How Do We Gain Mass Adoption For Cryptocurrency? Let’s Start With Merchants, First.
Cryptocurrencies have a high barrier to entry.
The underlying technology is complicated, and some claim Bitcoin was initially designed to be inefficient for the sake of providing a trust anchor – creating challenges for smart contracts platforms looking to expand the capacity of blockchains to the world of applications.
As a result, Dapp user numbers continue to remain endemically low. Despite trending narratives like decentralized finance garnering more attention than blockchain-based games and other apps, the road to mainstream adoption remains an arduous task.
Cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, remain an invention of money more than anything else.
Mainstream app users are not familiar with the advantages that ‘unstoppable applications’ that run on Ethereum offer, nor do they care.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not explicitly payment technologies, but fostering more widespread adoption of them by merchants and e-commerce stores might serve to supplement their growth well.
E-commerce is enormous and only snowballing. Retail e-commerce sales are projected to reach nearly $5 trillion globally by 2021, and the advent of better technology, more mobile phone commerce, and dominance of international providers like Amazon will only accelerate that trend.
Fiat payment rails are more than sufficient for the current iteration of e-commerce as payment processors like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal are integrated with virtually every major e-commerce platform.
If the opportunity for a turning point in the adoption of cryptocurrencies presents itself, it will be because of some monetary advantages they have over conventional payment methods.
For example, according to Shopify, PayPal-enabled merchants accept 79.1 percent of their payments via PayPal.
For domestic payments, PayPal charges a 2.9 percent fee based on the transaction amount plus a fixed fee based on the currency used. For international business, the fee raises to 4.4 percent of the transaction. Fees are not surprising, and consumers and merchants have become accustomed to them with nearly every purchase.
Kroger – the popular supermarket chain – recently announced that they would no longer be using Visa in select stores due to transaction fees. Moreover, Bloomberg reported that retailers pay approximately $90 billion in payment processing fees per year.
Some crypto fans say that cryptocurrencies can provide potential advantages in both fees and censorship, even though they also come with limitations.
First, they have minimal fees as no third-party payment processor is taking a percentage – fees only consist of on-chain transaction fees which are usually a few cents.
Second, since Bitcoin is decentralized and there is no third-party controlling the legacy cryptocurrency, there is no censorship. As the saying goes ‘not your keys, not your Bitcoin.’ If you own your private keys, you don’t have to worry about your transaction not going through, being delayed, or reversed.
So, what’s holding back Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from being widely accepted among merchants?
Well, we can basically break that down into three primary categories: not enough awareness/users, high barrier to entry, and inconvenience in converting between fiat and crypto.
Reducing the barrier to entry by building better payment solutions with crypto will eventually lead to more awareness and users. Web extensions for using Bitcoin’s LN like Lightning Joule and Casa are already available for easy and instant payments over the web, and BTCPay Server is compatible with leading e-commerce platforms as a plugin – such as WooCommerce, Magneto, and Drupal.
“Accepting cryptocurrency payments leaves more money in the pockets of artists and fans, who’ve been unjustly extorted for too long”, says EventChain CEO, Ashton Addison. “When other retailers realize they don’t need to pay outrageous processing fees. by tapping into a global decentralized payment network, they will adopt crypto payments as well.”
That leaves the biggest problem: the inconvenience of converting between fiat and crypto.
Most merchants do not wish to ‘hodl’ long-term digital assets, and would instead prefer quickly turning received crypto payments back to fiat. Merchants typically have to go through cryptocurrency exchanges, which charge fees themselves, do not have good security track records, and are another third-party in an ecosystem predicated on reducing the roles of third-parties.
Self-hosted payment processor BTCPay Server has a fiat-conversion functionality on their roadmap, but for now, the problem is a marked impediment to further merchant adoption of cryptocurrencies. However, Bitpay has been pioneering an easy way for merchants to easily gain access to accept cryptocurrency payments and instantly convert to fiat for only a 1% fee.
Cryptocurrencies cover a lucrative opportunity of potential technical solutions in everything from advanced privacy to decentralized finance. However, at the industry’s core, Bitcoin remains the flagship cryptocurrency that is empirically an invention of money.
Payments may not be its most attractive property, but more merchant adoption in an increasingly connected globe of e-commerce is sure to be a critical gauge of furthering its mainstream adoption.
One of the most notable realities is that regulation is needed before any sides of the marketplace can switch their payment system completely.
Please sound off below! What do you think the best way to gain merchant adoption’? Do you think we need to focus on something else first? Let me know in the comments.
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How To Buy Bitcoins With Paypal Instantly (2020)
In this article, I will tell you how to buy bitcoins with Paypal instantly. Some of us on our journey for buying our first bitcoin, we look at the funding source from which we want to pay for it. In some cases it may be your bank account, in others it could be with a debit or credit card, but what if you have some funds sitting in Paypal and you would like to use that as a payment method directly?
hLuckily, this can be done and some methods are more legitimate than others. I am going to include the best ways (in order) to do complete this process, but keep in mind that Paypal will include additional fees to buy bitcoin that can range from 10-20% more than the actual price you agree to, as Paypal is factoring in the risk of a charge back into the purchase price. Let’s begin!
#1 BUY BITCOIN ON ETORO VIA PAYPAL
Step 1 – Open Your Account
– Visit the eToro homepage- Click the ‘Join Now’ button- Fill out the sign-up page, accepting the terms and conditions and privacy policy before clicking ‘Create Account’
Step 2 – Deposit Funds with Paypal
– Log in to your eToro account- Click on the ‘Deposit Funds’ button- Submit the amount you wish to deposit and select your currency- Select your deposit method – in this case, PayPal- You’ll then be redirected to the PayPal website- Log in to your PayPal account- Review your transaction details- Verify the details and complete the transaction by clicking ‘Pay’
Step 3 – Buy Bitcoin!
- Visit the BTC markets page on eToro
- Click the blue ‘Trade’ button in the top right-hand corner
- Alternatively, you can click ‘Buy’ next to Bitcoin if you have added it to your Watchlist
- Enter the amount of Bitcoin you wish to buy in fiat currency
- Set stop losses and ‘take profit’ parameters- Click ‘Open Trade’
#2 BUY BITCOIN ON COINBASE VIA PAYPAL
*Disclaimer: Using the e-wallet via Coinbase (web or iOS) requires you to be a U.S. investor. If you are not an American, you can still link your Paypal account to Coinbase, but you can’t physically buy Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Ethereum. In order to use PayPal for non-US customers is to swap your Bitcoin for a fiat currency and transfer this back to your Paypal account.*
- Visit the Coinbase homepage
- Click on the ‘Sign Up’ button in the top right-hand corner
- Complete the sign-up form and hit the ‘Create Account’ button
- Activate your Coinbase account by clicking on the confirmation link in your sign-up email
Step 2- Deposit Funds with Paypal
- Log in to your Coinbase account
- Click the ‘Settings’ tab on the left-hand side
- Click ‘Add a Payment Method’
- Click ‘PayPal Account’ and verify your PayPal account using the on-screen prompts
Step 3 – Buy Bitcoin!
- Log in to your Coinbase account
- On the Dashboard, click the ‘Buy/Sell’ button at the top of the page
- On the Buy/Sell window, click the Bitcoin button
- Choose your preferred payment method e.g. PayPal
- Specify the amount of Bitcoin you want in your fiat currency
- Hit ‘Buy Bitcoin Instantly’
#3 BUY BITCOIN IN PERSON VIA PAYPAL (LOCAL BITCOINS)
Step 1 – Sign Up (If you haven’t already)
Click this link for a direct way to do this! – SIGN UP
Step 2 – Filter for Paypal
Paypal Tips:
- High feedback scores are important. The closer to 100 percent, the better.
- Look at the number of trades and trade volume. Again, the higher, the better.
- Consider the trade limits to be sure the seller can fill your order.
- Look at the payment window to see how long you have to complete the transaction.
- Read any terms the seller might have. In some cases, the seller will also require a minimum reputation score for the buyer. If this is the case, you’ll have to make some small purchases to increase your reputation if you want to use that specific seller.
Step 3 – Confirm Transaction
This is documented in case of a dispute, but as long as you follow the tips above, that is unlikely. You can also negotiate to meet in person to initiate this process, if needed.
CONCLUSION
There are still other options to buy bitcoin with Paypal online, but those other options I have not personally used or tested and therefore, I cannot speak to how legitimate the entire process is. For your reference if you want to see what some other options are, I will link them below for you to take a look. Well, there you have it. Three tried and true ways to buy bitcoin online with Paypal and usually goes pretty quickly. This is a good option if you have funds sitting in Paypal and want to convert it into the far more valuable currency of the future.
NOTE: The other sites I will list below will allow other options for credit cards and other payment methods as well.
If you found this helpful or you have any other suggestions on other sources to obtain bitcoin securely and easily, please comment below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
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Bitpay Card Review: My Experience Living Off The Debit Card (2020)
In this review, I am going to cover my experience living off of the Bitpay Card. In 2017, I was hired to build a cryptococurrency hardware wallet for a prominent crypto company and I was paid directly in bitcoin and bitcoin cash. I needed to find a way to pay my bills with crypto in this legacy financial system that would not allow me to pay directly for my rent, groceries, gasoline, etc… This is when I did thorough research and discovered there were several crypto debit cards that existed.
Which one should I use? Which one works best and has the lowest fees? How much does it cost to get one? How easy is it to use? These were all questions I had when I first started researching these options and after doing a few weeks of research, it was clear that the best solution was to use the BitPay card.
I was already using BitPay to accept payment through this website when it was used for ecommerce, but I was unaware at the time that they had a crypto to Visa cash option that works for personal use. I was already happy with the experience I had using them as a payment processor, so I figured I would try their debit card for every day use. My experience and FAQ’s are detailed below!
HOW DOES THE BITPAY CARD WORK?
So here are the basic process of using the card from start to finish:
- Go to Bitpay.com/card and request a card. It will cost $9.95 as a one-time fee after you’ve filled out the application, which requires your personal details to send the card to.
- Wait 5-7 business days for the card to arrive (if you’re in the U.S.) It can take up to 21 business days for other countries.
- Once the card is received, call the 1-800 number on the front sticker to activate and set a PIN. Then go to your account to enter in the secret code sent in the letter to activate.
- Once activated, you are able to see your card available for crypto loads from the Bitpay mobile app and start using.
- Choose the wallet (either bitcoin or bitcoin cash) that you want to load onto the card, the choose the USD amount you want to add, then authenticate with your password and Face ID (if one is setup for extra security on the Bitpay wallet app)
- You’re done, money is loaded instantly and you will receive a confirmation email once you have completed the “Slide to Pay” function on the final screen.
- You are free to use this Bitpay card online, in person at any merchant that accepts Visa, or at the ATM.
My experience has been one that has shown this to be not only a very simple process, but also one that you can load money on in a pinch if you need to top off or load up your card because you don’t have enough funds. I have also experienced an issue where the card was declined once, but it was the merchant who I was using who said his bank was declining it. Once I called Bitpay’s card services, I was able to have them unblock it on their end and it went through perfectly.
WHAT CRYPTOCURRENCIES CAN I USE WITH THIS BITPAY DEBIT CARD?
Currently, the only two cryptocurrencies that can be used to load up the card on the prepaid Visa is Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). There have been plans to add more in the future, but for the time being, these are the only coins that are supported on Bitpay’s platform for debit card usage. There have been rumors that Ethereum (ETH) may be the next coin added for further altcoin support, but that has not been confirmed by the company.
HOW DO I PUT MONEY ON MY BITPAY CARD?
Once you have the card activated and you have linked your card account online, you will see the card option to “Add Funds” on the Bitpay Wallet App. Once you click on this, you can select the USD amount or toggle to the BTC or BCH side to calculate the exact amount you want to load. This will have you select the wallet you want to fund with in the drop down menu. Once you select the wallet, you will confirm the total and continue with “Slide To Pay” at the bottom, and will load instantly!
(PRO-TIP: If you are concerned about price fluctuation, you can keep your funds on your wallets and only top off the card at the exact moment before you purchase. This gives you flexibility in trying to monitor and maximize the price volatility in your favor!)
CAN I USE THE BITPAY CARD TO WITHDRAW CASH FROM AN ATM?
Yes. I have used this in a pinch where a card is not accepted when I went to a concert venue, however, keep in mind you will incur a $5 fee for ATM withdrawals and that does not include any ATM fee’s the machine you are using will incur. In some cases, it is not worth it to use this feature, but it is nice to know you have the option if it’s required.
It is also nice to know that when using a debit option at a merchant, you can easily choose the “cash back” option as a free way to get cash back, but that is usually limited to $100 dollars. This is a work around I would frequently use if I knew I needed to have some cash on hand for certain occasions and is nice to avoid those fees.
CONCLUSION
I was able to successfully use this to make most purchases I needed to make for the past 2 years. There are some bills that people pay that required ACH and will not take a debit or credit card. IN these instances, I was able to use Coinbase to as a crypto to fiat off-ramp, but I avoided using this as much as possible as the fees were not helpful, and I liked the idea that I could use crypto top make payments in the real world, without a hitch.
I also negotiated a way to start paying rent and other bills via Venmo, which was a nice workaround top using ACH. I was so hell-bent on using crypto as a viable payment source to pay my living expenses, that I went out of my way to make this happen. Any funds that I did not load onto my card, I only kept a little of it on the Bitpay wallet app and then kept the savings (as everyone should) onto my KeepKey hardware wallet.
If you are unfamiliar of the best practices for securing your cryptocurrency the right way, I will leave my link here for my FREE E-BOOK that details the top 5 ways to secure your cryptocurrency, and I recommend giving it a look, as it’s free.
All in all, this was a viable solution to live on, but I understand that some people are unable to use this in their particular country or their particular circumstance. If you live in any European or Asian countries and would like the option to use a crypto debit card, you can also try Wirex.
The Bitpay card is an option that does have a monthly fee, but it primarily used on that side of the world and has a similar user experience. I would recommend using this card for ANYONE that wants an option to “cash out their crypto” in a moments notice that would prefer not paying any exchange fees and needs it to happen within seconds.
What do you think? Are there any better crypto debit card options that you have used? If so, let me know in the comments below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
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How To Spend Bitcoin Online: 5 Best Places (2020)
In this post, I am going to cover how to spend bitcoin online and the five best places to do so in 2019. Not only am I going to show you how to spend bitcoin online, but more importantly, WHERE to spend bitcoin online. If you have never made a bitcoin transaction before, please review my earlier post that explains how to do this. As mass adoption starts snowballing, and we’ve already seen evidence of this by way of Whole Foods, and other major retailers coming on board to to accept cryptocurrency as payment, people are starting to look at where they can send their bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
I believe a fundamental component of making this global adoption happen quicker is letting people see how useful and easy it is to actually SPEND it as a currency. This is a life changing tool and is very easy to obtain for free, if you’re already shopping at these places and more using the Free Life Info App, and you can accumulate bitcoin AND get a discount at these retailers we will discuss below, but also thousands more. I will leave the in-depth review of this free bitcoin tool, HERE. Let’s get right into it!
DOWNLOAD THE FREE LIFE INFO APP HERE
#1 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN ONLINE AT PURSE.IO (AMAZON ON TOP OF BITCOIN)
People always ask me, “Does Amazon accept bitcoin?” The short answer is yes and no. Amazon does not accept it directly, but there are a few chrome extensions where you can earn bitcoin and spend bitcoin in very small amounts by doing this via the Lightning Network, but that is still in it’s infancy. There is a much better way to get what you want on Amazon, AND you can also save up to 33% off the price.
How do you do this? It’s called Purse.io. This website I have used personally during the holiday season 2018 for several items, and it works great! How it works is when you visit the site, it looks very similar to amazon and it’s built on top of Amazon’s platform, but it has one key difference. You can pay in bitcoin!
This means that it IS Amazon, but it just looks different, as it’s a platform built on top of Amazon. The point of this is so that you can spend bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies for payment, and it pairs you up with an individual who has amazon store credit or gift cards, and wants to order these things on your behalf, and send them directly to you.
Of course, you have to verify and approve everything arrives and is acceptable to you first. At this point, you can release the bitcoin payment once you are satisfied with your order. It’s a really elegant solution that matches up people who want to convert their amazon credit to receive bitcoin in return and you get a discount for doing this. Pretty slick, and highly recommended.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE 5$ IN BITCOIN ON YOUR FIRST ORDER
#2 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN ONLINE AT CHEAPAIR.COM
Cheapair.com is a discounted airline affiliate site that helps you find the cheapest flights from all the top airlines and is built on top of major search engines like Trivago and Expedia. The difference is, this finds the cheapest flights and let’s you pay in bitcoin directly to book your flight. This is really exciting and allows you to check out using a QR code you can scan with your phone, or you can just simply copy and paste your bitcoin address in the dropdown menu at checkout. You can also sign up for fare trackers and it will notify you when your flight lands in your price zone if you’re not ready to book now.
Overall, I’ve only booked 2 flights myself here, but it was a good experience. I have been living off bitcoin for over 2 years now and it’s required creative ways to find how to get to where you need to go without trying to pay any exchange fees, and this was brought to my attention. I highly recommend if you are the type of person that likes to shop for the cheapest price and bargain hunt when looking for trips and flights.
#3 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN AT OVERSTOCK.COM
Overstock.com is a large online retailer, similar to Amazon, but specializes in mainly home goods like furniture, decor, and larger items for very cheap. I believe they also offer a 2% additional discount when checking out with bitcoin.
You probably have heard of this website and perhaps even ordered something from here, but you probably didn’t know they accepted bitcoin for payment. They do this directly and it’s very easy to scan the QR code at checkout with your smartphone or with your bitcoin wallet address directly copying and pasting as well.
They frequently have holiday sales and other coupons and promotions you can use on top of the discounts of using bitcoin as well. I actually bought a rug a few years back from them using bitcoin and it was very simple to use and I had no issues.
This was one of the first major retailers to start accepting crypto, as the company’s founder Patrick Byrne has been a long time supporter of bitcoin. I personally like to support companies that allow you to pay in bitcoin as opposed to the ones that don’t, but that’s just me. I like to support the cause and businesses that do as well.
#4 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN AT EXPRESSVPN
This is KEY when dealing with bitcoin. When spending bitcoin online and also trading or investing bitcoin online, it is imperative that you are not tracked and using a VPN is key in doing this. I use Express VPN when dealing with any online bitcoin transaction, especially when doing trading on exchanges, like Binance or Coinbase. Luckily, you can also buy Express VPN with bitcoin as well and it’s crucial to protect your anonymity when doing this. VPN’s are also useful when doing typical web browsing and not wanting to be tracked with what and where you spend your time online.
Additionally, you will be able to use this to access other popular streamers and websites that put limits on your IP address, such as Amazon and Netflix, without having to pay them more. You may not know but some major websites track your information from your IP address and sell that information to advertisers.
Have you ever been talking about something privately, and then when you look at your Facebook feed or Instagram feed and you see an ad for what you were just talking about? Very creepy, but very real. The ExpressVPN not only allows you to use this on your iPhone and Android, but it works on multiple devices at the same time, for each device in your home.
My favorite part of course (not to beat a dead horse) is the fact that you can get a free 30 day trial and test it out and the use BITCOIN to pay for it. Super cool.
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR EXPRESS VPN FREE 30-DAY TRIAL
#5 HOW TO SPEND BITCOIN AT EXPEDIA.COM
This one is probably my second favorite source as almost everyone has heard of Expedia.com for travel. At some point in our lives, we probably have researched vacations or even bought flights and hotel packages from this site, and for good reason. This site has a wealth of information and provides tons of value, including tons of reviews from people that have already taken a specific vacation and they incentivize people to do this.
For me, I like the fact that they take bitcoin. I always check Cheapair.com and this site before I book any trip, because I want to support the bitcoin ecosystem by contributing to the network and transactions.
Needless to say, Expedia is very much considered a trusted authority site and the fact that they are one of the only travels sites accepting bitcoin for payment. I don’t have to do much selling here, but you can also receive a discount by using the Life Info App link above and make sure to check out the article that gives an in-depth of that review on how to start earning your own bitcoin, for free.
CONCLUSION
All in all, these are the top 5 places I spend my bitcoin online, there are tons of other sites you can spend your bitcoin at, and I will leave a link with a MAP right here. It is my belief that the more we start seeing everyday stores that people use on a regular basis, and that includes gas stations and grocery stores, the more we will not only see the price and value of bitcoin go up, but it will be a free and sovereign way to manage your finances. The above video outlines what we covered here, and I will link other related videos to that as well for more crypto knowledge and value for you.
What are you favorite places to spend bitcoin online? Are there more retailers that I missed above? Let me know in the comments!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
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