How and where to spend cryptocurrency in 2025? From online casinos to luxury brands

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One of the major barriers when it comes to crypto’s acceptance as a mainstream currency, has always been its adoption as a payment method. Without enough genuine usability, Bitcoin and others would long be seen as mere digital assets.

Early use cases involved stories of individuals using Bitcoin to purchase pizza for an amount that was soon worth around $3.8 million. Again, this hardly reinforced the notion that crypto could become a serious purchase option, only serving to highlight the volatility of the asset.

The situation has since changed. It’s now possible to spend cryptocurrency just about anywhere using crypto-loaded debit cards or payment platforms as an intermediator. Meanwhile, the use of cryptocurrency as a direct payment method is on the rise.

Here’s a guide on how and where to spend cryptocurrency in 2025, touching on debit cards, online casinos and even luxury brands.

Cryptocurrency debit cards and payment platforms

Cryptocurrency debit cards are a real game changer in the industry. They have successfully bridged the gap between consumer and retailer, circumnavigating a lot of the potential pitfalls that those who are new to the space might anticipate.

For example, a lot of retailers and service providers have been reluctant to adopt crypto payments because of the aforementioned volatility. If the price of the currency drops after the transaction, then the business owner could lose money on the sale, adding a layer of risk to the payment.

Cryptocurrency debit cards are linked with debit card providers such as Visa and Mastercard. The consumer loads the card with their chosen coin and makes a purchase in the same way as they would with any card. The cryptocurrency is then converted to fiat at the point of purchase.

This means that the consumer can use their crypto balance, no issues, while the retailer gets the payment in their local currency. You can use crypto debit cards in pretty much any store or online store that accepts card payments. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Similarly, third party payment apps have also opened up doors when it comes to spending cryptocurrency, especially in the digital space. Apps like Paypal allow the user to buy, sell and spend crypto through the platform, again converting the payment to fiat when a purchase is made.

Companies like Starbucks and Whole Foods accept cryptocurrency via third party payment platforms. In the food space, the now discontinued MrBeast burgers also toyed with the idea of taking crypto, but only if Elon Musk retweeted their brand.

In 2025, crypto debit cards and third party payment platforms are by far the most consistent option when it comes to spending Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Without them, you’re fully reliant on the business accepting crypto as a direct payment. And that’s not always the case.

Online gaming

One industry that has been incredibly quick off the mark when it comes to adopting cryptocurrency as a payment method, is the online gaming space. It makes sense. It’s a tech-driven world with a savvy audience, so offering crypto payments is appealing to the customer-base.

Crypto casinos allow players to deposit, withdraw and play online casino games such as slots and blackjack directly using cryptocurrency. At the mBitcasino website players can use BTC, ETH, BTC Cash, Tether and many more.

It’s important to note that Bitcoin is king at most crypto casinos, even those that accept a wide variety of payments. Developers often tailor their games for crypto play, so sticking to or converting to Bitcoin is often the best course of action.

Elsewhere, platforms like Twitch have integrated a crypto feature. Although the game streaming platform doesn’t directly accept crypto payments, content creators can include a crypto donations button, allowing fans to show their admiration.

Cryptocurrency has also been vital to the birth of a new genre of gaming known as PlayToEarn, in which you can grind out a game to earn tokens and NFTs. Overall then, online gaming is the place to both earn and use cryptocurrency in 2025.

Direct purchases driven by luxury brands

When it comes to making direct purchases of products and services using cryptocurrency, luxury brands tend to lead the way. There’s a reason for this. It’s a major decision for smaller companies to accept novel payment methods and there are often costs associated with setting up the infrastructure.

When it comes to bigger purchases, such as cars or houses, the seller tends to be much more flexible when it comes to accommodating different payment methods. They will do what they can to lock up a sale. If a buyer wants to pay in crypto, then so be it.

This has led to brands such as Ferrari announcing that they are taking crypto payments, first in the USA and more recently in Europe. Tesla, meanwhile, will only accept Dogecoin. No surprises there.

Other high-end brands to take crypto payments include fashion brands Franck Muller, Gucci and Ralph Laurent, as well as Virgin Galactic, who take cryptocurrency for space flights.

Of course, it’s not just high end brands that take crypto payments directly. Still, in 2025 direct crypto payments are relatively rare for smaller, everyday purchases. Outside of online gaming and e-commerce, a crypto debit card is the way to go.