These multinational companies accept Bitcoin as an official payment method

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency created on a blockchain that serves as a means of payment in the digital world. It was released in 2009, and its development was intended to provide people with a safety net in case the financial system collapses, which happened in 2008 due to the worldwide crisis.

Bitcoin became popular pretty fast and was slowly integrated into real-world companies and settings since more people were interested in learning how to buy Bitcoin on binance.com/en. Therefore, the cryptocurrency had to adapt to taxing systems and countries' legal frameworks to be used at its full potential. However, Bitcoin has also faced several challenges during this process, from fitting into economic good categories to lowering its environmental footprint.

Regardless, Bitcoin is continuously developing, and companies are seizing the opportunity to expand their customer audiences, so here’s a list of top multinationals adopting Bitcoin.

Microsoft established integration for Bitcoin

Microsoft is one of the most expansive multinationals in the world and has long advocated for innovation, so it implemented Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payments through the BitPay platform. The process is pretty straightforward―as in a traditional payment, you only need to open your wallet app and enter transaction details.

At the same time, the company collaborated with several other companies to push forward the adoption of crypto. For example, the Aptos Token, backed by Microsoft, was created to combine the company’s artificial intelligence technology with blockchain and cryptocurrency. The goal is to make decentralized applications and blockchain more approachable and effective in welcoming the Web3 world.

Burger King allows online delivery with Bitcoin

Burger King has been one of the first food companies to accept Bitcoin payments and has introduced this feature, especially in countries where crypto use was prevalent. For instance, Bitcoin use is high in Venezuela since citizens are leveraging it to withstand economic instability and inflation. Hence, the company has allowed Bitcoin payments through Cryptobuyer but also accepts Litecoin and Ethereum.

Germany’s Burger King also introduced this feature a few years ago, but customers can only use it for online deliveries through one of the country’s delivery services. Customers can pay with Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, so no other cryptocurrencies are allowed yet.

Twitch ensures donations through crypto

Twitch is a streaming platform that became highly popular during the pandemic when people had enough time to watch long streams and become fans of people on the internet. So, considering the skyrocketing profit made by the platform during that period, the company decided to allow viewers to support their favorite channels through Bitcoin payments and other cryptocurrencies.

This has helped enhance a streamer’s audience since there are people who prefer to pay with crypto for these entertainment services. People use the NOWPayments platform, through which streamers generate a crypto donation link and share it with the audience.

Tesla and its on-and-off Bitcoin relationship

Tesla is known for its famous and controversial creator, Elon Musk, who has been loving and hating Bitcoin for some time now. A few years ago, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would accept Bitcoin payments for purchasing vehicles in the US, but it soon decided that Bitcoin was too damaging for the environment and pulled off this feature.

However, that decision didn’t last long because Bitcoin payments were available again two years later, and the cryptocurrency achieved the threshold of 50% sustainable mining. Considering that the company is one of the highest public Bitcoin holders in the world, the conclusion favored its corporate treasury of 9,000 Bitcoins.

Amazon leverages blockchain for Bitcoin payments

The giant Amazon aimed to improve its web services and optimize costs by introducing a blockchain feature to allow a pay-as-you-go Bitcoin payment feature. The AMB Access Bitcoin offering will enable developers to build applications on the Bitcoin network and help predict pricing and reliable Bitcoin APIs.

Although the company decided not to accept Bitcoin payments, there were many speculations about the company’s wish to create its digital currency. At the same time, volatility and agreements with other payment processors seem to have influenced the decision to leverage Bitcoin as a means of payment until now.

PayPal is an intermediary for Bitcoin payments

PayPal is also one of the companies that is highly interested in blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Hence, it has introduced the option to send and receive Bitcoin to and from PayPal accounts for at least ten years now and continues to work towards crypto acceptance.

For example, PayPal has recently collaborated with Ethereum developers to make the network faster, more affordable, and approachable for PayPal customers. However, the company has also launched its dollar-backed stablecoin called PYUSD (PayPal USD) as a way to keep up with the latest technology measures.

The American Red Cross accepts Bitcoin donations

Bitcoin has been used many times as a means for donations to charities and NGOs since it’s pretty straightforward to implement. Therefore, the American Red Cross is one of the first humanitarian organizations to accept Bitcoin shortly after its release on the market through the BitPay app.

The American Red Cross acknowledged the need for donations to support their operations and introduced this feature to reach a new audience of donors who can help people in need through Bitcoin. Indeed, the option became a success since crypto donations became popular for charities like the American Red Cross or the Action Against Hunger. Luckily, these NGOs are finding it easy to appeal to crypto donors even if many believe there won’t be enough contributions from users to support this feature.

Final considerations

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency that’s been introduced to the real-world financial system, now becoming a legal tender in El Salvador and expanding to countries that need a reliable alternative to fiat money. Considering its potential, many companies started accepting Bitcoin payments, like Burger King, while others have approached the technology behind it, such as the Bitcoin blockchain, to encourage global adoption and be the first ones to provide crypto services from worldwide competition.