16 Feb 2014 / Lowell Sun – Digital First Media
It’s been almost four years since Laszlo Hanyecz made what is widely considered the world’s first Bitcoin transaction. He offered 10,000 Bitcoins for someone to order him two Papa John’s pizzas. Today, those bitcoins would be worth millions.
In the time since Hanyecz made his offer, Bitcoin — a virtual currency that uses cryptography to facilitate secure anonymous payments — has boomed. The virtual currency allows people to make transactions without having to go through banks or pay credit-card processing fees. It’s still not nearly as widely used as “real” currencies, like the U.S. dollar, but it is catching on as a payment option at businesses around the world.
From Alpaca socks to sandwiches, vacations and even online dating, here are 17 things you can buy with Bitcoin:
1.) Anything Overstock.com sells. The online discount retailer Overstock.com started accepting Bitcoin payments in January. Customers spent $130,000 worth of Bitcoin on Overstock products on the first day alone.
2.) NBA tickets. Starting next month, you can use Bitcoin to buy tickets to watch the Sacramento Kings play. You can also pick up a jersey at the team’s store. Vivek Ranadive, one of the team’s owners, told ESPN his children inspired the idea….. Read more
