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Cryptocurrency adoption: real use cases from the real world

Jan 18, 2019

Cryptocurrency in retail

The first thing which comes to mind when we start talking about crypto adoption is using it in stores and for services. A lot of coins are designed as a mean of payment and are currently accepted by large online retailers. It started with e-commerce marketplace Overstock and electronic retailer Newsegg. They began accepting BTC in 2014. Other companies including Microsoft, Amazon, and Cheap-Air hopped on the crypto train a bit later. The number of digital currencies accepted by these companies is increasing, for instance; Overstock expanded its range by more than 40 coins.

A more unusual case of adoption can be seen in what KFC Canada did when they introduced a bucket that can only be paid for with Bitcoin. The Bitcoin Bucket cost the equivalent of 20 Canadian Dollars. Unfortunately, it was a limited offer, available for only a short period of time.

If you want to have your hair done for some Bitcoin you should go to England. A barbershop in Ewell, Epsom (17 miles away from London) has been offering stylish haircuts in exchange for coins. They accept BTC, XRP, ETH, DASH and several others. The place has been heavily hyped on Reddit since the barbershop owner posted a photo in r/Cryptocurrency about accepting crypto. He gets a customer every week willing to pay in digital cash and has earned about GBP 3000-4000 in cryptocurrency in the past year.

Institutional adoption

Recently everyone’s been talking about the use of cryptocurrencies by big financial institutions. The most popular topic is the Bakkt platform by the NYSE, which will be launched in the beginning of 2019. The exchange will offer Bitcoin as a financial tool for institutional investors. It is considered by many industry insiders as one of the most anticipated events of the year. Bakkt has the potential to positively impact the price of Bitcoin and contribute to its wider adoption on a significant scale. Besides Bakkt, NASDAQ and Fidelity also have plans to roll out crypto-exchanges of their own.

Apart from that, cryptocurrency has been already implemented by some banks. Reisebank, Standarter and several others use the Ripple platform to perform cross-border payments. They use XRP as an intermediate exchange coin for fiat because the transactions are faster and cheaper than in traditional systems like SWIFT. The CEO of Ripple is confident about the company’s success and sure that more financial institutions will come to use Ripple’s products by the end of 2019.

Countries are not really willing to legalize crypto yet. We are not going to tell you about petro coin in Venezuela because everybody’s heard about it. But good news has come from the state of Ohio. It has become the first US state to accept Bitcoin for tax payments. The state launched a special website ohiocrypto.com, where business can pay their taxes with crypto. Currently, the site accepts only BTC but they are looking to add more options in the future.

Gambling and betting

Cryptocurrency is an ideal tool for the gambling and betting industry, so there’s no surprise that it has become very popular among sport betting services and gambling websites. We have already told you about the best betting websites accepting crypto, check them out. As for online casinos, there are several popular platforms such as FortuneJack and mBit Casino where you can try your luck if you’ve got some spare coins.

Las Vegas, the heart of the gambling industry, decided it didn’t want to miss out on the fun; ATMs, where people can cash out their Bitcoins are installed all around Las Vegas and some casinos accept BTC as payment. But Las Vegas strip clubs have gone even further. Strippers have been getting temporary tattoos with QR codes to accept Bitcoins. The use of cryptocurrency allows the dancers to avoid explaining to banks where they get large amounts of cash. According to some strip club workers, banks can block accounts linked to people working in the adult entertainment industry.

Media and entertainment

If you are a blogger, writer, or videographer crypto adoption could be especially significant for you. Platforms like Steemit, Cent, Bitchute etc. are social networks that reward creators contributing to their platforms. Create valuable and interesting content, share it and you will get an internal coin, which can be exchanged with any other cryptocurrency.

In case your art project costs you a fortune, Tokit can be the solution. Tokit works as a crowdfunding platform for music producers, film directors, writers, etc., helping them tokenize their projects. Thus, they can manage the rights, revenue and royalties of their project by transferring tokens to contributors or anyone who was part of their team. Tokit drew a lot of attention in 2017 when a Slovenian music producer raised $ 2 mln. in 24 hours on this platform.

Video games are perfect for tokenization. A lot of online multiplayer games have numerous in-game items that are tradable among users. Having no internal system for trading, gamers don’t have any guarantee that they won’t be cheated. Now with the boom of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, game projects such as Worldopoly and Beyond the Void have designed their own tokens to create an internal cryptocurrency economy. Players can sell and buy in-game swords, spaceships, vehicles, etc. and don’t have to worry ABOUT fraud because all transactions and rights for the items are registered On the blockchain.

Despite all the negative talk about crypto and the recent bear market, new crypto users are flocking to the industry. As the number of users increases, the interest from companies is also growing. New places to use your coins keep opening up all over the place. If you look closely you might even be able to find a place in your neighborhood to buy bread with crypto.

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