What can I buy with bitcoin in Canada?

As the rest of the world falls into panic with every dip in digital currencies, Canadian bitcoin, and cryptocurrency investors seem to be holding their own pretty well. A 2021 survey1, the latest of its kind, showed significant growth in the share of Canadians who own bitcoin: it increased from 5% in 2018 to 2020, to 13% in 2021. 

Like other new and experienced investors around the world, Canadians are drawn to digital currencies because they allow faceless transactions. The privacy and blockchain-backed security that you get is too hard to resist, which partly explains why the digital marketplace is growing steadily in Canada.

Leading the pack is bitcoin. Close to 4% of Canadians used bitcoin in 20192, making it the most popular cryptocurrency in the country by a landslide. Ethereum came second with 0.9% while Ripple, Litecoin, and Dash completed the top five with 0.75%, 0.7%, and 0.5% respectively. Although 2019 can be considered a long time ago, there aren’t any more recent stats available yet that show a wider acceptance of bitcoin and other cryptocurrency tokens. However, this doesn’t mean we don’t have any further evidence to support the growth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Without a doubt, bitcoin remains the most popular and the most likely to be accepted by Canadian retailers and cryptocurrency traders. As such, we’ve compiled a list of everything you can buy with bitcoin to provide you with all the useful information you need to make the most out of your cryptocurrency. 

What is bitcoin and how does it work?

Let’s start at the beginning. Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital currency, otherwise known as a virtual currency, that acts as a form of payment by allowing users to send and receive money over a peer-to-peer network. Bitcoin is decentralized, meaning it is not issued or controlled by a single entity like the dollar we are used to in Canada. Rather, peers (individuals) on a blockchain – which is an open digital ledger – simply validate bitcoin transactions and transfers.

In terms of how it works, bitcoin is a  digital asset that you can store either in a mobile wallet or hardware wallet. Some users choose to leave their bitcoin on a cryptocurrency exchange, but we always advise against this. Whatever the case, each coin represents bitcoin’s market price. You can either hold the coin as a digital asset or use it as a method of payment when settling transactions. But you don’t need to own a full coin; you can own a fraction of a bitcoin.

Like all other types of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin is exchangeable for fiat currency (like the Canadian dollar) on a cryptocurrency exchange. Luckily, that’s not always necessary in Canada because a good number of Canadian retailers now accept bitcoin as a mode of payment.

Is bitcoin legal in Canada?

Yes, bitcoin is legal in Canada. However, it is neither a legal currency nor a legal tender. Only the Canadian dollar is recognized as the official currency in the country.