Bitcoin: The Future Currency for Entrepreneurs!

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Photo Credit: iStock.com/Artist’s traviswolfe

With the gradual popularity of Bitcoin, i.e. the world’s first decentralized digital currency; entrepreneurs are finding more ways to frequently utilize it. They are becoming more lenient towards the concept of virtual money that they can work with on an international level. Currently, it faces no government regulations and holds no intrinsic value. It does, however, rely on the unusual mechanism of accumulating value through peer-to-peer networks which are safe, unique, and impossible to inflate artificially.

The price of this untraceable money soured up to $1,200 from $13.50 just eleven months ago. Even though it carries an impression of fishy dealings and illegal businesses (such as its relation to the drug mart Silk Road and gambling websites), it is doing rather well with the legitimate businesses as well. For the Bitcoin enthusiasts, there is no dearth of places to spend their fortune. Let’s have a look at ten of the most common places they can spend their money.

1. Pay the Legal Attorney

Ryan Hurley of Rose Law Group tackles legal issues for the medical marijuana businesses, renewable energy clients, etc. Even though his firm worries about the wild fluctuations in Bitcoin value, Hurley has convinced them to accept the virtual money as well as to represent for the Bitcoin millionaires.

2. Treat Yourself at Subway

A Subway franchise owner Sapan Shah has started accepting the digital currency through smartphone app Coinbase. He’s happy that the subway corporation supported his experiment. However, to actually utilize the earned money, he still needs to convert it once every week to pay his bills.

3. Pay for a University in Cyprus

The English-Language University of Nicosia is the first accredited university to accept Bitcoin for tuition and other types of fee payments. “We are acutely aware that digital currency is an inevitable technical development that will lead to significant innovation in online commerce, financial systems, international payments and remittances and global economic development,” wrote one of the members of the Council of the University of Nicosia, Dr. Christos Vlachos, who is also the University’s chief financial officer, in an official statement. “In this light, we consider it appropriate that we implement digital currency as a method of payment across all our institutions in all cities and countries of our operations.”

4. Pizza For Coins

PizzaForCoins is slowly and gradually becoming popular in the United States and Australia. Currently, their service is offline in the United Kingdom. There are also some plans to open service for the Canadians. The service basically allows you to order from any local Pizza Hut, Domino’s or Papa John’s once you pay PizzaForCoins in Bitcoin currency.

5. Get a Haircut

Baber Josh Arias from Reno, NV, has only had one customer paying in virtual money so far but he feels so good about it that he wishes that all his customers could pay the same way. It saves him the merchant fees he pays everytime he swipes a customer’s credit card, sometimes up to 2.75%.

6. Auction for Art & Antiques

The auction house president Michael Kondratov found out about Bitcoins when he had to pay himself to keep his company website online. He now feels comfortable accepting bids with Bitcoins for antique items sold on the Aspire Auctions website. His company has profited handsomely as a result of that initiative.

7. Learn Martial Arts

The Atlanta Kick team gives training for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, and Kickboxing. The owner Jeff Thompson started accepting fees in digital coins after learning about it at a tech conference. He thinks it will take some time before the trend catches on. Still, people are using it to purchase memberships and equipment. Thompson is so fascinated by the idea that he wants to install a Bitcoin ATM next year.

8. Tour de Space with Virgin Galactic

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic venture aims at promoting space tourism. He recently announced that Bitcoins are now acceptable as payment for his suborbital space flights. In Branson’s own words “Virgina Galactic is a bold entrepreneurial technology — it’s driving a revolution — and Bitcoin has been just the same.”

9. Buy E-cigarettes

Australians are more open to experiments when it comes to using Bitcoin currency. Karl Edwards is one such example of an Australian businessman selling electronic cigarettes to the Americans. While he accepts traditional money, he loves the concept of decentralized international currency.

10. The Swiss Pharmacy

If you need high quality reliable medicines, you need to contact the Swiss Pharmacy. Not only generic but branded medicines are also available, and more importantly, for Bitcoin currency. You can have your order shipped worldwide with a few exceptions listed on the website.

Bitcoin vs. Other Payment Networks

As Bitcoin is attracting more and more investors, the value is getting significantly higher. Within a year, it has soured to more than $1000. Its daily transaction volume is already higher from the global payment network Western Union. However, it has yet to surpass PayPal’s daily transaction volume which is still 27% higher.

Have a look at this interesting diagram that was published in Statista this week.

About The Author

Kelvin Stiles is a tech enthusiast and works as a marketing consultant at SurveyCrest – FREE online survey software and publishing tools for academic and business use. He is also an avid blogger and a comic book fanatic.