For readers looking for unique, meaningful gifts for their valentine this Valentine’s Day, consider giving a cryptocurrency-related gift. Here are nine options: A cryptocurrency gift card Give your significant other the gift of choice by giving them a cryptocurrency gift card. They can use it to buy food or any digital asset they want, whether that’s Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) or a stablecoin like USD Coin (USDC). Virtual real estate Readers can buy virtual real estate in the metaverse, such as in Decentraland or The Sandbox, as a unique, romantic gift. Their significant other can build and customize their own …

What are the pros and cons of accepting Bitcoin payments? Accepting Bitcoin payments is advantageous due to lower fees than credit and debit cards, expansion of customer base and real-time bank balances. However, risks like volatility and cybercrime may undermine these benefits. Cryptocurrency payments help save excessive credit and debit card processing fees as they are decentralized and do not need intermediaries to verify the transaction. Moreover, merchants do not incur overseas currency exchange changes if payments are made in BTC or other cryptocurrencies. High transaction speed is another benefit of accepting Bitcoin payments, allowing businesses to receive payments in …

Bitcoin (BTC) is a dynamic monetary asset with the potential of being both — a commodity and a currency. For instance, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) classified BTC as a commodity, whereas El Salvador made Bitcoin a legal tender in 2021. So, does this make BTC a store of value or a medium of exchange? It can do both — On one hand, BTC can be added to treasuries as an inflationary hedge. On the other hand, it could also serve the retail purpose of paying for routine expenses. Almost over a decade ago, the first person to utilize …

Switzerland’s crypto boom has entered another dimension with retailers rolling out Bitcoin (BTC) vouchers and gift cards. According to Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger, Manor — the country’s largest department store chain — is already selling Bitcoin voucher cards in 59 of its branches. Meanwhile, the retail giant Valora will begin selling BTC gift cards in its kiosks across the country starting April 1. Dubbed “Cryptonow,” the Bitcoin vouchers are from the stables of Värdex Suisse, a cryptocurrency financial services firm. Värdex is also a subsidiary of major Swiss crypto exchange Bitcoin Suisse. According to Simon Grylka, head of operations at Värdex, …

A report published by Arcane Research has revealed that nearly half of Paxful’s trade volume comes from trade between Bitcoin (BTC) and gift cards. The report found that, “purchasing Bitcoin with gift cards has been the preferred solution on Paxful each month throughout the five-year span analyzed,” and in June accounted for 48% of Paxful’s volume. Paxful processes nearly $40 million in weekly trade, which means up to $20M of BTC is exchanged for gift cards every week. Arcane highlighted the last week of June this year in the report, in which $16.2M BTC was sold for gift cards. Arcane …

Bitcoin payments app Fold now supports home-sharing giant Airbnb, the firm announced on Nov. 11. Now Fold users can get 3% back in Bitcoin (BTC) on every stay and experience booked on Airbnb. $25 and $100 Airbnb gift cards for Bitcoin Airbnb is now listed on its rewards program called Fold Kickbacks. The program supports Bitcoin’s second layer Lightning Network (LN) allowing to buy gift cards for Bitcoin with 3% cashback. Currently, Fold offers $25 or $100 gift cards on its website. Launched in July 2019, the Fold Kickbacks program already supports some big-name retailers including Amazon, Starbucks and Uber. …

Japan’s largest gift card platform Amaten will issue tokenized gift cards in partnership with blockchain network provider Aelf. United Kingdom news outlet Verdict reported on Aug. 20 that Amaten has partnered with Aelf — one of the 30 blockchain providers certified by the China Electronics Technology Standardization Institute — to issue gift cards on the blockchain. Amaten plans to build its framework on top of Aelf’s platform to tokenize its gift cards, enabling them to be exchanged and managed on the blockchain. Gift cards and blockchain: “A completely natural fit” Amaten and Aelf want to decrease fraud by enabling gift …

Major U.S. cryptocurrency wallet and exchange Coinbase has entered the crypto gift card market, allowing customers in certain countries to exchange coins for brand e-certificates, according to their July 25 blog post. In the post, Coinbase confirmed the new option was made possible through a partnership with UK-based startup WeGift, and will effectively allow cryptocurrency holders to pay for goods and services through brands such as Nike, Tesco, Uber, Google Play, Ticketmaster, and Zalando: “Starting today, Coinbase customers in the EU and Australia are able to instantly spend their cryptocurrency balances on e-gift cards, making us the first trading platform …

Startup BuyAnyCoin (BAC) wants to hang a prepaid crypto card next to prepaid phone and debit cards in convenience stores. They're currently holding an Indiegogo fundraiser, hoping to raise US$10,000 for merchant outreach and continued backend development. Thor Thurneau, BAC founder, writes: “Imagine this: You walk in to your local convenience store, grab a drink and head to the register. In your peripheral vision you catch a glance of a card on the counter that says BuyAnyCoin Voucher. You ask the cashier about the card. She tells you, 'You just redeem it at their website for any of the popular …

A curious user recently asked members of the Bitcoin subreddit how they spend their bitcoins on an everyday basis. Because Reddit is a global community, it's likely that their responses are reflective of overall patterns. Here's how the bits are flowing today: 1. Coffee and Food Delivery – Couture coffee got a whole lot cheaper the day that Foldapp started offering 20% off Starbucks purchases. Redditors also use bitcoins for food delivery services like Foodler, Magic and Thuisbezorgd (Netherlands). Word on the street is that Foldapp will soon add both Whole Foods and Target to its 20 % off list, …

If only everything were available for purchase in Bitcoin. Oh, wait, it is. Anything from plane tickets to houses, sex toys to groceries, can be purchased just by using CheapAir or BitPremier, Purse or Magic (respectively). But you can also just buy good ol'-fashioned gift cards. The companies Gyft, eGifter, and newly-rebranded Gift Off stand out in the crypto-for-gift card space: 1. Gyft Founded in 2012 with the aim to eliminate the use of physical gift cards, Gyft began accepting Bitcoin relatively early on. They offer cards for over 200 retailers, including: Amazon Whole Foods Home Depot Starbucks Target Best …