Blue Origin officially accepts payment in cryptocurrencies, marking an important step in the convergence of digital finance and the aerospace industry.
The aerospace company Blue Origin of billionaire Jeff Bezos announced the decision to accept cryptocurrency as payment for space travel, a symbolic move that reflects the increasingly profound intersection between two pioneering fields of technology.
Through a strategic partnership with payment service provider Shift4, customers can now purchase New Shepard tickets using leading digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and stablecoins USDT, USD Coin. The system allows for direct payments from popular wallets such as MetaMask and Coinbase, completely removing traditional intermediary barriers.
Alex Wilson, Director of the Cryptocurrency Division at Shift4, noted that this move is not merely an addition of a new payment method. According to Wilson, cryptocurrencies and stablecoins have the potential to become a preferred option for large transactions in the future, especially suitable for high-cost industries like space tourism due to their decentralized, cross-border payment features.
Blue Origin, which has successfully completed more than 75 flights sending passengers beyond the Kármán line – the official boundary of space, is currently leading the trend of blockchain application in the aerospace sector. The link between Blue Origin and the cryptocurrency asset ecosystem was previously established through Tron founder Justin Sun, who spent $28 million to participate in the 2021 flight, with the funds later donated to STEAM educational organizations.
Blue Origin's decision is a continuation of the wave of blockchain-space integration that has been quietly developing over the years. From a cultural perspective, 2022 saw the NFT character 'Bobu the Bean Farmer' from the Azuki collection being sent into space during the SpaceX/NASA mission, however, the industry's ambitions extend far beyond such symbolic applications.
Pioneering projects are building real blockchain infrastructure in outer space. In 2020, Spacechain successfully executed the first multisignature Bitcoin transaction from the International Space Station (ISS), proving the feasibility of fully extraterrestrial blockchain operations. Following this success, Spacecoin XYZ plans to launch its first satellite in December 2024 to develop an orbital blockchain network, laying the foundation for a decentralized application ecosystem in space.
Alongside advancements in space, breakthrough solutions are also emerging in the troposphere. World Mobile is deploying a 5G network using hydrogen-powered drones, integrated with decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN). This system provides connectivity with a latency of only 6 milliseconds and costs 18 times less than traditional satellites, demonstrating the potential of decentralized technology in addressing terrestrial infrastructure challenges.
