Using Cryptocurrencies For Retail And Travel Payments

We are living in an ever-increasing borderless world because of the internet. However, even with a more tech-savvy world, cryptocurrency assets have yet to reach mainstream adoption. We do see more and more signs of cryptocurrencies slowly being adopted in our lives. For example, the state of Ohio started accepting taxes to be paid in Bitcoin in November last year. Argentina began accepting Bitcoin for fees in public transit and Takeaway.com allowed payments in Bitcoin on the European markets for their food ordering apps. The list keeps growing but the biggest problem hindering mainstream adoption is the fact that people do not have a way to spend their cryptocurrencies in the real world. According to an infographic from Visual Capitalist, retail purchases using Bitcoin have seen a rise of more than 2000% per month, growing from $9.2M per month in 2013 to $190.2M per month in 2017. Without a doubt it will continue to grow. 

Even though adoption has slowly increased because of the bigger companies, governments or even entire countries, a lot of smaller retailers are still hesitant to accept cryptocurrency assets for payments. This is mostly due to their volatile nature, their slow transaction times and/or because of their high transaction fees. So, what better way to help mainstream adoption and combat these doubts? Being able to spend your crypto on the go anywhere in the world where major credit cards are accepted, hassle free! Anyone can now spend their crypto while traveling or during their day-to-day life with the BlockCard. Every user of the BlockCard can easily store, withdraw, send and spend his or her cryptocurrencies. 

Many critics of cryptocurrency assets advocate that people are not using them as they should be; as a payment method. However, only recently Jaide Barclay, a crypto vlogger decided to travel to a multitude of countries for 12 weeks using cryptocurrencies. It was a great idea, however Jaide ran into some troubles. As she made her way through different cities, she found herself having to Google places that accepted cryptocurrencies. According to Jaide, using a few crypto cards made things easier.  However parting with her crypto as the prices were fluctuating was not ideal. 

Many people travel for different reasons; some travel for leisure and others for business. Whether you fall in either category, you are bound to spend money on food, lodging, entertainment, souvenirs and let’s not forget foreign transaction fees. 

According to the US Travel Association, yearly spending on traveling alone surpassed the $1,000 billion mark in 2017 and it was estimated to keep on rising. Results from an AARP Travel showed that people expect to spend anywhere between $5,400 and $6,800 on travel expenses.

A great way to spend your crypto in the real world is by using the BlockCard. Having the BlockCard means that you are not dependent on retailers to accept cryptocurrencies because BlockCard has partnered with VISA. The BlockCard user can easily and safely store their crypto on their cards and spend it wherever VISA is accepted. Once the user is ready to make a purchase, BlockCard initiates a seamless transaction on the back-end. The retailer will receive their payment in their local currency and the user is able to spend their cryptocurrency on the go hassle free. 

Being able to integrate crypto-spending into our everyday lives and especially when we are traveling, will make things easier and will certainly boost mainstream adoption. The BlockCard allows crypto holders to spend their digital currency wherever and whenever they want.

 

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