Adoption of Cryptocurrency as a Payment Method – a Closer Look at a Real-World Example

Since the boom of cryptocurrencies earlier last decade when many altcoins emerged after Bitcoin, little has been left unsaid by both crypto enthusiasts and critics alike. Regardless of all the forecasts, opinions and claims thrown at the media and on the Internet, one thing is for sure – the interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain is not fading away! 

Crypto and blockchain continue to make headlines. So much that the average reader is often left wondering about the actual progress being made in the industry. Are crypto and blockchain being more utilized in daily operations and real-world use case scenarios as time passes by? Or all the hype is mostly from the never-ending cycle of buying and selling crypto in order to earn a profit from the price difference?

Answers to this question can be found by looking at companies that are actually using blockchain to solve real-world problems, and cryptocurrencies that are gaining mass adoption as means of payment for goods and services worldwide. There are many worthwhile examples that shed some light on how blockchain and crypto are being used today to solve some real-world needs. MrCryptoz will attempt to present them in different articles to come. Stay tuned!

Bitrefill – a notable example 

For today, we chose to have a closer look at Bitrefill, a Swedish company founded in 2014 by Sergej Kotliar. Bitrefill has received a total funding of 10 million USD to date, for its  platform that enables people to use crypto to buy different things. Basically a market-place that only accepts crypto as payment, Bitrefill enables purchases without account registration and sign-ups.

The way Bitrefill started was by offering phone refills to be paid with crypto. One needed to only enter a phone number and the amount to refill, and pay with Bitcoin or any other supported altcoin in the platform. In 2017, the company saw another growth opportunity, by offering the purchase of gift cards with cryptocurrency. This new line of business really took off, with the gift card purchases steadily growing and surpassing the profits from phone refills.

Even though the company still offers phone refills today, it has been reported that 90% of their sales volume is attributed to gift cards. Bitrefill offers gift cards in different categories, like gaming, travel, entertainment and ecommerce.

New bill-paying service introduced in 2022

Today we announce one big step towards truly living on crypto.

You can now sign up to pay over 20,000 bills in the US with Bitrefill: https://t.co/zjrdK0gRQY pic.twitter.com/zJF6NOxnPE

— Bitrefill (@bitrefill) April 28, 2022

And that’s not all. The company has recently begun offering bill paying services in El Salvador and in the US. According to a press release, starting from the second quarter of 2022, Bitrefill enables  its US users to pay utilities, mortgage, healthcare as well as 20,000 other bills with cryptocurrency. Of course, in order to use the bill paying services, users do need to register first and supply evidence of their residency and an identity document. But this is a step ahead in removing the necessity of using banks as intermediaries in order to perform these kinds of operations. The company expects the bill paying service to become their major sales channel in the near future.

Bitrefill is a cool example of incorporating cryptocurrencies in everyday life. It’s a company that is surely playing a role in accelerating the adoption of cryptocurrencies.