Eight places that accept Bitcoin you might not expect

As of 2015, the number of merchants accepting Bitcoin has exceeded 100,000, and the number of merchants accepting Bitcoin has continued to increase in Europe and Asia, driven by Bitcoin startups such as Coinbase, Bitpay, and Coinify. Between 2013 and 2015, BitPay alone processed more than 800,000 transactions, with a total amount of $260 million.

This growth has resulted in Bitcoin usage reaching some of the most remote and unexpected regions of the world, including North Korea, Tenerife, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Sudan, Siberia, Iran, and the Sahara.

North Korea

A Reddit user who wishes to remain anonymous, BitcoinDPRK, sent $100 in bitcoin from North Korea to Sean's Outpost, a charity in Florida.

In January 2014, BitcoinDPRK visited North Korea and watched Dennis Rodman play basketball. He said:

“I think this is the first time North Korea has ever broadcast a bitcoin transaction.”

During his trip, he gave a paper wallet with a few mBTC to a tour guide who was traveling with him.

In 2015, a bar and two restaurants in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, began accepting Bitcoin payments and were listed on Coinmap.org.

However, in North Korea, where only a small number of people are allowed to access the Internet, mostly government officials and their relatives, the prospects for Bitcoin seem rather bleak, especially compared to their neighbor South Korea.

Tenerife

Tenerife, Spain's most populous island, 300 kilometers off the coast of Africa, is known for its five-star hotels and luxurious lifestyle, and there are now more than a dozen Bitcoin merchants on the island, including hair salons, apartments, clothing stores and hotels.

Western Sahara

Dakhla Lagoon, a beautiful tourist attraction on the coast of Western Sahara where visitors can surf, swim and watch dolphins, can be booked using Bitcoin through the online booking platform Adormo.

When asked if they accept Bitcoin, Adormo responded: “Yes, we do.”

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country, but surprisingly, there are quite a few merchants in Almaty, the country’s largest city, that accept Bitcoin. In addition to law firms and rental stores, Satam, Kazakhstan’s main electronics retailer, also accepts Bitcoin.

Sudan

Sudan is the third largest country in Africa. So far, there is only one Bitcoin merchant in the country, Visa4Sudan. This merchant not only provides Visa and MasterCard card opening services for customers, but also acts as a local Bitcoin exchange.

Pakistan

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a country with a population of over 1.8 million, has three Bitcoin merchants: Ishraqi (a clothing store), DIT Planet (an information technology company), and a local technology research center in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.

Siberia

Voltage, a car repair shop in the city of Norylsk in the Siberian region, accepts Bitcoin payments. There are very few merchants accepting Bitcoin in the vast territory of Russia, and Voltage is the only place you can find within thousands of miles that allows you to spend Bitcoin.

Iran

Iran is the 18th most populous country in the world, with more than 78 million residents. However, for such a populous country, there is only one Bitcoin merchant. Persian Shoes, a handmade shoe manufacturer based in Isfahan, has a history of more than 70 years in the shoemaking industry. In addition to Bitcoin, they currently do not accept other forms of payment.

The company noted:

"The problem is that, working in Iran, most payment systems are not happy to work for us or would bring risk to our business. We would love to accept other forms of payment, but the fact is that we can't."