Gifting cryptocurrency has become an increasingly popular trend lately. Find out how to give crypto to your loved ones and what are the best crypto gift card options available right now.
Giving cryptocurrency gift cards to friends and family has become one of the most fashionable gifts for crypto lovers during the festivities. It’s a great way to engage newbies and help them get started with the crypto journey.
Gifting newborns with Bitcoin or Ethereum has also become widespread as crypto investors who believe their value will keep rising have replaced gifting gold with cryptocurrencies.
It’s become even more accessible for recipients to exchange the assets for the equivalent of fiat money if they want to and buy products or services online instead of holding the crypto. It’s certainly easier than trading physical gold for cash, for instance.
By receiving the cryptocurrency, beneficiaries are also encouraged to hold the cryptocurrency and not incur a tax event until they sell it. Indeed, on a general basis, cryptocurrency gifts are not taxable events anywhere in the world as long as they remain within the annual gift tax exclusion threshold.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have also become popular gifts in the last few months and can be transferred as a present if your loved ones are into digital arts. This article will specifically look into crypto gift cards and how they work.
It is easy to grant a cryptocurrency as a gift if the recipient is already a crypto investor and has access to a digital wallet, as you just need to transfer the asset from your wallet to theirs. However, there are now ways to package crypto gifts into lovely cards thanks to dedicated services that can help send them worldwide.
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Which Crypto Should You Choose?
CoinMarketCap currently counts over 18,000 existing cryptocurrencies which might make choosing one particular asset difficult for gifters. Nevertheless, if people do not want to be adventurous with their choices, picking Bitcoin or any of the top ten coins or tokens usually is the safest option.
Also, it’s worth remembering that gifters do not need to buy an entire coin, but a fraction of it will work. Bitcoin is hovering around $40,000 at the time of writing, so 1 BTC might be a substantial gift, but buyers can simply purchase the equivalent of $10 or $50. Simply input the amount you wish to give (in USD, GBP, JPY or any currency you wish) in the converter box on our Bitcoin page, and find out the BTC equivalent.
Crypto gift cards can be offered to anyone worldwide, and purchasing them has become easier than ever. Let’s see what the options are.
Crypto Gift Cards
Source: https://bitpay.com/blog/amazon-gift-cards/
Amazon does not accept Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as payments yet. However, it has offered crypto gift cards for a long time. These coupons give customers the chance to convert their cryptocurrency to fiat via BitPay to pay for any goods they want and buy gifts with their Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.
Source: https://www.bitrefill.com/
Other services like Bitrefill offer gift cards that can be purchased with crypto in multiple retailers, from H&M to Airbnb, Ikea, and various supermarkets.
On the other hand, if you’d like to offer cryptocurrency as a gift, there are a few different options to suit everyone’s circumstances.
These cards look very similar to any retail gift card we’ve always used from a book shop, fitness center, or a popular online shop. Usually, once you choose the cryptocurrency and select the appropriate amount, you will be sent a gift card with the equivalent amount deposited.
The recipient will then be able to claim the gift from the same website by simply entering the details defined on the card. It’s really that easy.
Giving Cryptocurrency Using Crypto Exchanges
It is possible to give cryptocurrency using an exchange. Typically, this is the favorite choice of crypto enthusiasts who already have an existing account on exchanges. Otherwise, you’ll need to choose one and set up an account before purchasing a cryptocurrency and sending it to the recipient’s digital public address.
Companies such as Coinbase and Binance allow their users to purchase gift cards to make them look like properly packaged presents instead of dull transfers.
Binance Gift Cards
Binance gift cards can be personalized with different themes and messages, allowing customers to create and send any cryptocurrency of any amount. The service makes it as easy as clicking a couple of buttons. Once the recipient redeems the gift card code, the crypto will be fully credited to their Binance funding wallet.
To send a crypto gift card through Binance, customers must have a Binance account to purchase the coupon. After the purchase, they can copy the card’s code, enter the recipient’s email address, and Binance will then send an email to help the recipient get their money.
Coinbase Gifting
Source: https://www.coinbase.com/gifting
Coinbase crypto cards are delivered as digital coupons featuring a piece of art from crypto artists.
Customers of the exchange can send, sign, and personalize their gift from the Coinbase app by simply entering the recipient's email address, who will be able to sign up for the service at a later stage. There are no fees to send the gift card.
From the Coinbase gift card page, click on [Gift crypto], and then [Send gift]:
Here you can choose the amount, select the recipient’s email address and personalize the card with an art design and a message:
Then click [continue] to complete the purchase and send the gift card.
The gift card itself also features pretty amazing artwork from artists in the crypto sphere.
Storing Cryptocurrencies
Good practice for cryptocurrency is always to store them in digital wallets rather than keep them in exchanges that can be more easily hacked and the coins stolen. The gifted crypto can be stored in paper wallets, hardware wallets and physical coins. They are all good options as they are all offline services that are more secure and not subject to online vulnerability.
Check out the difference between hot and cold wallets.
Hardware wallets and physical coins are also great cryptocurrency gifts that could be purchased and offered to your loved ones before gifting them with cryptocurrency.
Find out the best crypto cold wallets to get for your loved ones.
Selling Gift Cards for Crypto
Do you have an unwanted gift card? Maybe someone gave you a coupon you want to trade in exchange for cryptocurrency? There is an option for users to get rid of their undesired gift cards and would prefer to have crypto. These gift cards can be traded for Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies on Paxful or Purse.
Paxful is a peer-to-peer marketplace where users can trade gift cards for crypto and vice versa. The site supports over 100 different gift cards from the most popular companies like Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Visa, etc.
Purse is another leading platform where users can trade their gift cards for cryptocurrency. Purse connects users who own unwanted gift cards from major e-commerce retailers with users who want to sell their cryptocurrency. So, basically, with the unwanted Amazon or Ikea gift card, users will pay for another user’s purchases on an online shop. Once the shopper has received their purchases, the equivalent amount of crypto will become available to the unwanted-card user.
These are only a few of the several options available to purchase crypto gift cards. Most exchanges and digital services have gift card options nowadays, and they are all straightforward to use, even for beginners. So start gifting now!
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