Cryptocurrencies have evolved from being speculative assets to being used for everyday activities, such as purchasing coffee, shopping, dinner, and more. With the advent of new payment methods, you can easily pay with crypto, even at stores that don’t accept native crypto (via Bitrefill).
In this article, we are going to take a look at how you can easily use crypto for your daily purchases and explore all the channels that allow you to spend your crypto directly.
Are you a vendor willing to accept crypto payments? Understand them thoroughly before proceeding.
The Current Scenario of Spending in Crypto
As crypto markets mature, there are a lot of ways today that help you directly spend your crypto. Some of the most common ways are cards, crypto ATMs, third-party wallets, and even direct stablecoin transfers.
Crypto Debit Cards
Crypto debit cards have been around for a while, with top players being Nexo, Crypto.com, Redot Pay, Coinbase Card, and many others.
Similar to your debit card, these crypto-based cards also work with payment gateways and terminals that accept Visa and MasterCard.
Since all crypto debit cards allow you to pay directly from your crypto wallet, most of them don’t require you to follow complex steps for day-to-day payments.
Bitcoin ATMs
Bitcoin ATMs are machines that allow you to withdraw cash when you need. These machines ask you to transfer your Bitcoins to their wallet (often via QR codes), and the machine dispenses cash just like a normal ATM.
Bitcoin ATMs also allow you to buy BTC from any of their machines.
Across the world, thousands of Bitcoin machines are located in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Ukraine, and many others.
Lightning Network
The Lightning Network, a layer-2 solution built on top of Bitcoin, helps you directly spend your BTC without any other card, app, or exchange. The wallet offers ultra-low fees for Bitcoin transactions and is primarily used by individuals who directly spend in cryptocurrency.
This is indeed helpful for crypto owners who prefer Bitcoin over most cryptocurrencies due to its robust security and better price stability.
Worldwide, thousands of people use the Lightning Network to pay for everything like coffee, dinner, or even groceries.
Bitrefill Gift Cards
You can buy Bitrefill gift cards from your crypto wallet and spend them in big retail shops like Amazon, Target, and many others. The gift cards come with a little fee, but are worth it as they help you save on taxes. Otherwise, you would have to pay a capital gains tax on your crypto after selling it.
Besides shopping, Bitrefill also helps you pay your internet, mobile, subscriptions, Uber, dining, and many other bills through crypto.
Currently, Bitrefill provides support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, USDC, Litecoin, and Dogecoin.
The platform is highly liked by its users, as shown by the individual ratings above.
Stablecoins
Stablecoins have been in use to pay salaries, vendors, subscriptions, professional services, and many other payments around the world. They are fast, have stable prices, and therefore can be stored in a wallet without price fluctuations.
To be able to send and receive stablecoins, you just need to have a free wallet like MetaMask or Coinbase. You can also use exchange wallets for easy buying and selling of stablecoins. However, those with larger transactions are recommended to use a custody service for better security.
Globally, it is estimated that at least $4 trillion is spent per month for transactions, and this metric has been continually rising.
Top 5 Developments to Improve Crypto Spending
The current crypto payments stack is very limited due to the shortage of options in the current market. However, this situation is expected to increase in the near future as projects pioneer newer technologies. A few of them are mentioned below.
PayFi
PayFi is a new cryptocurrency payment framework that enables users to send and receive crypto through a user-friendly, wallet-like dApp. These apps combine blockchain technology with top-tier UI designs and create intuitive applications that anyone can use.
Projects like Solana and Shardeum have already been trying to create PayFi solutions for their users.
Building the Internet’s Payment Layer: Shardeum’s PayFi Vision
Cross-Chain Communication
Cross-chain communications will greatly reduce your transaction fees while paying with crypto. Despite solutions like Base, BNB, and Toncoin, Sui and other fast chains, there is no definite solution that helps you pay for all crypto through a single platform. As a result, all these chains remain underutilized.
With the improvement in cross-chain communication, you can easily use one chain for your crypto portfolio management while using another low-cost chain for routine payments.
Future of Cross-Chain Interoperability Across Blockchain Networks
Stablecoin Laws
USA’s “Big Beautiful” budget has provided much-needed support for stablecoins, and many others are expected to follow it. The need for separate stablecoin laws arises because of the need to remove unnecessary taxes and compliance on them.
Currently, most crypto laws provide no distinction between stablecoins and other cryptos; therefore, there are several redundant laws that complicate stablecoin compliance.
Stablecoins already have a multi-trillion-dollar market, which serves users globally due to instant transactions and high transparency. With better stablecoin laws, the usage of crypto is expected to increase even further.
RWAs
Real World Assets might supercharge your ability to spend crypto directly. These assets are the tokenized versions of real assets like cars, property, bonds, shares, and intellectual rights.
Currently, they are primarily being used by top finance giants to launch money market funds. However, we expected them to enter the retail space very soon.
With monetized RWAs, anyone could easily auction their assets that they wish to sell without having to pay large auction fees. Further, it will get a lot easier to monetize idle assets that have been collecting dust for a long time.
Real World Assets (RWAs) In Decentralized Finance DeFi and Crypto: A Complete Overview
