Bitcoin usage and popularity are on the rise, so here's a quick list of nine great ways to use it that can benefit you and, in some cases, others.
Get rid of your bank account
Go on — give it a go! Assuming you have online access (and who doesn't nowadays?), why not try using bitcoin and skipping your bank account? Note that with bitcoin, you essentially are the bank account. There is no branch you can call with a problem, and you can't turn in your bags of pennies.
Moreover, it won't be easy, at least not yet. Online purchases should be simple enough, as more merchants accept bitcoin, but with brick and mortar retailers things may be a bit trickier. You would have to plan in advance and keep a bit of cash in your pocket just in case.
Go on vacation in bitcoin-friendly places
For example, take a vacation to beautiful Berlin and head to the trendy area of Kreuzberg. In that part of town you can do a great deal of shopping with bitcoin and even wash down a few beers at Room 77 in the Graefekiez.
On Expedia.com, you can spend bitcoins on the trip of a lifetime. Go broaden your horizons and travel around this beautiful planet of ours. Who knows — you may even meet someone with an interesting project worthy of sending them a donation in bitcoins.
Join some crowdfunding activities
Help somebody else realize their dream by participating in crowdfunding with bitcoin. Some sites, such as Coinfunder.com, are beginning to offer bitcoin crowdfunding services. As with any crowdfunding venture, take your time and make sure the activity is worthwhile and that you're comfortable with the product or service that's being sold — then join in.
Provide loans to small businesses
Opportunities are out there to chip in and provide loans to small businesses who may not have access to banks for whatever reason, or who just prefer to borrow from like-minded people. Go ahead and do it using bitcoin — find a product/business idea that strikes you as interesting and plausible and take the plunge.
Empower somebody without a bank account
Yes, technically this is helping someone else, but think of the good karma you'll receive for doing this — plus it's helping you become a better person. A lot of people in the world don't have bank accounts, yet if they received some bitcoins from someone like, say, you, they very well could do something positive in their lives.
Why not find someone, in for example sub-Saharan Africa, with a worthwhile project to carry out and send them funds in the form of bitcoin? Once the relationship is established, ask them for progress updates on their work and see whether it's worth sending them some more at a later date. You can make a real difference for somebody who is less fortunate that you.
Enter the alt coin market
There's no better way of getting into the alt-coin space than through bitcoin. And of course you're not just limited to bitcoin — most alt-coin exchanges offer other crypto-currencies besides bitcoin. Go take the plunge and see what you can do with some of these alt coins. As a bonus, note that alt-coin exchanges tend to be community focused, so you're likely to meet up with like-minded people on their forums.
Help your children manage their finances
Instead of giving the kids an allowance in your local currency, put some money in a bitcoin wallet for them and see how they manage it. Or buy them a physical, hand-made bitcoin by one of the various craftspeople (enter "physical bitcoin" into your favorite search engine to find some of these) and just stash it away somewhere.
Who knows what the future will hold? We've all heard stories of the discovery of old stock certificates in a grandparents' attic. Hey, it could happen.
Invest in some bitcoins
The simplest way to do this would just be to just buy some bitcoin on an exchange and hold it securely in a wallet. True, taking bitcoins out of circulation in this way may not be really good for bitcoin liquidity, it does allows you to indefinitely hold a currency that no central bank can deflate.
Get pizza
Why not? You've earned it. Some take-out pizza companies are starting to accept bitcoin. Or try a website like Pizzaforcoins.com, which will take your order, accept your bitcoin payment, and relay the order to Domino's Pizza for local delivery.