Bitcoin is more than just an investment

Despite being one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is often criticized for “not having any real-life use cases.”

Well, nothing can be far from the truth.

Millions of people are already using Bitcoin and other crypto services across a wide range of industries — from eCommerce to travel and gaming. When Starbucks unveiled ‘Starbucks Odyssey,’ a blockchain-based loyalty platform — most people didn’t even know it was based on blockchain and web3 technologies.

“...the customer — to be honest — may very well not even know that what they’re doing is interacting with blockchain technology. It’s just the enabler,” Brady Brewer, CMO at Starbucks

In this blog, we will look at a few astonishing use cases of Bitcoin across diverse industries. If that sounds exciting, let’s get going.

7 Real-world Use Cases of Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies E-commerce

Several eCommerce giants, including Newegg, Etsy, and Gyft, are leveraging Bitcoin’s potential to enable faster and safer international transactions. Consumers prefer crypto payments as they are anonymous and untraceable — allowing them to keep their online activities private.

For store owners, crypto payments are a better alternative to credit/debit card transactions as they are cheaper to process.The payment processing fees levied by credit card companies can go up to 3.5%. However, most crypto payment gateways charge anywhere from 0.5 to 1% — almost three times lesser than credit card processors.

If you’re seeking to accept Bitcoin payments on your online store, sign up with Speed today. Being a leading payment processor, Speed has helped over 550 merchants and businesses from across 21 countries. Get started today to experience Speed’s full suite of payment features.

• Real Estate

Did you know you can buy Miami Beach’s most expensive penthouse with cryptocurrency?

Yes, that’s possible.

On May 27th, 2021, Arte by Antonio Citterio — one of the newest, trendiest, uber-exclusive boutique condo buildings was sold for $22.5 million — paid entirely through cryptocurrency.

Real estate is one of the hottest industries that can leverage Bitcoin & other cryptocurrencies to simplify transactions.The average cost of owning a house in the US is approximately $436,800. For transactions so big, you need a fair and transparent payment system that’s easily verifiable by all the stakeholders.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can provide that level of transparency as all the transactions that go through the blockchain are recorded and can be traced back to their origin.

Moreover, Bitcoin transactions have several competitive advantages over fiat money. For instance, you can instantly transfer millions of dollars in one go without any restrictions or taxes. What’s more, all the transactions are irreversible, highly secure, and completely anonymous — allowing you to keep your identity private.

Cipriani Residences Miami — a residential condominium building in Brickell, will be one of the most premium projects accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

“It’s clear that cryptocurrency is the next generation of wealth and will become a significant factor in real estate transactions in the future. Next-generation buyers are individuals who want the ability to diversify their investment portfolio into real estate quickly and easily, and the combination of blockchain and crypto allows them to do that.” Camilo Miguel, Jr., Founder and CEO of Mast Capital

A few of the most popular blockchain-powered real estate marketplaces include Propy, Crypto Real Estate, and RealT.

• Hedge against inflation & censorship

A major drawback of fiat money is its centralized nature. The governments can print money whenever they want and decrease the value of your capital.The million dollars you hold today may not be worth that much five years from now. The inflation rate and economy can dissolve the value of your money.

That’s not all.

Banks and governments can freeze your funds at any time or impose restrictions on their usage. Let’s not mention the recurring fees levied by banks for their services.

Bitcoin can address all the drawbacks of fiat money. It's coded such that only 21 million Bitcoins will ever exist in the ecosystem. This means they will get scarce with time.You can use Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation for your retirement or a safety fund that can be used in an emergency.

Create an account with Speed Bitcoin Lightning Wallet to start saving Bitcoins. Being one of the safest wallets, Speed offers unmatched features for sending/receiving Bitcoins through on-chain and lightning networks.

• International Payroll

Let’s say you run a market research company. You want to understand the adoption of electric scooters worldwide — in countries from Bangladesh to Belgium and Belarus.

You need people to conduct a few surveys. And you also need an efficient system to pay them in small chunks.

Bank transfers are simply not feasible for small payment amounts as they’re ridiculously expensive and may take days or weeks to process. Other payment options like PayPal and Stripe may not be supported in all countries. And in the regions they work, currency conversion and transfer fees can easily cost up to 15% of the payment amount.

When you’re conducting hundreds of surveys across different countries, processing so many transactions globally will be overwhelming.Bitcoin can be a potential solution to that. Payments made through Bitcoin are faster and cheaper than bank transfers.

In January 2020, Bitcoins worth $1 billion were successfully transferred to another wallet in just a few minutes for a total fee of 0.00001%.To put this into perspective, let’s see the cost of transferring $100,000 internationally through different mediums:

Bitcoin Payment

Fees Levied: 0.00001% ($0.01) | Settlement Time: ~10 mins

Standard Bank Transfer

Fees: 0.02% to 0.03% ($20.00 to $30.00) | Settlement Time: 2-4 days

Instant Bank Transfer

Fees Levied: 2.00% ($2,000.00) | Settlement Time: Instant

You see, transferring $100,000 through Bitcoin can be significantly cheaper than banks. Moreover, you can also cut the transaction time from days or weeks to a few minutes.

Bitcoin is certainly a better alternative to banks when you’re transferring funds globally. In fact, over two-fifth of people across 76 countries trust Bitcoin more than their local currency. Premise — a leading market research company, uses Bitcoin to pay their gig workers from different countries.

You can start sending global payments with Speed — the fastest Bitcoin payments processor enabling safe and secure international payments through on-chain and lightning networks.

• Peer-to-peer Lending Platforms

Another popular use case of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is a P2P lending platform. They allow individuals to borrow cryptocurrency from other lenders at a fixed interest rate. A P2P lending platform minimizes reliance on banks and financial institutions for borrowing money.

Unlike traditional currency, Bitcoin loans are efficient, widely accessible, and transparent. Anyone who has access to the internet can lend or borrow money through a P2P lending platform. And because crypto is highly divisible, users don’t have to worry about any minimum or maximum amount. They can borrow as little as they want and as much as they need.

Moreover, fees levied on processing crypto loans are significantly lower than traditional banks. This means you won’t have to pay a huge sum of money for getting a relatively small loan.

Last but not least, you will always have full custody of your funds. This minimizes the risk of any third parties mismanaging your funds.

• Decentralized Exchanges (DEX)

Decentralized exchanges (DEX) are marketplaces allowing traders to swap various digital assets without any central entity or intermediaries. In simple words, they are the opposite of centralized exchanges.

Centralized exchanges are controlled and highly regulated by intermediaries. They decide which assets can be traded, who can trade them, and when.

A centralized exchange ruins the purpose of cryptocurrencies — which were supposed to offer freedom and control to the users.This is where decentralized exchanges come into play. They offer complete freedom to trade any digital assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

A few DEXs also allow users to trade crypto for stocks and commodities. As new users join the Bitcoin ecosystem, exchange platforms will not just be limited to crypto and stocks. The day isn’t far when you will be able to invest in gold and government securities through crypto.

• Stablecoins: Moving money at the speed of the internet

We’re living in an era where you can get your groceries delivered to your doorsteps in minutes. You can stream hundreds of hours of movies on your smartphone and get almost anything delivered in a day.

And yet, if you want to transfer funds between different bank accounts or pay a bill via ACH, it will take days — and only works as per the bank’s schedule. If the bank is closed on a given day, you won’t be able to complete the transaction, no matter how urgent it is.

Stablecoins can change that.

Essentially, stablecoins are crypto assets whose value is backed up by another currency or a commodity. Stablecoins are the best of both worlds — they are as stable as dollars but can be moved across the internet like any other cryptocurrency. Stablecoins can free the dollars from fee-seeking banks and their slow and strenuous processes.

Conclusion

Frequent bank collapses have drifted a lot of users away from traditional financial institutions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government printed over $13 trillion — boosting inflation and price hikes.

It's time to take control of our money and safeguard it from inflation and economic downturns. Start your journey towards DeFi with Bitcoin.

With so many use cases across diverse industries — Bitcoin is a lot more than just an investment.

If you’re seeking to start your DeFi journey, sign up with Speed Bitcoin Lightning Wallet today and step into a world of finance free from dictatorship.