Where Cryptocurrencies Can Be Used for Payments

The volatility of bitcoin is well known to everyone; however, this has not discouraged an increasing number of companies from accepting cryptocurrencies as an official payment option.

In February, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would accept bitcoin as a form of payment for all models of its cars in the U.S., but soon abandoned this idea due to concerns about climate change. It remains to be seen whether other companies will also back out or start accepting other cryptocurrencies.

Although Tesla attracted enormous media attention, there are hundreds of other significant companies in various industries that accept bitcoin as a valid form of payment.

Fast Food Restaurants

Restaurant Brands International is one of the largest holding companies in the fast food sector worldwide. It is the parent company of Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes.

Last year, Burger King Venezuela announced that it would start accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They partnered with CryptoBuyer, a platform that facilitates the conversion of cryptocurrencies into fiat currencies.

Yum Brands, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Habit Burger Grill, also accepts cryptocurrencies. The corporation approved bitcoin as a valid payment method at Pizza Hut Venezuela last year. Yum Brands also partnered with CryptoBuyer to launch crypto payments.

For a short time, KFC Canada accepted cryptocurrencies as payment for products such as the Bitcoin Bucket, through a partnership with BitPay.

Technology Companies

After a temporary pause in accepting cryptocurrencies as a valid payment method due to their volatility, Xbox has resumed accepting bitcoin for credits/points in the Xbox store.

Meanwhile, PayPal announced in October 2020 that users could buy, sell, and hold certain cryptocurrencies through their Cash or Cash Plus accounts, starting in 2021.

Although Amazon does not directly allow bitcoin as a valid payment method, Amazon vouchers and gift cards can be purchased through Bitrefill, a company that enables users to buy vouchers using cryptocurrencies.

Recently, eBay announced that it is considering accepting cryptocurrencies as a valid form of payment in the future.

Soft Drink Manufacturers

Coca-Cola Amatil is one of the largest bottlers and distributors of non-alcoholic beverages in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company announced a partnership with the Centrapay platform last year, enabling it to accept bitcoin as an official payment method.

Starbucks began testing bitcoin payments last year through the Bakkt wallet. Bakkt, as a subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange and a platform for institutional investors, recently launched its digital wallet application, where users can convert bitcoin into dollars to reload their Starbucks card.

Auction Houses

Last week, the world-renowned auction house Sotheby’s announced that it would start accepting bitcoin and ether as a payment option when it presents Banksy’s artwork “Love Is In The Air” next week in New York.

This will be the first time a major auction house accepts cryptocurrencies for physical artworks; in March, the auction house Christie’s sold an NFT worth $69 million.

The move to bring cryptocurrencies and art closer comes at a time when collectors are seeking new payment methods when doing business with Sotheby’s, said Stefan Pepe, Chief Technology Officer of Sotheby’s.

Points of Sale in Croatia

In Croatia, it is also possible to pay with cryptocurrencies at numerous points of sale. Such payments are enabled by the company Electrocoin with its PayCek system and Fima Plus with the FIMA Pay system.

More than a hundred locations already accept cryptocurrencies via PayCek, such as hotels (Hotel Split, Hotel Marvie, Swanky and Mint Hostel), Tifon gas stations, the City of Sveta Nedelja and the City of Cres, Greyp electric bicycles, web shops (e.g., the largest Croatian webshop bazzar.hr, as well as smaller ones like Futura IT computer shop or PC shop), beverage manufacturers (from Old Pilot’s Gin, through breweries like Varionica, Medvedgrad, and Pulfer to wineries like Korak).

There are also Alpha Luxe Real Estate, the Polytechnic in Bjelovar, car dealerships (e.g., Grand Auto and Autokuća Vuko), Banka Zlata, media (Lider was the first, soon followed by Poslovni dnevnik), humanitarian organizations such as SOS Children’s Village, the Croatian Red Cross, Plavi telefon, Croinvest.eu crowdfunding platform, and many others.

A document with all the points of sale where cryptocurrencies can be paid in Croatia via PayCek will be available on the Electrocoin website in a few days, and in a month, an online searchable client database will be available, along with a map.

Payments with cryptocurrencies via the FIMA Pay system can be made in Zagreb (café Orient Express, Orthodontics Ivanec Sapunar, Pure Pilates studio), Varaždin (Caffe bar Elephant, Kafić Baseball Bar, Ritz Caffe Bar, student restaurant A la carte restaurant, outdoor equipment manufacturer Bim sport, company for designing and executing heating and cooling installations Energo S), in Čakovec (restaurant Stari Hrast) and Osijek (American Bar Dollar).

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