With 10 years under its belt, bitcoin has evolved a lot. The emergence of peer-to-peer platforms has allowed people to buy bitcoin with almost anything they want. There are hundreds of payment methods on these peer-to-peer marketplaces, giving a wide variety of options to the users that are on these platforms. These payment methods include gift cards.

Gift cards have become the most popular payment methods on peer-to-peer platforms like Paxful. There are many gift card options available on peer-to-peer platforms and it gives the users so many options when it comes to buying and selling. These include iTunes gift cards, Amazon gift cards, and even gift cards that can be used in the gaming community.

Gaming gift cards and bitcoin

If you’re looking to use gaming gift cards to buy some bitcoin, then you’re in luck because most peer-to-peer platforms accept it as a payment method. Let’s take Paxful and use their platform as an example. Paxful is one of the largest peer-to-peer marketplaces in the world and they specialize in gift cards. On Paxful, there are several gaming gift card options such as Steam Wallet gift cards, PlayStation Network gift cards, and Xbox gift cards. These can all be used to get your hands on some bitcoin.

Although the process may differ from platform to platform, it usually follows the same skeleton when it comes to peer-to-peer platforms. Let’s say you want to buy some bitcoin with your Steam gift card. Assuming you already have an account, the first thing you have to do is to fill in your preferences. This includes the gift card you’ll be using and the denomination of the gift card (NOTE: you can’t spend a fraction of a gift card, only the whole value). The next step is to look for an offer that suits your preferences. As a buyer looking for a good offer, you’ll want to look at several factors:

1. How much bitcoin you’ll be getting on the dollar – On peer-to-peer platforms, vendors have the ability to set their own profit percentage. This gives you options when it comes to choosing an offer. Ideally, you’ll want to pick the offer that gives the most bitcoins for your dollars.
2. The reliability of the vendor – As someone looking to buy bitcoin, you obviously wouldn’t want to run into any sort of scammer. Each platform has its own set of indicators but in the example of Paxful, Paxful has a reputation system and the ability to see the past trades of vendors.
3. The availability of the vendor – On peer-to-peer platforms, it takes both the buyer and the seller to complete the trade. If your vendor is unavailable, you might end up getting coinlocked.
4. Offer terms and instructions – These set of terms and instructions include the way you’re going to pay the vendor and all the requirements that the vendor will need to process the transaction. In the case of gift cards, this will usually mean that the gift card will have to be bought in cash (to prevent chargeback) and you’ll need to give the code that corresponds with that gift card (usually includes pictures of the requirements). Make sure that you can comply with these terms and instructions before ever starting a trade.

Once you find a good offer for you, you can start the trade. Submit all the requirements and wait for the vendor to verify your payment. Once verified, the vendor should then release the bitcoins and you would have bought your bitcoins with a Steam gift card.

This method also works in reverse in the sense that if you have the extra coins, you can buy Steam gift cards with bitcoin. You just need to create an offer, set your preferences, and wait for a fish to bite.

The gaming community that keeps on growing

Lately, it feels as if gaming is slowly being recognized as a true profession and sport. Video game streamers are now making millions of dollars by being good at what they do. They gather this revenue via donations, sponsorships, and competitions. Streamers like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins (a Fortnite player) has grown to superstardom earning $10 million in 2018 due to his gaming prowess.

This is a sign that the gaming industry is starting to give more opportunities for business. This includes a collaboration with the bitcoin industry. There was even a story where a streamer was tipped 20 bitcoins while he was playing Runescape. Who would have thought that we would be able to buy bitcoin with gaming gift cards?