Bitcoin is a household name for sure.
But you hear the common person talking about it, and more often than not, they just don’t really know what it is. Even people with a general knowledge of the tech world struggle with concepts like ‘proof of importance’ and ‘hash algorithms.’ Most of us know that Bitcoin is a digital currency, but we don’t really know much beyond that.
There’s also a lot of uncertainty when it comes to markets. Some say that cryptocurrencies being decentralized will provide for transparency and innovation. Others, like the famed economist Nouriel Roubini, affectionately nicknamed “Dr. Doom” by some traders, say it’s a recipe for fraud and general trouble.
The good news is that you don’t really have to sort all of that out, unless you’re making a more sophisticated play on a cryptocurrency market. For people who would just like to hold a little Bitcoin at a time, this big-name cryptocurrency functions just fine as a form of payment.
Take Starbucks – for a while now, leaders of this top coffee chain have been talking about how they’re going to allow people to buy their morning latte with a small piece of Bitcoin.
Here are five other major companies that are in the process of building out acceptance for Bitcoin payment.
Overstock.com
You can talk about big chains like Alibaba or eBay, some of which have signed onto forms of crypto use, but Overstock.com is pretty big on its own. This popular discount e-commerce platform is one of those many firms that’s moving toward Bitcoin adoption for consumer payments.
Shopify
Small businesses or other parties that want cheap and efficient websites often go to the Shopify platform to build their online models. Now there’s news that Shopify will also accept Bitcoin payments, meaning that if you’re an entrepreneur holding Bitcoin and trying to build out your web empire, you’ll be able to pay at least part of your bill with the cryptocurrency.
Intuit Labs
This is another sign that small business services are trending for Bitcoin acceptance. Intuit Labs is often used as the small business tax preparer on the American Main Street. Allowing business clients and individuals to pay with Bitcoin gives the entrepreneur yet another tool when it comes to his or her finance and accounting streams.
Expedia
This discount travel company is also poised to accept Bitcoin in the near future. Expect other competitors like Cheaptickets and Hotwire to also move in at some point.
Food Service Companies
This one is a twofer, and it also hits close to home for the gourmand. Word on the street is you can get Kentucky Fried Chicken in Canada by paying with Bitcoin. On the American side, Subway, that ubiquitous franchises sells us so many of our rest beef and tuna and chicken sub sandwiches on the cheap, is also supposed to be accepting Bitcoin soon, according to reports.
All of this is good news for Bitcoin investors. It means that rather than trying to hold Bitcoin for some eventual value increase, you can actually hold it as a currency. Then, if it beats inflation, as it’s likely to do, you’ll already be ahead of the U.S. dollar. People have been doing this with national fiat currencies for decades, but now cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are set to make it much easier.
