Cryptocurrencies have found notable adoption in recent years, but they are yet to be used widely as currencies and for day-to-day operations. While digital assets are commonly associated with investments and speculation, they also have other use cases.
In this article, we explore ten surprising and innovative ways to utilize cryptocurrencies in various aspects of daily life and business.
10 Surprising Ways to Use Crypto
10. Buy a Lamborghini
The term ‘Wen Lambo’ has become popular among the crypto community, indicating the interest in buying Lamborghini with cryptocurrency.
As of now, some car showrooms and sellers accept crypto for cars, allowing users to purchase a Lamborghini, as well as some other car models, with Bitcoin.
9. Space Travel and Plane Tickets
Crypto owners can purchase space travel tickets from Virgin Galactic, an American spaceflight company, using Bitcoin (BTC).
Furthermore, websites such as Alternative Airlines provide access to buy plane tickets using over 70 different cryptocurrencies.
8. Paying for Food Delivery
Users can now order their favorite meal and pay with various digital assets.
It is worth noting that users can also tap BitPay, a Bitcoin payment service provider, to pay for Uber Eats and DoorDash deliveries with crypto.
7. Remittance to Other Countries
Crypto-based remittance services enable individuals to send money across borders quickly and at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional methods.
This benefits both migrant workers and their families, facilitating more efficient cross-border transactions.
Venezuela, for instance, is a rapidly growing cryptocurrency market in U.S. dollar terms, with Venezuelans receiving $28.3 billion in cryptocurrency in 2021 and $37.4 billion in 2022, up by 32%.
6. Corporate Treasury Management
Large corporations increasingly diversify their treasury holdings by allocating some of their funds to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. These digital assets offer potential long-term growth and act as a hedge against inflation.
Tokenized U.S. Treasuries are also surging in value locked this year, totaling more than $700m in November 2023 — up from around only $100m at the start of the year,
5. Tokenized Real Estate
Tokenization allows fractional ownership of real estate, enabling investors to own a portion of a property without the need for significant capital investments. This opens up new opportunities for real estate investment and increased liquidity.
Industry forecasts paint a promising picture for the future of tokenized real-world assets. Currently valued at $300 billion, the asset tokenization market may be worth at least $10 trillion by 2030, according to Roland Berger consultants.
4. Intellectual Property Rights
Blockchain technology enables the creation of digital assets representing intellectual property rights. Artists, musicians, and content creators can tokenize their work, ensuring secure ownership, traceability, and potential revenue streams through royalties.
While NFTs have gone through a boom and bust in its fledgling years, the technology underpinning it has wide-ranging uses that will continue to evolve.
Read More: 15 Trending NFTs
3. Charitable Donations
Crypto donations provide an efficient and transparent way to support charitable causes. Cryptocurrencies streamline the donation process, reducing fees and ensuring that funds reach intended recipients more directly.
In 2021, crypto philanthropy saw a massive surge, with cryptocurrency donations rising by 16 times and reaching $500 million in the United States alone, the Web3 tech company specializing in crypto philanthropy, Givepact, told Techopedia.
2. Microtransactions and Micropayments
With cryptocurrencies, it becomes economically feasible to carry out microtransactions and micropayments. This opens up possibilities for monetizing digital content, rewarding users for small tasks, and supporting emerging economies.
1. Gaming and Virtual Economies
Cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are transforming the gaming industry. Virtual economies within games allow players to buy, sell, and trade in-game assets, creating new opportunities for value creation and ownership.
The Bottom Line
While cryptocurrencies are primarily associated with investments and speculation, their utilization has expanded into numerous surprising areas.
Cryptocurrencies continue to disrupt traditional systems, from food delivery to plane tickets, intellectual property rights to charitable donations, and beyond.