Basically, spending bitcoin is the process of sending BTC to an address in exchange for goods or services and you will need access to a bitcoin wallet to do so.
In order to send BTC somewhere, or initiate a transaction, you will have to leverage the public and private keys associated with the bitcoin you’re trying to spend. The private key will be used to sign a message that describes the transaction to the larger Bitcoin network. A bitcoin wallet allows you to do so, and most will have a fairly straightforward “send” option built into the interface.
Depending on the merchant you are transacting with, you will likely input or scan their public address and indicate the amount of BTC you are spending. Or the merchant may have other payment options enabled.
For more technical information about transacting with bitcoin, check out Bitcoin Magazine’s guide.
Though many merchants currently accept bitcoin directly, many others do not. But you can spend BTC at these retailers by buying gift cards that they do accept using your bitcoin.
There are several online services that sell major retailer gift cards for BTC, allowing users to spend their bitcoin at places like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and virtually anywhere else they may want to spend their HODLings. These services typically charge a fee for facilitating these gift card marketplaces, but they also unlock whole new worlds of retail payments.
BTC can’t be held in a bank account and, therefore, cannot be spent via a bank-issued debit or credit card in the traditional sense. But some groups do offer debit cards that store BTC and can be used wherever debit cards are usually accepted.
For instance, a few providers have partnered with Visa to allow users to spend their bitcoin instantly through a debit card, just as they would with their fiat. These services also typically charge fees and collect personal identifying information on customers, but in exchange they create a seamless way to spend BTC just like fiat.
As bitcoin becomes a more popular medium of exchange, some services have been launched that offer shoppers BTC rewards (sometimes known as “sats back”) for their purchases. These services maintain partner networks with popular retailers that enable them to give bitcoin back to shoppers who make purchases from those retailers.
There are many ways to spend BTC, from direct transactions to gift and debit card services. Through these services, there is virtually no limit to what you can buy with bitcoin. But some people might be curious about the best stuff to buy with bitcoin.
Our list of Bitcoin Black Friday deals is not only a great resource of retailers that allow you to buy things with bitcoin, but it also features discounted item listings that allow you to save money overall when you choose this decentralized payment method.
In addition to the series of methods through which you can buy things with BTC, there is a growing list of major retailers that accept bitcoin directly. To find a list of these retailers, check out BitcoinBlackFriday.com, then visit some additional databases that allow you to easily sort through the hundreds of businesses that accept BTC, such as spendabit and BitcoinWide.
Below, we’ve listed some of the most popular mainstream retailers to accept bitcoin:
The major tech-focused online retailer Newegg has accepted bitcoin for some time, offering the payment option to its users across more than 80 countries. Its bitcoin-focused webpage even includes a fundamental BTC explainer video to help people understand the advantages of this technology, focusing on the ease of mobile payments, security and control, wide-ranging access, speedy international payments and fee control.
“For a forward-thinking e-commerce provider like Newegg, Bitcoin delivers a new look into mobile payments and payment processing, in an environment driven by fraud prevention and payment security,” Bitcoin Magazine explained in an announcement of Newegg’s BTC payment option in 2014. “Not only will the company be able to process frictionless payments via bitcoin, but Newegg will likely see a drastic increase in sales and huge savings on payment processing fees.”
It goes without saying that Microsoft is a major name in the technology space, so when the computing giant began accepting BTC payments for apps, games and other digital content in 2014, it was seen as a major win by Bitcoiners.
“The use of digital currencies such as bitcoin … is growing beyond early enthusiasts,” a Microsoft spokesperson wrote at the time, according to CNN. “We expect this growth to continue and allowing people to use bitcoin to purchase our products and services now allows us to be a front edge of this market.”
Microsoft’s Xbox line is its primary avenue for BTC payments, but customers may soon realize the advantages of Bitcoin for payments company-wide.
Overstock is one of the largest online retailers in the world and began accepting bitcoin payments in 2014, making it the largest company at that time to do so. Its founder, Patrick Byrne, is an outspoken proponent of blockchain technology and Bitcoin — he has even advised the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition, which has been dedicated to clearing regulatory hurdles to Bitcoin advancements.
And Overstock’s embrace of BTC has not only helped it realize faster and more efficient payments; it proved to be a better business route than the company’s traditional approach.
“The dramatic rise in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is a big reason Overstock is pushing forward with blockchain deals and de-emphasizing the retail business,” CNN reported in 2018.
Because it is one of the world’s preeminent online retailers, lots of people want to know if Amazon accepts BTC. Sadly, Amazon doesn’t accept bitcoin directly as payment yet, but there are a few ways to buy things from Amazon using bitcoin.
In 2019, the payment startup Moon released a web browser extension that let users make purchases on Amazon with the Lightning Network. Plus, a wide range of platforms offer Amazon gift cards in exchange for BTC, which users can then leverage to make purchases from the site. For instance, bitcoin-to-gift card service Fold enabled Lightning Network payments for Amazon purchases.
“Rather than buying store credit with on-chain bitcoin for services and stores like Amazon … users now have the instant and cheap option of spending their sats through the Lightning Network,” per Bitcoin Magazine.
BitcoinBlackFriday.com is the central hub listing all merchants offering special deals for Bitcoin Black Friday and beyond, so make sure you check in on our homepage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media to make sure you stay up to date with all of the potential savings.
There are several categories of merchants offering Bitcoin Black Friday deals, including:
Individual merchants that are offering Bitcoin Black Friday deals run the gamut, from Bitcoin-specific groups to mainstream providers that want to take advantage of Bitcoin’s better money. Some are offering discounts on their products, some offer “buy-one-get-one-free” deals and some are offering bonuses.
For a full listing of merchants offering Bitcoin Black Friday deals, check out our BBF Deals page.
