The interest in cryptocurrencies has never been bigger than now. With all the turbulence in the global economy, people are starting to invest in and trade these digital assets. Some hope to earn some side money, some hope to get rich overnight, some simply enjoy the advantages of ultra-fast, anonymous, and cheap transactions these currencies offer.
Those who are new to the market, are probably wondering what can you buy with this type of money? Well, the network of the products and services you can buy with cryptocurrencies grows wider every day. Not so long ago, it was a challenge (if not even impossible) to find a place to spend them, but now, this is changing, and fast! There are countless shops and bars that accept this type of payment. Not to mention the online purchase of services such as plane tickets, accommodation, etc. In some countries, you can even buy a car.
Cryptocurrency payments in their current form may not become the standard yet when it comes to smaller transactions and daily payments in stores, but when it comes to larger amounts it is more logical to expect that this type of payment could be used more often. Those who have managed to earn more on the crypto market can turn this digital money into a physical asset.
The popularity of cryptocurrency and its demand is determined by all the ways it can be used. The next logical question any reader would ask is, what are the most popular cryptocurrencies you can buy things with? Keep reading this article, as it will give you a fresh, 2024 guide.
1. Bitcoin (BTC)
No doubt the most famous currency and the first that was ever created. When people talk about mining, they think bitcoin. Regardless of all the predictions about its great fall, it still holds the number one place, when it comes to popularity.
Accepting this currency as a means of payment depends entirely on the decision of a certain company. Therefore, there is no special market where bitcoin is universally accepted. Instead, there are different companies in different service sectors that want to expand their customer base by introducing digital currencies as a new means of payment. After all, the more payment options a business offers, the more sales they can expect. Read more to find out why this particular digital currency is useful to buy.
As it was already mentioned earlier in the text, many products and services can be bought with bitcoin. The list of all online selling platforms includes websites such as Etsy. Donations, video games, and travel packages are among the list of things you can spend your digital currency on.
2. Ethereum (ETH)
One of the first cryptocurrencies that appeared on the market, a couple of years ago. For quite a long time it’s been hanging on the top of the list of the digital currencies with the highest market value.
For beginners, to understand Ethereum, its capabilities, and its possible impact on society as a whole, it is important to get to know its basic features and understand how they differ from the standard approach. The question of what it is requires a very extensive explanation, but the shortest answer to it would be: a blockchain network that allows everyone to create decentralized applications and smart contracts.
Some may tell you that this is not the best currency to own, since it has experienced a drop in the price, in the past. But, this typical to all currencies, not just this one. It has proven to be more than able to climb the ladder to the top quite fast, being one of the cryptocurrencies with the highest value on the market.
3. Litecoin (LTC)
Nine years ago, the crypto market was presented with the currency aiming to provide its owners with an asset for the cheaper, everyday purpose. It offers faster transaction confirmation times and better storage efficiency than the leading mathematical currency. Just to give you an illustration of this, an estimated transaction time when you are using bitcoin is around ten minutes, while by using Litecoin you cut the time to two and a half minutes. So, unless the plan to perform the transfer of millions of od dollars, use this currency for cheaper transactions and be done with it quickly.
A question that can arise from this, what’s so special about this currency, and why did it not fail as so many of them have? The answer is in the mining process which is cheaper than the others. It requires equipment that is not as expensive as the one used for the already mentioned currencies. This is also the reason why it’s so popular and will remain on the list of the most popular digital currencies in the world.
4. Ripple (XRP)
This cryptocurrency offers its owners a safe and ultra-fast transfer of the transaction anywhere in the world, also without any kind of extra charge. You might say that this is not so special, since all the cryptocurrencies we already wrote about are offering the same. Well, not exactly. Ripple is special because it uses a different approach to transactions. It’s not using blockchain. This makes it much faster than bitcoin. However, not using blockchain has its risks. While performing the transactions, it is much more vulnerable and exposed to attacks. Regardless of this, its popularity on the market does not cease to exist.
5. Zcash (ZEC)
Zcash is a star on the rise, which those who follow crypto markets may have already noticed. This digital currency is all about protecting the privacy of its owner and is based on very strong science. What you can expect when buying things with Zcash is that the rates will be very low and that all your data about them will be kept private. The validation of the transaction will not reveal any data about the amount of the parties involved in the transaction.
Buying things with cryptocurrencies makes you shopping extremely simple. All it requires is a QR code, which is scanned from your crypto wallet. No need for change, or transactional fees.
