15 Big Companies That Accept Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies That Might Indicate Where We are Heading

9. PayPal

It’s hard to imagine the present-day world without PayPal, isn’t it? The famous money transferring and safe-keeping service has embedded itself deep into the very functioning of our world. Long gone are the days when you had to think about the physical location of someone that needed cash to be wired. Before, you either had to mail money or go to a bank outpost and handle the bills yourself. This is not to mention the hassle with IBAN, SWIFTs, and other annoying details. Today, with only a name or an email, you can handle millions of dollars in a matter of milliseconds. Convenient? Of course.

PayPal has successfully dominated the convenient side of today’s market, but they weren’t satisfied with the number of things they offered. Sure, they had different currencies, but a new trend soon caught their attention.

The Bitcoin craze was catching on in 2014, and PayPal wanted in on the fun. After a few weeks of negotiations and speculation, they made the grand announcement. In a partnership with BitPay, GoCoin, and Coinbase, you could begin using Bitcoin as your currency when using PayPal. Of course, many disputed the validity of the very decision, but it turned out to be an impeccable one.

This wasn’t the end of the relationship between PayPal and Bitcoin. In 2016, the company announced yet another cryptocurrency-aided feature. This time, they partnered with Coinbase to allow the service’s users to cash in Bitcoins into their PayPal account. Such a decision means much more than just mere acceptance of a new virtual currency. This move signified PayPal as the direct middle-man in making Bitcoin a reality in terms of cash conversion.

10. Subway

You wouldn’t expect to hear the words cryptocurrency and fast food in the same sentence, but it’s time to get used to stuff like this. It’s the 21^st century and we’re eying a revolution on all fronts. This is especially true for even the pillars of everyday life, like fast food purchases. One company choose to take a step into the future and make us all gasp in jealousy.

Subway functions on an interesting principle. The mother company allows individual shops to be bought by entrepreneurs and to be run by them. However, this is not all. These franchises can be modified to an extent, meaning that the owner is free to add what he wants to the mix. A few years ago, a couple of owners decided to try and add Bitcoin as a means of payment in their shops.

This caused a lot of stir and was deemed unnecessary by many people. However, this move prompted many businesses around the world catch on to the hype wave and ride out into the sunset of the financial revolution.

There are even existing rumors that Subway will start accepting Ethereum, which, by all means, would be an even better move. Ethereum is deemed more stable by some investors, but Bitcoin is currently showing no signs of stopping whatsoever. A brilliant decision nevertheless. It’s important to companies that are thinking ahead in every field.

11. Virgin Galactic

The space race is heating up recent years. More and more companies and investors are trying to open up the field for semi-affordable space travel. Yes, something that was straight out of a science fiction novel is being actively worked on by the world’s elite. Space X, Boeing, NASA and many other private and state companies are racing for the crown of the starter of space tourism.

It’s a little less serious than the Soviet-US space race all those decades ago, but it could still yield significant consequences on our world. One of the frontrunners in this race is Virgin Galactic, the brainchild of one Richard Branson. The iconic billionaire entrepreneur is the one who is to thank for much of the advancement in this field in particular.

In 2015, he made news by allowing people to book their places on trips to outer space using cryptocurrency. This not only meant a move in the right direction, but an excellent push to the then-struggling Bitcoin movement. It’s important to have the world’s elite supporting such a revolutionary cause, as their voices are the loudest and can be heard anywhere.

Richard himself has stated that he loves cryptocurrency and that he is a firm believe it will eradicate money once and for all. One of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs, investors and CEOs is definitely a good figure to have as a supporter. Moreover, he even confirmed that millions in Bitcoin payments have already been made. An amazing development nevertheless.

12. Zynga

When Facebook got off for the first time, nobody imagined it would become this big. At the beginning, people were praising for its immediacy and an efficient interface. It was being used as a means of communication more and more. People liked it and it soon brought other useful perks to the table. It became much more than the initially speculated social media network. Weather reports, link sharing, music posting – everything on this list made Facebook what it is today. But one thing made the popular network really explode and that is Facebook games. Yes, games caused the first big boom more than a decade ago.

Amongst the games we could see on Facebook at the time, most were run and created by one company – Zynga. They were solely responsible for hours upon hours of addictive gameplay, all at the comfort of your social media network.

They were the carriers of a new revolution and wanted to go all out and be even more revolutionary. One reason they were popular and their profits were sky high was the notion of in-game purchases. For small amounts of money, you can have an advantage over players. That could be done with regular money, until the board of directors decided to add Bitcoin to the mix, via BitPay. It was a wise move that allowed them to be even closer to their customers.

Only after a few days, their shares started skyrocketing, as people began praising their embracing of the new and exciting cryptocurrency. They were actually the first gaming company to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment, all those months ago. Somehow, it’s still a good decision that will always linger in the hearts of fans of games like Farmville and others.

13. Steam

We’ve somehow established a trend on this list. Company after company has reestablished the meaning of “service”, immediately bettering the way we look at that specific business sector. This is true when it comes to gaming, too. As PC gaming started taking off, you had to buy CDs of your favorite games. It was the only viable way of trying out what you wanted to play. There was simply no other way. Piracy came along as a free alternative, but it’s never a safe nor secure way to indulge in something. People needed a cloud service, just for games, where they didn’t depend on physical copies of games to play them. As a result, Steam was born.

Valve, the company behind Half Life, decided to provide their fans with the first gaming cloud service. All you had to do was purchase a game and you could download it to an unlimited number of computers and play all you want. Your machine could burn down, but it wouldn’t affect your Steam account. The payments were already easy and enjoyable, so Steam wanted to further facilitate the notion of online payments for PC games.

Thus, in 2016, Steam finally allowed users to pay for games using BitPay, something many people have disputed, but since understood. The move was a success, and it had higher motives than just capitalization.

Steam has users in many developing and less developed countries. There, access to credit cards is not so easy, especially for young people who aren’t independent yet. Because of this, Bitcoin provides everyone with an excellent solution to bypass any boundaries. Cryptocurrencies know no borders, taxes or similar primitive regulations that plague the economy of the entire world.

14. Shopify

When it comes to eCommerce, we’re talking about one of the pillars of the modern trade world. A long time ago, you were forced to venture into a physical store and choose whatever you wanted. This created problems for both sides, the provider and the customer. If you, as the customer, wanted something, you were forced to appear right on the spot, no matter how far the store actually is. The provider also had everything ready for the transaction, without any delays whatsoever. Such a sales model was unsustainable and needed to change as the years went by. The solution came in the shape of the eCommerce platform.

Using eCommerce, you can purchase anything you want with just a click or two. It’s incredibly easy and you can expect everything you ordered to right at your doorstep in less than one week. Such convenience was unheard of, and one of the leading eCommerce platforms, Shopify, immediately stood out.

They created a business method that many other sites religiously followed and made use of. They were notorious for their easy payments systems, alongside many other perks. However, they wanted to stand out even more and take matters into their own hands. In order to do this, a decision was to be made.

In 2013, they were frontrunners in the Bitcoin race and allowed their customers to pay with Bitcoin. This wasn’t just for services of the platform, but for every merchant, too. The growing cryptocurrency signified potential and Shopify knew how to make use of the opportunity. Since then, their shares net worth and profits have gone dramatically up. It’s amazing what one smart decision can do to affect an entire business.

15. Tesla

When we’re talking about innovation and innovators, you can’t miss one man. Elon Musk is one of the most innovative human beings in recent history. With his shrewd business tactics, revolutionary ideas and humanitarian work – he changed the face of the world forever. He managed to do so through hard work and an open mind. Having a sense of evolution around you can be a great aid in terms of being able to instill change in the environment. That view of the world is directly embodied in Elon’s biggest company yet, Tesla.

Just like the genius inventor whose name the company bears, Tesla seeks to bring a revolution to the surface of our planet. Tesla cars are purely run by electricity and rely solely on it, without the need for fuel or any other non-renewable energy source. As if this wasn’t innovative enough, Elon Musk had his sights on more emerging trends in the world. The most significant of these was the rise of one cryptocurrency a few years ago, the Bitcoin. Elon, an advocate of freeing up the economy saw this as an opportunity not only for the whole world but for his company, too.

By allowing vendors to sell the Tesla Models S and X for Bitcoins, Musk has yet again shown a sense of doing business the most efficient way. With Bitcoin making boom after boom, it’s safe to say that the South-African entrepreneur and visionary is happily smiling. And he should, as he was one of the main advocates of cryptocurrency from the beginning. Every single step Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other currencies have taken is directly connected to Musk and his influence. A man of the future, nevertheless.