One of the reasons bitcoin has been hard for some people to accept is because of its common association with use by dark net criminals. When I first heard of bitcoin, I thought it had very few other uses. As all beginners find out, that’s not the case. In fact, dark net criminal usage is probably the smallest usage bracket bitcoin sees these days. So, in light of this, I’ve put together another “noob” friendly list of the top 5 places bitcoin beginners can spend their newly gotten bitcoins.

1. Bitcoin Store

It’s your basic online store platform with one big catch: your payments are made in the form of bitcoin. Expect the same look and feel of other online shopping sites. At bitcoin store you can pick up bitcoin related items like clothes, wall art, and stickers. They also feature various electronics, as well as fine art, mining hardware, and the occasional random themed items.

2. BitPremier

If you’re like me, you won’t have the coin to shop at BitPremier. But depending on how much you have to spend, BitPremier will be more than just something cool to look at, which it is, by the way. BitPremier is a luxury marketplace featuring automobiles, high end jewelry and watches, real estate, and other categories. BitPremier sets its bitcoin value with that of TradeBlock XBX, which is an exchange. Even if you don’t have the coin to buy anything, it’s still really worth checking out.

3. Gyft

Gyft is a really cool site where you can buy various gift cards with bitcoin. They also take a variety of other payment methods. They feature gift cards from top retailers like Amazon and Home Depot, as well as Google Play, and places like Target and Starbucks. Their app is available on both Android and iOS platforms, as well as online. Gyft also features a mobile wallet, (free sign-up) where you can manage all your gift cards, even ones not purchased from gyft. Gyft also has a feature that allows you to send gift card codes to friends and family that also use the app.

4. Kickass-kombat.com

Kickass-kombat, as you could probably tell, sells martial arts- related products. From DVDs and gifts, to apparel and even weapons, you can find it all, and even buy it with bitcoin. I have personally picked up a few things from kickass-kombat, and its been a great experience every time. While I can’t vouch for anything but DVDs, I can say to shop there with ease and get yourself some hard to find martial arts movies at least.

5. Coinmap

Coinmap isn’t actually a place where you can spend your newly gotten bitcoin, but it does let you find local bitcoin friendly businesses. That’s right! Places in your area just might accept bitcoin. With a search function that operates much like a GPS, you can quickly and easily find businesses in your area that might interest you and accept bitcoin. Most new users will have no trouble with this site, since it has a Google Maps look and feel.

These are only a small number of the options bitcoin users have. Bitcoin forums became my best friend, especially sites that had Reviews, How-To guides, Comparison charts, and other tools that helped me familiarize myself more to the bitcoin culture.

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