On the way to the future: 7 global companies that accept Bitcoin

Because of the growing popularity of cryptocurrency, more and more global giants are looking at the industry. Even now, many companies around the world accept cryptocurrencies as payment for goods and services. According to data collected by Coinmap, a website that focuses on finding cryptocurrency acceptance places, we can see that there are not many such locations in Eastern Europe yet. Still, there are many in Europe, the U.S., and Latin America. In addition, digital assets, and Bitcoin, in particular, heaven, started to be accepted even by the world’s top companies. Let’s talk more about which ones and why they do that.

Elon Musk caused a stir in early 2021 when he stated that Tesla would buy $1.5 billion worth of BTC and accept the world’s most general digital asset as car payment, another of Musk’s personal experiences in the auto sphere.

But it didn’t last long.

What often gets overlooked in the BTC debate is how dangerous it is to the environment. The mighty PC needed to mine Bitcoin consumes vast amounts of energy. As a result, most Bitcoin is mined in the Celestial, where electricity costs are low and government regulation is weak. After 90 days, Tesla withdrew its BTC application, although sustainable energy is at the brand’s heart. Musk referred to environmental concerns and the vast amount of fossil fuel that must be burned to produce only one BTC. On May 12, 2021, Musk’s mistake annihilate $365 billion from the crypto market in one day.

But not all firms share businessman’s fears about ecological energy. BTC is growing, and major American companies are also embracing this trend and accepting BTC as way to pay.

Which companies decided to accept Bitcoin

Below we present the top 7 firms in this game.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia, the giant online encyclopedia, began to accept Bitcoin donations in 2014. The Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, cooperate with Coinbase to process payments.

In March 2014, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales launched a pilot campaign to collect donations in cryptocurrency. He published the Bitcoin wallet address on his social media page and stated that all the money collected would be donated to the Wikimedia Foundation.

Coinbase made possible to quickly convert the taken funds into dollars. Thus, the platfom rate volatility was not an issue. The Wikimedia Foundation raised $18.7 million in the course of the fundraising campaign.

Notably, the Wikimedia Foundation became Coinbase’s first nonprofit partner. Unlike regular merchants, they do not withhold commissions from charities or non-profit organizations. Coinbase’s commercial partners are charged 1% of each transaction if the settlement exceeds $1 million.

However, in the second half of 2022, Molly White, a Wikipedia editor named Gorilla Warfare, suggested stopping accepting cryptocurrency donations, arguing that mining cryptocurrencies hurt the environment. The proposal is still under consideration, but in the meantime, the site is accepting donations in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash.

Overstock

This online store first offered the possibility to buy some stuff in crypto assets in 2014. Initially, only Bitcoin was provided for payments. However, a several years later, the firm began working with the ShapeShift platform. So at the moment users can choose other crypto, such as Dash and Monero.

You only need to select the desired cryptocurrency to use the option. After that, you will receive an offer to transfer your saving from the system. All digital wallet transactions require this.

Incidentally, the ShapeShift was not chosen randomly. This asset exchange service is regard as the fastest: it allows customers to convert currencies and make transactions immediately.

Microsoft

The company launched BTC payments in digital content stores in 2014. Such a possibility appealed of games on Xbox lovers. But, it was not without scandals.

In 2014, the company suddenly announced on its website that BTC would no longer be accepted at Microsoft. A few hours later, the company apologized for the “wrong publication” and deleted the message.

The same story was happened again in 2018, when the crypto payment feature was stopped for a few days. Now, however, the service is working as usual. There is a possibility that the company is wary of Bitcoin’s volatility, but still, the IT giant doesn’t seem to be about to give up on cryptocurrency just yet. 

Subway

One of the leaders in the eating sphere also accepts crypto assets. Subway not only allows customers BTC payments in some countries but also gives discounts of up to 15% to cryptocurrency enthusiasts. You can find such spots mainly in the U.S.

In 2017, there were rumors on social media that Subway would work with ETH and Tether, too, but it remained a rumor, and the company has not confirmed its plans. 

Starbucks

Starbucks also started to accept cryptocurrency payments in its coffee shops in the United States. This can be done using the Spedn app. The developers claim that it prevents fraud and reduces operating costs. For now, Starbucks is only available to pay for orders in BTC.

In addition, in the future, the app will allow you to pay for coffee and other meals at Starbucks with other cryptocurrencies. The company representatives said, the following digital assets are in line for acceptance: ETC, Bitcoin Cash, Twin Doll, etc.

The scheme of payment is the similar to as the well-known Apple Pay and Google Pay: the Spedn app generates a QR code on the phone’s screen, which the customers must attach to the scanner at the cash register.

By the end of 2019, Starbucks is going to introduce crypto payments in one hundred stores across the country. 

KFC

In 2018, the world-famous fast-food restaurant began operating with BTC in Canada, which became an essential step toward mass acceptance of cryptocurrencies.

Canadian restaurant KFC accepts Bitcoin as payment for orders. The company runs a limited-time marketing campaign focused on just one product, the Bitcoin Bucket.

To participate in the campaign, you must order a Bitcoin Bucket through a courier. Payment for the order is made on the site of the payment service provider BitPay. For $20 worth of digital currency, the customer could get ten original recipe tenders, waffle fries, a medium side, gravy, and two sauces.

Also, KFC has made ready a special offer for Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. If he finally show up his identity, they promise to provide free Bitcoin buckets to him, but we still waiting fot that.

In a recent article, we tried to figure out Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity. 

PayPal

The payment system PayPal was one of the first to recognize crypto assets as a payment option. The company added support for cryptocurrencies to its wallets. Later, it became possible to pay with the Venmo mobile application.

In addition, PayPal planned to launch its cryptocurrency trading system. To do this, the company reached an agreement with Paxos, an American blockchain startup.

The integration of the crypto services was finally completed in mid-August 2022. The mobile app can now be used to buy cryptocurrency, pay for cryptocurrency in stores, transfer money to other PayPal wallets and convert cryptocurrency into fiat.

The service currently supports four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. The minimum purchase amount is only $1

Accepting BTC at a business: pros & cons

Digital money should rid us of banks and regulators, commissions, and fees; it is cheaper and easier to use. Businesses are interested in cryptocurrencies because they want to operate more securely and efficiently, and traditional companies already accept digital money as a means of payment. You can save on fees and increase your visibility. So, let’s check the pros and cons of buying cryptocurrencies as payment. 

Pros

• You can save on fees. Bitcoin transaction fees are less than 1%. In addition, Bitcoin does not require a bank to validate each transaction so that you can hold the money in your hands rather than a particular financial institution.
• High transaction speed Bitcoin requires no intermediaries to conduct transactions, so the money arrives in your account quickly.
• Income growth. Decentralized cryptocurrencies make it easy to expand your business. In addition, Bitcoin makes accepting payments from other countries easy and develops your potential customer base when selling goods and services.
• In marketing and fundraising, there is also an opportunity to attract attention to your business by becoming one of the first to accept payments in Bitcoin. Companies can easily create a marketing program to buy Bitcoin and show how this technology helps their business. Moreover, Bitcoin is also good for the non-commercial industry.
• You don’t have to worry about chargebacks or PCI (PayProtocol Paycoin) compliance.

Cons

• Volatility. Bitcoin’s rate fluctuations are unpredictable. When it was created in 2009, Bitcoin’s value was ridiculously low, but in December 2013, it rose to $1200. Then the price per coin dropped to $600, Bitcoin broke the $16K mark in 2017, and at the beginning of 2022, it cost about $45K and now trades around $23K.
• Lack of regulation. Yes, one process (no intermediaries) is also a con. Bitcoin has no government support, and that can discourage other businesses. While the United States recognizes Bitcoin as a commodity, many countries restrict or prohibit its use. As Bitcoin regulations are being developed in many countries, things could change in the future. Bitcoin companies should keep an eye out for such changes.
• Security. According to experts, the risks associated with cybercrime are exceptionally high in the case of Bitcoin. Because cryptocurrencies cannot be insured, attackers can seriously compromise them. The best way to avoid such consequences is, of course, the use of multi-factor authentication and regular data backups.
• Scheduling difficulties. How do companies that receive a part of their revenue in bitcoin make financial reports, calculate taxes, and set product prices? The value of Bitcoin fluctuates constantly, so even the most detailed schedule can be infinitely more complicated. If you don’t look at the market daily, you don’t know what will happen next.
• Many people who buy cryptocurrency don’t want to use it. Customers who may use bitcoin see it as an investment, not as a way to pay for goods and services.
• Lack of demand. Consumers are slow to pay their vendors and suppliers in Bitcoin and therefore have less incentive to invest in the necessary infrastructure.

What a Bitcoin or other crypto transaction looks like

To make cryptocurrency trading fast and easy, merchants use crypto payment platforms such as BitPay and Coinbase. These companies offer services such as creating user interfaces to facilitate transactions, controlling payments, and blocking them for a certain period of time to limit exchange rate fluctuations.

A typical cryptocurrency transaction for businesses looks something like this:

• Customers who choose to pay with cryptocurrency receive a QR code.
• This QR code tells your digital wallet or app where to send the cryptocurrency (called the address). This address is similar to an email address but is usually created and used only once.
• To verify the transaction’s validity, the customer enters a private key password.
• Then, the merchant can choose to receive payments in cryptocurrency or dollars.

That’s all.

Simply put, Bitcoin transactions are email-like messages that are digitally signed using cryptographic methods and validated on the Bitcoin network. All Bitcoin transactions are public and can be verified in a digital ledger called a blockchain. And we reported earlier about how to track them.