McDonalds, Starbuck, Virgin Airlines accept cryptocurrency now

In the southern Swiss city of Lugano, the multinational fast food chain behemoth McDonald’s now accepts Bitcoin and USDT as forms of payment !

The City of Lugano has declared that LVGA, Tether, and Bitcoin are all recognised as legal money. The local government plans to accept Bitcoin, USDT, and a specific Swiss franc-pegged Stablecoin as the only forms of payment for inhabitants to pay their annual taxes and purchase goods and services. Additionally, they stated that a comprehensive cryptocurrency payments ecosystem would be introduced. where more than 200 shops and companies would use cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services.

This raises an intriguing pivotal question: Are cryptocurrencies entering mainstream?

Although calling cryptocurrencies mainstream would be pushing it at this point, they have gained widespread recognition and many businesses are using them as payment methods. Let’s look at a few businesses that have adopted or will soon begin taking cryptocurrency.

Gucci, a renowned Italian fashion business, has long accepted cryptocurrencies, and now they will now accept ApeCoin, one of the most well-known digital assets created by the Bored Ape Yacht Club. The Swiss luxury brand Tag Heuer collaborated with BitPay to accept cryptocurrency purchases in the US. Emirates airlines, announced that they will start taking cryptocurrency payments and had also started their NFT collection.

Crypto coffee, anyone? Starbucks now allows consumers to pay with Bitcoin directly owing to a collaboration with digital wallet service provider Bakkt. Additionally, clients can already exchange their cryptocurrency holdings on PayPal into fiat money prior to updating their Starbucks apps.

Microsoft was one of the first businesses to accept cryptocurrencies in 2014, and as of now, Bitcoin and other significant coins may be used to pay for all main products. The first mobile carrier business in the US to take bitcoins as a form of payment is AT&T.

Virgin Airlines founder Richard Branson has always been innovative and users can purchase services with Bitcoin on Virgin Airlines and Virgin Mobile.

Closer home, you can order the Digital Thali from Ardor 2.1’s digital menu and it is the first Indian eatery to accept bitcoin as payment.

In Kerala, Athey Nallatha, a manufacturer of spices accepts a wide range of cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.

Gujarat-based Pizza Palace is a chain of eateries that accepts bitcoin as a payment option as well.

Even though not many places accept Bitcoin directly, it is obvious that more and more people are using it as a form of payment every year. One illustration is the rise of businesses like NowPayments, a cryptocurrency payment gateway that can be integrated into any business and enable it to take Bitcoin as well as many other coins.

Therefore, even if there is still a long way to go until all businesses accept Bitcoin directly rather than through payment processors or Bitcoin debit cards, there are some well-known corporations that have already moved in the correct direction, including Microsoft, AT&T, and Overstock.

I will rest my case pointing to Deloitte’s recent report that says 75% of retailers plan to accept cryptocurrency payments within the next two years! Now that’s some food for thought!