my country. It is not recognised as a legal tender. However, 2 years ago, I needed to buy hosting for my website. So I found a hosting provider who accepts Bitcoin and purchased hosting for 5 years. But I do regret the decision.

If I compare now, the price in today's date, have tripled compared to what I had paid a couple of years back. I think this is a major blocker for a lot of people who doesn't want to lose on future value of Bitcoin. I personally feel, I should have used my credit card to pay for that hosting.

The same thing also happens in my country, Bitcoin cannot be used as a means of payment due to government regulations, its very volatile price is the main reason Bitcoin is still considered a commodity asset. It is necessary to clarify with the hosting provider regarding payment acceptance, but all that has happened, next you need to be wiser in choosing a payment method so as not to cause regret in the future.
Bitcoin has proven its quality as an asset worth buying and holding, so as long as you still have cold cash to spend, never disturb your planned investment for future financial freedom.

[TheDigitalMan]

Yes.  When it was convenient I did between 2014 and 2021.  I've started to HODL it now though.  If I need extra cash rather than spend my bitcoin I now borrow against it on AAVE and spend the USDC either directly or by depositing it into my bank account and then spending it like normal money.  Coinbase currently will let you withdraw bitcoin into a BASE address and it magically becomes cbBTC which is technically not bitcoin but they automatically convert it back into bitcoin anytime you move the cbBTC out of your BASE address back into your Coinbase account.  This is handy because it allows you to borrow against the bitcoin on AAVE on the BASE network.  If you want to use the Ethereum network than you need to convert your bitcoin to wrapped bitcoin, wBTC.  But then you have to contend with the rediculously high Ethereum gas fees!  I mention it only for those that may not trust Coinbase.  I don't really trust either one of them but I will put a bit of trust in them when I need to borrow a bit of cash against my bitcoin.  Then as I am able I pay back the loan.  That way the bitcoin stays intact and continues to appreciate... hopefully. :=) Plus no taxable event occurs because I never sold it.  Because it's a bit volatile you do have to be careful how much you borrow against it.  But I digress. Regarding the question I bought computer stuff off Newegg and paid for subscriptions as well as paid for pharmaceutical drugs.  In every case where I spent my bitcoin I spent it directly.  I did not use the bitcoin debit cards etc.  I am a bit irritated at the cost of using such instruments.  Tradfi has really infiltrated the crypto sphere and is capitalizing on making money in it.  What should be happening is everyone should be using crypto directly and leaving tradfil completely out of the equation.  Just my two satoshi's worth of thoughts.  Kresp.

[Danica22]

The same thing also happens in my country, Bitcoin cannot be used as a means of payment due to government regulations, its very volatile price is the main reason Bitcoin is still considered a commodity asset. It is necessary to clarify with the hosting provider regarding payment acceptance, but all that has happened, next you need to be wiser in choosing a payment method so as not to cause regret in the future.
Bitcoin has proven its quality as an asset worth buying and holding, so as long as you still have cold cash to spend, never disturb your planned investment for future financial freedom.

So far, not many countries allow the use of bitcoin or crypto as a payment method, not just your country. That makes it difficult for many bitcoin investors to use bitcoin as a means of payment. But I think that's just a small reason, the biggest reason is that most people have realized the potential of bitcoin and no longer want to spend such a good asset.

Honestly, I don't know about everyone else but I really don't want to use bitcoin for spending. I feel it would be a waste and a huge loss if use bitcoin for payments, an asset that has the potential to increase in price tomorrow or in the future.

[sana54210]

I have, many things, and it was a great ease for me because for some reason, but if we could do something like this then we should be making a better related focus on this if we do what we know. It's not going to be getting a great result, then we are going to be a lot better if we could just focus on spending it, not many people could focus on that. Please realize that bitcoin payments are simpler so we should definitely get a better deal out of this and not that many problems all together.

If we do that then we are going to get the results we wanted and not going to mean much all to us. We are using it as asset right now, but if we could make it more like currency then we are going to see the prices change and be better.

[bitzizzix]

I think almost everyone has used Bitcoin as an alternative payment method in their own way, including me, and I have used it several times because the seller offered an alternative that made me want to try it, and of course this is done by many people just to prove or satisfy their curiosity that Bitcoin can indeed be an alternative payment method, and there is indeed a sense of joy even though there is a little regret when seeing the price of Bitcoin that continues to rise because by holding it and not using it at all for a long time it will be more enjoyable when the price continues to rise. However, the experience of using Bitcoin as a means of payment will be very valuable and enjoyable.

[d5000]

So far, not many countries allow the use of bitcoin or crypto as a payment method, not just your country.

Are you sure? While Bitcoin isn't explicitly recognized as a "payment method" in too many countries, this means in most cases that a payment with Bitcoin is considered bartering (i.e. Bitcoin as a good which is exchanged for another good, as if you exchanged apples for oranges, for example).

Payment restrictions are imo only active in around 10 countries or so. And even in this case probably this wouldn't apply if the merchant uses an international payment processor like Bitpay. Because this means the merchant receives fiat, and Bitpay for example is located in the US, a country where there are no restrictions on Bitcoin payments afaik.

[Wetfinex]

I have, many things, and it was a great ease for me because for some reason, but if we could do something like this then we should be making a better related focus on this if we do what we know. It's not going to be getting a great result, then we are going to be a lot better if we could just focus on spending it, not many people could focus on that. Please realize that bitcoin payments are simpler so we should definitely get a better deal out of this and not that many problems all together.

If we do that then we are going to get the results we wanted and not going to mean much all to us. We are using it as asset right now, but if we could make it more like currency then we are going to see the prices change and be better.

It’s true that many people still see Bitcoin only as an investment asset, but don’t use it as a full-fledged currency for payments. If more people start actively spending bitcoins instead of just holding them, it could really have a positive impact on adoption and price stability. It’s also true that Bitcoin payments are often simpler and faster, especially with the development of new technologies.

[VendettaBit]

A crypto or bitcoin debit card makes paying for things physically or online with bitcoin more appealing and encouraging, but unfortunately, I am yet to get hold of any of the debit cards I applied for, maybe as soon as I get hold of a bitcoin debit card, I will spend bitcoin more often on items I buy from day to day..

And i like the fact you talked about not touching our saved bitcoin, this is very important, as we all encourage ourselves to spend bitcoin by using it as payment for goods and services, lets also encourage ourselves as well to save up on bitcoin for our dear future and the future of our generation coming, it will be a grave mistake to own some bitcoin today but end up spending it all on payment for goods and services even before true adoption begins to happen.

What is so difficult about getting a debit card that you can load it with Bitcoin? There are plenty of providers that even do that anonymously and you can connect the car to Google or Apple Pay, pretty much use it every day without the merchant even knowing about it

[The Cryptovator]

Yes, I have used Bitcoin many times to buy domain hosting from NameCheap. I had a few clients who paid me to buy domain hosting for them when I had been working with them for crypto marketing. I helped them with development, though I am not a developer; my other partners worked on the development section. I purchased domain hosting for them, and they did the rest of the work.

Also using a crypto debit card where Bitcoin is used. I can withdraw worldwide from that card. It means still I have been using Bitcoin to make payments or withdraw funds, especially when I am abroad. Last week I visited Hong Kong, where I used my crypto card to withdraw and make payments.

[coupable]

In real life, I've never been able to buy anything with Bitcoin. But since stablecoins became widely used, I can use Bitcoin to buy USDT and pay for services in the local market or for products when the seller is a peer-to-peer Binance user.

Few years ago, I was one of the first users of Nameship's crypto payment feature. I purchased some of the domains I needed before the integration with BitPay. This enabled my clients to purchase their domains themselves with Bitcoin, which I then sold at black market rates so they could purchase domains and hosting.

My country doesn't support cryptocurrencies, and it doesn't appear that it will anytime soon, so I'll have to wait a long time until the day comes when I can pay with Bitcoin for whatever I need in my daily life.

[Fiasem20]

I haven't used bitcoin to purchase anything,and I would like to purchase goods with bitcoin some day.I prefer using fiat to purchase things both physical and online because I wouldn't want to tamper on my holding.Though the main purpose of bitcoin is to purchase goods online and prevent double spending,but now it's more of a store of value than a payment method.The only reason that can make me purchase something online with bitcoin is when there's no fiat in the payment option otherwise I prefer payment with fiat then
my bitcoin for investment purpose.Outside the internet,many countries are restricted from transacting bitcoin in public,so that also be among the factors why Bitcoin isn't used as a payment method.

[kawetsriyanto]

Unfortunately I do not have much options to make payment using Bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency is in my country. It is not recognised as a legal tender.

It is quite similar in my country. Bitcoin and altcoins are illegal to use as a payment tools. So, there is no way to use Bitcoin for paying anything here. We only can use Bitcoin for the investment, crypto assets are legal here. Maybe someday in the future that I can start paying goods/services with Bitcoin, it is when crypto legal for payment purposes.

However, 2 years ago, I needed to buy hosting for my website. So I found a hosting provider who accepts Bitcoin and purchased hosting for 5 years. But I do regret the decision.

You don't need to regret it. Buying hosting might be quite important at that time. It is no problem to spend Bitcoin as long as it is necessary. We just regret it if we did panic selling or spending it with no clear reasons.