As of late, there have been a lot of companies starting to accept Bitcoin payments but there have been various ways to spend Bitcoin at various businesses from around the world. This has been possible by buying gift cards with Bitcoin.

Gift cards have long been a way to increase spending and provide value for consumers and stores alike. On the merchant side, gift cards are a vehicle to drive extra consumption from customers while on the consumer side, it is a convenient way to give a meaningful gift when you don’t know exactly what your gift recipient wants. Either way you look at it, those little plastic cards have always been an important part of bringing people back to specific stores or brands whether in retail or online. 

In short, Gift cards inspire store or brand loyalty, which is incredibly powerful for many consumers. Recently, some savvy bitcoin companies have begun to capitalize on the power of this consumer loyalty by selling gift cards with bitcoin. 

Why would you buy gift cards with Bitcoin?

Gift cards purchased with bitcoin allow consumers to interact with their favorite brands for a discount. Many gift card clearing houses provide steep discounts if the gift cards are purchased with Bitcoin, a true win-win for both seller and buyer. The consumer gets a discount while the seller gets the best returning asset of the decade. 

Got cold feet about holding Bitcoin due to volatility? When you sell gift cards using OpenNode you can automatically convert bitcoin to your local currency, removing Bitcoin price volatility risk.

Businesses built on buying gift cards with Bitcoin

Bitcoin users are a growing demographic that’s here to stay. Results from a survey conducted last April reveal that 9% of Americans hold Bitcoin, the majority of which are millennials. That’s 27 million Americans that gift card businesses can tap into overnight when they start accepting Bitcoin.

There are already many businesses around the world that accept Bitcoin in exchange for gift cards. Here are a few:

Gift Off

Gift Off is the largest gift card retailer in Europe and the latest company to validate the bitcoin gift card market.

Bitcart

Bitcart is a gift card retailer that sells gift cards to Amazon.com for steep discounts, most of which are 15% off or more. Their instantly delivered Amazon gift cards are sold via the Lightning Network with OpenNode.

Bitrefill

Bitrefill is an online gift card retailer that sells gift cards or mobile refills with Bitcoin from more than 1,650 businesees in 170 countries. The Swedish based bitcoin company was one of the first gift card companies to use the Lightning Network. 

Fold App

Fold App is an application that allows you to spend Bitcoin in the real world by transferring Bitcoin from your wallet into a digital gift card on your phone.

Any business can let their customers buy gift cards with Bitcoin

These four companies are showing that bitcoin is business ready when it comes to selling gift cards. They are harnessing the power of brand loyalty – whether it’s topping up your Google Play or Apple App Store balances through Bitrefill or buying Starbucks gift cards through GiftOff –  to allow bitcoin users to spend at the brands they want to, regardless if they accept bitcoin directly or not.

Ready to start accepting Bitcoin for your business? Our API and extensions for Shopify, WooCommerce, OpenCart, and PrestaShop makes it easy for businesses of any size to accept Bitcoin at their store. Sign up today at OpenNode.com/signup and get the first $10,000 in transactions with zero fees.