Getting into Bitcoin is a first step many have already taken, and with the generally positive start of 2020, more are likely to make the move. But then there’s the question of what to do with your coins. Regardless of how you obtained them – through purchase, faucet, airdrop, fork, business, or salary — it’s an important point to consider. Luckily, options to spend your cryptocurrency have been increasing. Here’s how to find places that accept decentralized digital money using online maps.
Also read: How to Find Your Nearest Bitcoin ATM
Merchant Maps Show You Where to Spend Your Bitcoin
Interactive online maps are the most intuitive way to find anything these days, including merchants that are willing to take your crypto for whatever they sell. And while Google Maps can help you locate a few businesses dealing with cryptocurrencies near you, other platforms are far more specialized.
Coinmap.org is one of them, as its website allows crypto companies to share their coordinates for free. The map displays around 16,000 venues around the world that accept cryptocurrency payments. Users can filter these entries by multiple categories such as shopping, café, food, grocery, lodging, transport, sports, and nightlife. It will also show you ATMs where you can withdraw digital coins.
The website is easy to use. Filtering options are displayed on the left side of the map. If you permit your browser to track your location, the map will be centered on it and will offer you nearby crypto merchants. You can also zoom in on a particular city or district and check the tab that shows all merchants in the same area. Clicking on an entry will give you more details about the place, and allow you to visit its website or explore the surroundings in Google’s Street View.
While Coinmap lists businesses processing payments in various coins, other platforms are focusing on merchants that accept specific cryptocurrencies. These can be coins that have established themselves as popular investments and others that are valued for the utility they bring to electronic payments, whether with fast and inexpensive transactions or through other features that facilitate genuine peer-to-peer interaction.
Coin-Specific Platforms Focus on Merchants Accepting Payment-Friendly Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoinmap.cash is a community project spreading the word about restaurants, bars, supermarkets, hotels, and other places that mostly take bitcoin cash (BCH) and dash, but many of the featured locations accept bitcoin core (BTC) as well. It has a desktop version of its map and a mobile application you can download and install. Bitcoinmap.cash provides you with basic information about the place you are interested in, including offered discounts for crypto payments. It also lets you check the location using Google Maps.
Bitcoin.com’s offering in the genre, Bitcoin Cash Map, updates users about the growing number of locations accepting BCH. It currently lists almost 2,000 stores across the globe where you can pay with bitcoin cash. The map, which is also available as a mobile app, can be used to obtain contact information for the merchants and links to their websites. Green Pages is another BCH-focused option which allows you to narrow the search to stores where, besides bitcoin cash, you can also pay with four other major cryptocurrencies – BTC, ETH, DASH and XMR.
A different approach to finding crypto-friendly merchants is to check payment processors that track their clients’ activity. For instance, point-of-sale provider Anypay maintains a map showing businesses using its services and other locations that accept cryptocurrencies. The platform supports a number of coins including BCH, BTC, LTC, DASH, DOGE, ZEC, XRP, and ZEN. Locations are displayed in different colors indicating when the last payment took place so that you know which stores process crypto payments regularly. Clicking on a marker also gives you information about that business, its address and accepted currencies.
Explore Merchant Directories That Maintain Online Maps
Coppay is another company that allows users to accept cryptocurrency payments through instant conversion to fiat. It has a map on its website that shows the physical locations where the payment system is being used. Copay provides services mainly to merchants based in the Baltic countries of Latvia and Lithuania, although the company is working to expand to other markets and has already entered Portugal. Salamantex is a payment solution provider that has its own merchant map. Most of its clients are based in Austria, with a couple of stores in Croatia and Malta.
There are other sources focusing on a specific region. Maltamap, for example, will suggest places where you can spend bitcoin in the Mediterranean nation. The country has branded itself as “The Blockchain Island” in the past few years, after adopting crypto-friendly legislation and welcoming many crypto companies to its shores. A growing number of businesses in Malta accept cryptocurrencies including hotels, real estate companies, auto dealers, and various other service providers.
Specialized merchant directories offer another opportunity to explore cryptocurrency-accepting locations. Аcceptcryptoz lists over 800 such places in several categories including food and drinks, hotels and lodging, shops and markets, arts and entertainment, other services, and even crypto ATMs. Clicking the tab of any of these will take you to the category’s page where you’ll find a map showing you the contacts of the merchants and a list with more details about each one of them on the left side of the screen. These businesses accept one or more of eight supported coins and tokens including major cryptocurrencies.
What other maps showing businesses accepting cryptocurrency payments would you recommend? Tell us in the comments section below.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
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