also accept bitcoin, but its popularity has stalled
out in recent years.
AM I ABLE TO USE BITCOIN TO
BUY STUFF?
The digital currency has become popular
enough that more than 300,000 transactions
typically occur in an average day, according
to bitcoin wallet site blockchain.info. Still,
its popularity is low compared with cash and
credit cards.
Besides Tesla, few companies have said they’ll
accept Bitcoin as payment. Overstock.com
appears to accept Bitcoin for most listings
on its website, including cameras, vacuums
and clothes. PayPal allows its accountholders
to buy, sell and hold four cryptocurrencies,
including Bitcoin — but you can’t use it to pay
people, at least not yet. The payment company
Square bought $50 million worth of Bitcoin
in October at about $10,600 each, and allows
users of its cash app to buy Bitcoin from their
mobile devices.
Lee Reiners, who teaches fintech and
cryptocurrency courses at Duke University
School of Law, believes many companies will
remain hesitant to accept Bitcoin as payment
for products and services because of the
volatile price.
“If you were a merchant, why would you accept
payment in an asset that could be worth 20%
less a day after you receive it?,” Reiners said in
an email.
But Richard Lyons, a finance professor at the
University of California at Berkeley, predicts
Bitcoin and other digital currencies “will become