At , we’re not only interested in listing useful but also understanding how crypto is happening on a global scale.
This is Part I of a two-part series where we try to understand the current state of crypto among online retailers and marketplaces. In this article, we focus on virtual items and services. While some entries on this list do also offer physical products, most of their business models rely upon digital products like downloads, software services, and/or peer-to-peer payment technologies (i.e. crypto for payments and tips).
Part II of this series will primarily focus on e-commerce and brick-and-mortar businesses where you can use crypto to pay for services or physical products.
Places Accepting Crypto for Digital Products and Services
While the list of marketplaces and retailers that accept crypto is much longer than this (and continuously growing), these entries represent the diversity of businesses accepting crypto in 2019. The businesses featured in this list range from startups to Fortune 500s.
Since 2014, Microsoft has accepted in its online Xbox Store. The company temporarily stopped accepting in 2018 due to high volatility; however, the company is once again offering this as an option for users wanting to purchase Xbox credits.
One of the top platforms for purchasing domain names, Namecheap accepts and often uses these funds in its efforts to fight for internet freedom and net neutrality.
for Amazon Items
Yes, it’s true that Amazon doesn’t yet accept , but is a unique platform that allows users to buy orders on Amazon in exchange for or BCH. For some products, it’s possible to save up to 33% by using Purse.io.
On Purse, when you name your own discount, it is fulfilled by earners (individuals who wish to exchange their Amazon gift cards for your ). As a shopper, you can try to get larger discounts by delivery speed for savings.
In March 2018, became the world’s first online travel agency to accept LTC, BCH, and DASH as payment for flight and hotel bookings. Prior to this, CheapAir began accepting in 2013. According to its website, CheapAir remains the only online travel agency in the U.S. that allows you to buy flights with .
This P2P music marketplace allows musicians to sell their songs directly to fans. There are a few benefits of using over iTunes or other platforms. On this site, 100% of sales and tips go directly to artists. The platform automatically splits payments with multiple song collaborators. It even provides a way to sell digital, collectible badges. All payments use ETH.
for Airbnb, Netflix, Uber, and Other Major Companies
is a platform that allows users to purchase a variety of gift cards with . It works with 1,650 businesses in 170 countries. Although it’s not possible to make crypto payments directly to these sites with Bitrefill, the company does sell gift cards for some of the most popular retailers in the world. While most options are available internationally, a few are only available to people residing in the U.S. Accepted on Bitrefill include , ETH, DASH, DOGE, and LTC. This site is even an early adopter of Thor, a service that lets anyone get an empty Lightning channel opened to them from Bitrefill’s node on the Lightning network.
is a protocol for creating P2P marketplaces. It uses the and IPFS, empowering developers and businesses to build decentralized marketplaces. Origin makes it easy to create and manage listings for the fractional usage of assets and services. Buyers and sellers can discover each other, browse listings, make bookings, leave ratings and reviews, and much more. The ultimate goal of the project is to replace the rent-seeking middlemen of Web 2.0. These include companies like Uber, Airbnb, Fiverr, and Getaround that take up to 20–30% of transaction fees.
The operates much like Craigslist, with sellers on the Origin dApp currently listing items like art, clothing, and watches. There are also a variety of unique services like jet ski lessons in Peth, Australia and online music production/DJ lessons from 3LAU. Every item or service listed on the dApp is paid in ETH.
In February 2019, Twitter launched Tippin browser, an extension for and that allows users to send and receive . This is made possible via the Lightning Network, a Layer 2 payment protocol that operates on top of the original network. In order to tip on Twitter, the sender and receiver both must have Lightning Network wallets.
Early Adopters No Longer Accepting Crypto
According to an official announcement, began accepting as a payment option on June 11, 2014. Beginning on May 10, 2018, Expedia stopped accepting . While there was no official announcement explaining why the company stopped, some comments on various forums suggest that the reason might be ’s decision to discontinue custodial services for merchants.
once offered an option to pay with and BCH using . However, according to a Reddit user’s post from March 23, 2019, BitPay payment processor service has been removed as a payment method for Twitch users of all countries. On March 20, 2019, another Reddit user stated that Streamlabs — a popular streaming software widely used by Twitch users to receive tips — also removed support for crypto payments.
First establishing a feature to accept in January 2015 with a fee of 0.5% per transaction, payment processing giant was a positive sign for early crypto . On April 23, 2018, Stripe stopped its support. According to a statement from Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson in July 2018, and other -based payment services are “slow, impractical, and overhyped.”
For instance, Johnson said that merchants sometimes had to file a second transaction to account for price fluctuations that occurred between when a purchase occurred and when it cleared. Despite these results, Product Manager Tom Karlo has said that the company remains optimistic about overall and that it could offer support for and other coins once again at a future date.
EMR Webinar Signup
Ethex is a non-custodial, decentralized exchange for ETH and ERC20 . We will soon launch Ethex 2.0, a new protocol that will feature Ethex Maker Rewards (EMR) as an incentive for market makers.
or if you would like an invite link to our webinar, which will take place on April 17, 2019, at 1:00 pm EST. During the webinar, CEO Dan Walton will explain how EMR works, how it is earned, and answer any questions.
Ethex Links
Ethex Trade Wallet — and
Published at Mon, 15 Apr 2019 18:13:18 +0000
![Diamond shaco in ranked game wtf??? [full gameplay] - season 8](https://ohiobitcoin.com/storage/2018/07/pvqhvA.jpg "Diamond shaco in ranked game wtf??? [full gameplay] - season 8")
