Although cryptocurrency can sometimes be perceived as a divisive topic, with regulators looking to clamp down harshly on specific areas of the sector, there are dozens of practical use cases for digital assets. While the United States might not have the same flexibility when it comes to paying for goods with cryptocurrency in the same way you can in El Salvador, for instance, there are still more use cases than you might imagine for cryptocurrency in the Southwest.
Given the turbulence in the current cryptocurrency regulatory environment, it’s easy to presume that there are not many ways you can use your digital assets effectively. However, that’s not the case. Today, we’ll run through some companies that are more than happy for you to use cryptocurrency, and research some that may be willing to accept your Bitcoin or Ethereum in exchange for services in the not-too-distant future.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is a word used to describe digital assets, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are the asset traded, verifying the activity on the underlying blockchain. Blockchain technology is a revolutionary piece of disruptive financial technology that uses advanced cryptography and a secure blockchain network that can’t be altered, which negates the need for any oversight from a bank.
You can send your money directly peer-to-peer; the transaction is lodged and can’t be amended. Some analysts believe cryptocurrency, and Bitcoin, is the most outstanding financial innovation of all time, and it’ll be fascinating to see how it develops throughout the next couple of decades.
#1 Cryptocurrency Casinos
Casino companies have long understood the importance of this trend, especially as we’ve continued to slide into a world where mobile phones are more pivotal than ever in our daily lives. They’ve continued to innovate from a mobile gaming perspective by ensuring the latest technology acts as a foundation and springboard to bring the most creative, latest installments of their hit games.
However, this point we allude to also extends to the payment methods you can use, and there’s now a variety of different ways to deposit, such as pay by mobile, PayPal, wire transfers, and the latest method that’s really catching on⎯cryptocurrency. With so many new operators developing online casinos where you can connect your wallet and play instantly, there’s been an upsurge in customers keen to give this a go. You can use reputable online blogs such as dappgambl.com to learn more about Tron Casinos and the benefits of using a well-established crypto casino, and you can also find out how cryptocurrency payments continue to become more viable and reputable as a solid alternative to traditional currencies.
When you gamble using traditional currency, like Dollars or Euros, although the overwhelming majority of casinos are reputable and provide a dependable service, you may occasionally have to provide further details and deal with the added inconvenience and stress of your transaction not going through. In addition, you’ll have to provide financial details, which may become susceptible in the rare event of a data breach. Both of these possible issues do not exist in the world of crypto casinos as no financial information is held on any servers, and the verification of the transaction is lodged and publicly verified on blockchain technology, which is the technology that ensures the legitimacy and security of all crypto transactions.
Although all casino games are compatible with a range of mobile devices, tablets, and smartphones, slot machine games have been able to adapt effortlessly to smaller screens, and the designers have run with the idea of mobile gaming as the future of the slot machine industry. Regardless of your preferred casino game, there’s now a burgeoning sector and an ever-increasing demand for digital casinos operating in some areas of the Southwest to provide this suitable alternate payment arrangement.
#2 Airline Tickets
While few airlines offer this service, there are some websites and payment systems you can use to purchase airline tickets if you want to take a trip from Southwest. Although some airlines will accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment, such as Ethereum, most websites will accept payment through a third-party wallet, such as BitPay.
Some European airlines literally take payment via cryptocurrency, and while you can’t do that just yet in the United States, being able to filter your crypto through a payment wallet and then use it to buy airline tickets is a revelation. As we discussed in our introduction, it’s not quite got the same reach as you’d find in El Salvador, one of only two countries where Bitcoin is legal tender and you can use it everywhere.
Given that digital assets are in such early stages of development as viable payment alternatives, there are still many skeptical people, and there’s a reluctance to immediately adopt crypto on a mass scale despite its many advantages over traditional payment systems. Maybe in ten years, there’ll be a flurry of different mainstream airlines that fly out of some of the biggest airports in the Southwest that will accept cryptocurrency as payment. Some might even go one further, allowing customers to use it to purchase goods and services on their flights. While it is exciting, it is crucial to note that it’s in its extremely early stages. Still, considering it didn’t even exist 15 years ago, the fact you can use it to buy airline tickets indirectly is astonishing.
As more Americans continue to move south to take advantage of the weather and experience a different type of American culture, it might become more realistic for airlines to accept digital assets as payment. More younger people, who are the ones who predominantly use digital assets, are now entering adulthood and wanting to explore options to use more modern payment systems to help facilitate traveling around.
#3 The American Airlines Center
Sticking to the theme of airlines, the American Airlines Center, as we all know, is home to NBA team the Dallas Mavericks. The owner of the Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has long been an admirer of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology. He is heavily invested in the space and has put his money where his mouth is by allowing people to use cryptocurrency when they attend a Mavericks game.
You can’t use your crypto in all areas of the arena, but if you’re looking to purchase food, tickets for other games, or merchandise such as caps and jerseys, you can connect your cryptocurrency wallet to make a purchase. Some NBA teams have gone one better and named their arenas after cryptocurrency companies and websites. Because digital assets have begun to impact society in such a huge way, it is likely only a matter of time before there’s mass adoption of digital assets as a payment system. Thirty years from now, it might be the norm to use Bitcoin and digital currency to pay for various services.
Mark Cuban has been vocal in his support for cryptocurrency, despite the recent scathing attacks from a host of crucial regulatory figures in the upper echelons of the Biden administration. He is one billionaire who has stuck to his original gut feeling about cryptocurrency and believes it is here to stay. If America decides to provide a suitable framework and clear legislation for companies to use cryptocurrency and stimulate innovation in the sector, this could be the clarity needed to act as a catalyst and provide the necessary legitimacy to people to adopt it en masse.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are multiple areas you can spend your cryptocurrency in the Southwest, and this list grows year after year. Some people who aren’t as well versed on how cryptocurrency and digital assets might work have been under the impression that there’s only one type of currency in the Southwest.
While that is the case in most establishments, the number of retailers beginning to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment will continue to expand, primarily online. Great inventions take time to emerge in society organically, people need time to slowly start to understand the potential of their impact.
Tim Berners-Lee constructed the idea of the Internet in 1989, but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that it began to cause seismic changes in our society. Although some analysts have said Bitcoin could have a similar impact on the world of finance, there’s still a long way to go, and it’s not as straightforward as some people might think.
However, in 2024, it has now emerged that the world’s biggest multi-national investment company, BlackRock, has applied for an ETF, which would see the world’s biggest asset manager take an active stake in the buying and selling of cryptocurrency, which could skyrocket the price to new all-time highs.
When Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market hit an all-time high in 2021, this resulted in greater retail interest and more companies taking advantage of the trend, allowing people to use crypto to buy and sell goods, which would likely unfold again. Suppose there’s another bull run around the corner, which some traders and analysts believe there is, this would undoubtedly lead to more companies in the Southwest allowing customers to use cryptocurrency for their transactions.
