Today, millions of people around the world buy coffee and movie tickets, paying with cryptocurrency.

After all, it was created primarily as an alternative to fiat (ordinary) money, a means of payment that is not subject to inflation, blocking, high commissions, and instability of the banking system, because it does not depend on cryptocurrency. Now, this alternative is slowly but surely taking its place in the market – and this is evidenced by three facts.

Fact 1. Cryptocurrency is accepted in stores

Fifteen years ago, paying by credit card caused stress to cashiers and vigilance among its users. We see something similar today when trying to pay with cryptocurrency. But the process has started and every year the number of companies that are ready to sell goods for virtual money is actively growing in the world. Among them are world-famous giants PayPal, KFC, Starbucks, Shopify, Microsoft, and others.

In 2015, programmer Felix Weiss conducted an experiment – he visited 27 countries around the world, paying in the process of traveling only with bitcoins. This “crypto-promotion” has forced many companies to pay attention to the new currency. After that, many hotels, restaurants, booking services, and airlines began to accept cryptocurrency. Especially their number has increased in recent years. Against the background of the pandemic crisis, tourism companies are ready to master new technologies to make it convenient for customers to pay.

Therefore, the benefits of non-fiat money are especially actively used in the tourism sector – firstly, this currency does not need to be converted, losing on commission, and secondly, hundreds of thousands of trading platforms open to the user, where they accept virtual coins. Giant travel services such as BitcoinTravel, TravelbyBit, Destinia, and others allow you to buy tickets and book accommodation with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in hundreds of thousands of hotels and airlines around the world.

Fact 2. Anyone can buy cryptocurrency

And where does cryptocurrency come from in a cryptocurrency? Most often Ukrainians buy it on the exchanges Binance (the largest exchange in the world) or Kuna (the first Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange). The registration process is very simple and similar to registering on a regular website. There are thousands of types of cryptocurrencies, ranging from the most popular and most expensive – Bitcoin (BTC, rate – $ 56 thousand) and Ethereum (ETC, rate – $ 4 thousand), ending with currencies worth less than one cent. And it is not necessary to buy a whole coin, you can buy a part of it, spending only a few hryvnias. There are also many services that offer to buy and sell digital coins in mobile applications, on P2p platforms, as well as in specialized exchangers.

Every year the number of such services grows, and their availability and ease of use gradually turn cryptocurrency into a regular means of payment. The growing popularity of the new currency has led to the fact that now you can buy digital money even through crypto ATMs, which are similar to our usual banking. In 2021, the number of installed cryptocurrency ATMs in the world increased by more than 70%. Currently, new ATMs are being installed at speeds of more than 52 units per day. Most of them are in the United States.

For example, the American retail chain Walmart has recently installed 200 terminals in its stores and plans to increase their number to 8,000. In Ukraine, there are still about 20 such ATMs in Kyiv and major cities, but their number is growing steadily. Store purchased digital money in cryptocurrencies. And here the market offers a variety of options: online wallets, hardware, paper, and more. The safest way is to buy a virtual safe at one of the most famous shopping malls. In fact, a crypto wallet is a program, that you can install on a computer or phone to have access to your money at any time and if you want to play with them when buying goods.

Fact 3. Cryptocurrency is easy to pay

Until recently, the cryptocurrency payment process had only one drawback – the duration of the transaction. Sometimes this process took more than an hour, and this, of course, scared many users. But in September 2021 – just after the adoption of the law on legalization – the BitsWallet service was launched on the Ukrainian market, which, with the support of the Contech Fintech Solutions fintech ecosystem, significantly simplifies and speeds up the cryptocurrency settlement process. With the help of BitsWallet, the user attaches a bank card to his crypto wallet and when buying goods pays with digital money as easily as traditional, including using the usual services GooglePay and ApplePay.

The service allows you to safely buy and sell hundreds of types of cryptocurrencies, exchange, transfer, pay for goods and withdraw money at ATMs.