Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ private spaceflight company, will now accept payments in Bitcoin and other leading cryptoassets. Eligible tokens include ETH, SOL, USDT, and USDC.
Justin Sun, founder of Tron, used one of the company’s flights to space earlier this month. Blue Origin is making inroads with the crypto industry, potentially capturing imaginations worldwide.
Blue Origin’s Crypto Spaceflights
Space travel has often fascinated people in the crypto scene; crypto firms have contributed to space communications research, multiple companies have funded satellites with token sales, and Elon Musk even owns a spaceflight company.
Today, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is deepening these worlds’ intersection by allowing Bitcoin payments for spaceflights:
“Starting today and powered by Shift4’s seamless payments technology, consumers can pay with popular cryptocurrencies and stablecoins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, USDT and USDC for trips to space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard. Customers will also have the option to connect popular wallets like Coinbase and MetaMask,” Blue Origin claimed.
Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, has already had a few notable intersections with the crypto industry. Earlier this month, Tron founder Justin Sun completed a trip beyond the Kármán line after securing passage in 2021.
The last crypto executive to fly to space used SpaceX’s rockets, so this event increased Bezos’ firm’s notoriety.
Bitcoin To The Moon – Literally
Shift4, Blue Origin’s partner in this enterprise, has a history of facilitating crypto transactions. It acquired The Giving Block in 2022 and partnered with Chainlink and Mastercard to increase cardholders’ Web3 access this June.
With its support, international travelers can immediately book spaceflights on any day or time.
Ultimately, this does seem more like a gimmick than a true use case. Blue Origin flights cost around $28 million, and TradFI institutions have plenty of ways to make transactions as convenient as possible.
Blockchain-based payment solutions won’t necessarily add significant ease of use for travelers.
However, even assessed as a publicity stunt, it’s a pretty noteworthy one. The crypto industry has long promised technological solutions to seemingly intractable human problems, and space travel naturally shares this vision.
Thanks to Blue Origin, Bitcoin and other cryptoassets might get a chance to emphasize that connection.
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