Last week, Bitcoin crashed by nearly $9,000 after reaching an all time high of $66,999. This caused all crypto’s to drop and consequently encouraged thousands of people to buy the dip. With all of the attention on Bitcoin, I thought I should remind people why Bitcoin is still expected to reach $500,000 within the next few years. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been catching on. A growing number of companies have been accepting and investing in Bitcoin. Paying with bitcoin is very similar to sending an email or a payment through Google Pay, Venmo, PayPal, and CashApp. In fact, you can pay someone with Bitcoin using CashApp and PayPal.
Using a crypto brokerage like Coinbase, you will be provided with a bitcoin wallet address and can send money to other wallets. After you provide the required information, rather than asking for a credit card number, the website will display the bitcoin payment information which will consist of at least one of the following:
- A link to “Sign in to Coinbase” where you can earn $10 in free Bitcoin when you sign up here.
- A QR Code
- A Bitcoin address
At this stage, the process may differ slightly depending on the type of bitcoin wallet you’re using.
Pay with your Coinbase Wallet
If the merchant you’re paying is using Coinbase to accept bitcoin payments and you also have a funded Coinbase account, you can complete the checkout by simply signing in to your Coinbase account and confirming the order. Once you confirm the order, the process is finished and the merchant will be notified of your payment.
Pay via QR code
Most bitcoin payment processors will also provide a QR code at the checkout, which represents a bitcoin address and payment amount.
QR codes make it easy to pay from a bitcoin wallet app on your smartphone (including the Coinbase app for Android or iOS). Simply scan the QR code and it will pre-fill the recipient bitcoin address and the requested payment amount. Once you send the transaction, the payment is complete.
This is a good option If you don’t have a Coinbase account or wish to pay from a different bitcoin wallet.
Pay to a Bitcoin address
If you can’t scan QR codes or the merchant only provides a bitcoin address, you can also manually enter this as the recipient of a transaction in your crypto wallet.
To pay to a Bitcoin address, you’ll need to provide two pieces of information:
- The recipient’s bitcoin address
- The amount of bitcoin to send
Both of these will be displayed on the payment page during checkout, although some will leave the amount up to you in the case of donations or other more flexible payment models.
With the address and amount, simply enter them into the “send” form of your wallet and submit the transactions.
If the merchant is using Coinbase, shortly after you send the payment, the checkout page will update to indicate that the funds have been received, and the purchase will be marked as complete. Note that for other payment processors or direct payments without a processor, the process may be slightly different.
Who Accepts Bitcoin?
Bitcoin has become a widely accepted currency in hundreds of countries. There are already thousands of merchants that accept Bitcoin. To name a few, Expedia accepts Bitcoin to pay for travel. Bitrefill.com accepts Bitcoin to pay for gift cards. A local-to-me LukeOil gas station accepts Bitcoin. In 2021, Tesla announced that it will soon accept crypto as a form of payment. Crypto ATM’s are popping up everywhere where you can exchange Bitcoin for cash. BlockFi and other financial institutions are offering Bitcoin cash back credit cards that allow you to use Bitcoin as statement credit.
Bitcoin still has a long way to go. Keep in mind that a very small percentage of the world uses Bitcoin. Imagine if it becomes more widely used. Imagine if the government finally acknowledges Bitcoin and creates policies around it. Bitcoin can easily 10X in no time.
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