Business types most likely to accept cryptocurrency payments as of March 9, 2021

Convenience oriented businesses were seemingly more likely to offer cryptocurrency solutions than others in early 2021. This observation is based on open-source information, tracking (mostly small) companies that either had a physical in-store ATM for cryptocurrency withdrawal, or accepted cryptocurrencies for payment when a customer visits their shop in 2021. Figures on Bitcoin ATMs are available from several outlets - with this ranking attempting to list where these crypto ATMs or in-store payments can be found. Nearly 6,000 of the companies mentioned here are found in the United States, with only three other countries having over 1,000 entries in this list.

Going big: cryptocurrency acceptance among large businesses

Many of the companies listed here are small businesses, although some entries are part of a retail or gas chain. This leads to the question of whether big companies are opening up to the use of virtual coins. In February 2021, Tesla announced it was considering accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as a direct payment method for their Model 3 car. This was a big change, as some large firms used intermediary services up until that point. These services offer solutions that convert crypto payments into U.S. dollar, which are then send to the receiving company. One example includes is Microsoft - Bitcoin payments are allowed on the Microsoft Store, which are then handled by a service called BitPay. BitPay was especially popular with prepaid or gift cards in 2020. Tesla was the first big company to openly state it might accept BTC without an intermediary, as part of its plans to own more cryptocurrency. The car manufacturer's move sparked a Bitcoin price surge in the following weeks.

Digital purchases with Ethereum: the rise of NFT

A few weeks after Tesla's announcement, the crypto world hit the news yet again: A digital artpiece called Everyday: The First 5000 Days had been sold by auction house Christie's for around 69 million U.S. dollars - the highest-valued NFT project in the world as of March 2021, and the third-highest ever sold artpiece from a living artist. Essentially, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) function as a blockchain-powered letter of authenticity which can be bought or sold using Ethereum. Several famous examples of where NFT was used include the aforementioned 69m USD auction sale, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey selling his very first tweet through NFT marketplace Valuables, and sports platform Top Shot - where basketball fans can buy and collect packs of NBA highlights. Essentially, the token serves as a unique code connected to a digital file, allowing to distinguish the original file from copies floating around on the Internet. This market is relatively young but saw its market cap grow significantly in only three years time.