Bitcoin’s value as a payment protocol is hard to deny.
The digital currency offers merchants a number of benefits over traditional fiat and credit card transactions, and for consumers, making payments with bitcoin is secure and convenient.
Even with those benefits, however, there was a time when it was nearly impossible to use your bitcoins to buy anything practical. One of the very first real-world purchases made with bitcoin was in 2010, when a computer programmer paid 10,000 BTC (around $6m USD at today’s market price) for two pizzas from Papa John’s.
Luckily for everybody, companies like BitPay and Coinbase have made it a breeze for businesses small and large to integrate bitcoin as a payment option for their goods and services.
As a result, there are considerably more options today when it comes to spending your beloved bitcoins. While everyone has their own taste, some of the things that can be bought with the digital currency are just downright bizarre.
Here are the 14 weirdest things you can buy with bitcoin:
1. A motorized unicycle
Price: $1,795
For those like myself, who never had quite enough balance to maneuver a unicycle, this self-balancing motorized model would surely be useful.
2. Adult Canadian Mammoth tusks
bitpremier.comPrice: $175,000
Purchasing these ivory tusks from the extinct woolly mammoth species with bitcoin would be a great way to bring things full circle between the past and the future, but only if you’ve got about 290 BTC to spare at today’s market price.
3. A Venus flytrap plant
predatoryplants.comPrice: $8.99
Who hasn’t always wanted a carnivorous plant growing in their garden? At under $10, these venus flytraps are a catch!
4. Sriracha-bacon flavored lollipops
lollyphile.comPrice: $24 for 12 lollipops
Most everybody loves sriracha and bacon, but combining the two flavors? And putting them in a lollipop? These suckers sound pretty irresistible.
5. An interactive ferrofluid sculpture
Price: $199
Even after watching the informational video, I’m still not certain I fully understand what’s going on with this ferrofluid sculpture. Regardless, I’m intrigued, and the iron-enhanced device seems fun to play with!
6. Red Trinidad scorpion jelly
pexpeppers.comPrice: $6
Some people search near and far for their fix of the hottest chilli peppers on the Scoville scale. I’m not sure where this Trinidad Scorpion Jelly ranks according to this system, but by the sound of it I would guess pretty high.
7. The very first Apple Macintosh model – 128k
bitpremier.comPrice: $5,430
Now that Apple is finally coming around to the idea of digital currencies, perhaps one nostalgic bitcoiner will spring for the very first model Macintosh that Apple released back in 1984.
8. Celtic cross tarot reading cards
mytarotreading.orgPrice: $15
We’ve all tried our hand at predicting the price trends for bitcoin and other digital currencies. Maybe these tarot cards can offer sage insight that us mortals are simply overlooking?
9. A Robo 3-D printer
robo3dprinter.comPrice: $799
While a 3-D printer may not be “weird” per se, this Robo3D printer could surely print out some strange objects. I’ll leave that up to the buyer’s imagination.
10. A doge sweatshirt
belovedshirts.comPrice: $59
Wow. This doge sweatshirt really makes a statement. Many prints, all over.
11. A handmade bitcoin plush pillow
craftsquatch.comPrice: $29
Some may want to show their love of digital currencies without sporting a doge sweatshirt, and for those people there is a handmade bitcoin plush pillow just waiting to be snuggled up with.
12. Spokester bicycle noisemakers
Price: $7.99
Of course, we all remember the old card-and-clothespin trick to make our bicycles sound intimidatingly loud as kids. Now, someone has actually tapped into the market and made a product that removes the need for all of that work!
13. A profitable Yukon gold mine
bitpremier.comPrice: $2m
There’s still a ton of speculation over which is the better investment: gold or bitcoin. This already-profitable gold mine in Canada would be the perfect investment for a super-rich bitcoiner hoping to diversify his or her portfolio.
14. Alpaca socks
grasshillalpacas.comPrice: $20
Alpacas and bitcoin have a long history together. Yes, you read that right. The llama-like animal has been dubbed the unofficial mascot of bitcoin, and these alpaca socks have become one of the quintessential items that can be bought with the digital currency.