As the holiday season approaches, we all feel the pressure of gift buying. This can be stressful, especially if you go to the stores to face crowds. But if you have your crypto, can it be used to buy gifts? Can you buy your loved ones the things they love using crypto?
Where can you spend your crypto?
Ten years ago, the idea of paying for products in crypto was essentially unheard of. But as the cryptocurrency industry has evolved, so has the worldwide adoption of crypto-based payments.
Cryptocurrency is far from being as widely accepted as fiat money. Most retailers around the world still require payment using traditional tender, be it USD, EUR, GBP, INR or any other national currency.
Most companies that accept cryptocurrency payments do so in the form of bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. There are currently over 15,000 global retailers that allow BTC payments.
Some vendors also accept payments in other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum. Some businesses, such as Newegg, GameStop, Lowe’s, and Nordstrom, allow payment in Shiba Inu. You will often need to use a payment processing app like Flexa to make a payment using cryptocurrency.
How to buy gifts with crypto
If you want to buy gifts with your crypto, you must first make sure that the site you are using is legit. The crypto industry is no stranger to scams, and there are many fake websites out there designed to scam you out of your wealth. The vendors listed above are all legit, so you don’t need to worry about them. But if you’re planning to try a smaller platform, be sure to watch for red flags.
This includes spelling errors, suspiciously cheap products, and unusual URLs. You should also note that just because you are paying in crypto does not mean that the seller should under any circumstances request your private key. It should always be kept confidential. If a crypto site asks for your private key, it is most likely a scam. Your seed phrase should also never be requested nor provided.
As mentioned earlier, crypto payments are still quite limited, which may restrict the gifts you can buy. However, if you want to expand your reach, you may want to look into gift card sites.
If it’s games you’re looking for, various sites allow you to buy game keys using cryptocurrency. These services will email you your game key after purchase, which you can use immediately. Take JoltFun, for example. The site provides game keys for various platforms including Steam, Origin, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. So, if you have any friends or family who are into gaming, then buying them game keys with Crypto can be a worthwhile gift.
crypto gift card
If you’re looking for an easy way to buy gifts using your crypto, gift card websites are a solid option. Various gift card sites accept crypto payments in exchange for gift cards.
Bitrefill is a particularly popular crypto gift card site. Bitrefill allows you to buy hundreds of different gift cards from a wide variety of industries.
On top of these popular names, you can get gift cards for meal delivery services like DoorDash, home improvement retailers like Home Depot, and airlines like Delta. In short, there’s no limit to the types of gift cards you can wish for your loved ones on Bitrefill.
Currently, Bitrefill accepts payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, USD Coin, Lightning, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Dash.
You can also connect various crypto wallets and exchanges to buy gift cards on BitRefill, including Coinbase, Kraken, Strike, Binance Pay, Ledger, Bitfinex, Trezor, Bitstamp and Trust Wallet. So, Bitrefill gives you a lot of options when it comes to payment methods.
Note that you can return a gift card to BitRefill if there is a technical error or the gift card code doesn’t arrive, but you must do so within 30 days of your purchase.
There are several other platforms that you can look into to buy gift cards with crypto, such as Coingate and CryptoRefills. These sites work similar to Bitrefill, sending you virtual gift cards in exchange for crypto.
direct crypto gifting
If you want to give someone cryptocurrency instead of buying a gift, that’s also an option. Of course, you can only send crypto to a recipient’s wallet address. But if you want to make things a little more special, some platforms allow you to send virtual crypto gift cards.
Take Coinbase for example. On this exchange, you can trade various assets including Bitcoin, Cardano, Dai, Ethereum and Tether.