How to pay for a purchase in a foreign online store using cryptocurrency

Shopping in the USA through a forwarding company

Unfortunately, without a VPN, a bank card issued outside the Russian Federation, and a real address for shopping in the USA — it is often impossible to order goods in America. This is closely monitored, including by the online stores themselves. But a forwarding company — registered in the States — can easily purchase the goods for you. It will provide you with your personal official address in the USA, to which purchases from online stores will be sent. And whenever you want, it will combine them into one parcel and forward it to your address in the Russian Federation or RB. Because of the large price difference, these intermediaries (mail forwarders) are very popular, with hundreds of thousands of customers and millions of parcels shipped through them every year.

There are also foreign online stores that directly allow purchases to be paid for with cryptocurrency. These include:

Microsoft.com
Overstock
Shopify
Gyft
Newegg.

Many of them support payment not only in USDT, but also in the cryptocurrencies Polygon (MATIC) and Tron (TRX), and NeweGG even works with ApeCoin, BCH, and LTC. The most popular stores, eBay, Amazon, and iHerb, unfortunately, still do not accept direct cryptocurrency payments, but purchases there can be paid for using third-party financial services that work with cryptocurrency (PayPal, BitPay, virtual Visa from Crypto.com, Cash App, Purse).

But in any case, you need to get the delivery address for the purchased goods from a mail forwarder (fortunately, this is free). Purchases are not shipped directly from store websites to a Russian address. Therefore, it is better to simply top up your balance with cryptocurrency with the mail forwarder, and then order goods through them. This is much more выгодно than topping up accounts with the same mail forwarder in rubles through Tinkoff or Qiwi, which charge large commissions and have a significant difference in exchange rates.

That is, paying on Amazon or iHerb with cryptocurrency is possible — if you top up your balance at Pochtoy.com with crypto. This is the most convenient and cost-effective cryptocurrency payment service for Russian-speaking users.

You can order directly in the mail forwarder website interface what you want to buy by sending it links to the desired product.

Which cryptocurrency to buy

There are a huge number of cryptocurrencies, and new ones appear every day. You can view their (incomplete) list on CoinMarketCap. If you need pure profit — one of the lesser-known altcoins that regularly make price jumps is the best fit. But services and stores most often accept more well-known (and stable currencies).

Bitcoin — the most well-known one, but often unprofitable when paying for ordinary goods because of excessively high network fees.

Ethereum cryptocurrency (Ethereum) — the second largest and quite profitable, especially after the latest updates to its blockchain.

Matic cryptocurrency (Polygon) — not as popular (stores do not accept it as often), but even more profitable due to minimal payment fees.

The disadvantages of all these cryptocurrencies — constantly changing prices. For the same Polygon cryptocurrency, the exchange rate may change by 20-30% in a day. Therefore, services most often prefer to receive simply USDT. This is a cryptocurrency whose price is pegged to the US dollar. That is, one USDT is always equal to $1. This simply makes it very easy to track prices. And since this is a cryptocurrency, it has an advantage over regular money: it is controlled by no one, it is easier to transfer, and it is more convenient to exchange it for any other currencies without any fees.

USDT — the most popular cryptocurrency for financial transactions. And therefore if you are thinking about which cryptocurrency is best to buy, start by buying USDT. All exchanges work with it and its versions exist on all popular blockchains. For example, Pochtoy.com supports USDT transfers from blockchains such as:

Ethereum
Tron
Polygon
BSC (Binance Smart Chain).

All of these are, in essence, different databases where information about users' financial transactions is stored publicly. Each of them allows USDT transactions. But these are different USDTs. On Tron, it is USDT of the TRC-20 standard; on BSC — USDT of the BEP-20 standard; on Ethereum, the cryptocurrency has the ERC-20 property. Currency transfers are not carried out between blockchains. You can only exchange one token for another through a cryptocurrency exchange or a decentralized service. Therefore, be careful about what type of tokens (through which blockchain) you send. Usually this information will be described in detail on the service from which you make the transfer, so it will be hard to miss.

How to buy cryptocurrency. Looking at cryptocurrency exchanges

Where to buy cryptocurrency? You can, of course, get it from an acquaintance, or try mining it yourself (this is still realistic for Shiba Inu and other less popular altcoins). But the vast majority of users prefer to simply buy the tokens they need on one of the major exchanges. These are centralized cryptocurrency buying and selling services that are larger than many central banks. Besides, buying cryptocurrency from them is profitable, especially if you do it through P2P, where there are no fees.

Buying cryptocurrency on an exchange is fast, completely safe, and fairly simple. You won’t need to delve into the specifics of how the blockchain works or create personal wallets here; it is enough to have an account on the exchange. It is created in the same way as on any other online service, except that you also need to complete verification: provide a photo of your passport or your phone number. If you have ever registered with other financial services, such as YuMoney or QIWI, the process should be familiar to you.

The biggest and best-known cryptocurrency buying and selling exchanges are:

Binance
Coinbase
Kraken
KuCoin
Huobi
OKX.

Binance is the most popular platform for buying and selling cryptocurrency. It accounts for about half of all crypto trading in the world. At the same time, because of this, Binance is under closer scrutiny from regulators. In 2022, under pressure from the US and the EU, the exchange was forced to impose sanctions against Russian users so that billionaires would not move money abroad through it. Therefore, there is now a restriction on it: the maximum account balance is the equivalent of 10 000 euros. Although buying cryptocurrency on Binance is not restricted, you will not be allowed to go over this limit.

Coinbase has a stricter restriction: they sometimes block Russian accounts (allowing all funds to be withdrawn, but prohibiting all other operations). And the OKX crypto exchange is blocked by Russia itself — by decision of the Prosecutor General's Office. Access to it is only possible through a VPN.

It is worth considering that the financial restriction on Binance only works if you keep cryptocurrency inside the exchange. You can transfer any amounts to your personal wallet created outside the exchange. And from it you can also pay for services with cryptocurrency by transferring funds to the websites of intermediary companies or paying for purchases yourself.

Therefore, those who hold truly large sums in crypto (hundreds of thousands of dollars and more) buy cryptocurrency on exchanges, but then withdraw it from the exchanges to their personal wallet created on the chosen blockchain (Ethereum, Polygon, Tron…). The MetaMask service is quite popular for this, as it can store cryptocurrency and tokens from any networks.

However, if your amounts are not that large, you can safely keep them inside the exchange, or transfer them to your balance in Pochtoy.com so that they are stored in your personal account.

The process of buying cryptocurrency — using Huobi as an example

Huobi — a cryptocurrency exchange founded in China. One of the most loyal to Russian users (and in good standing with the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation).

1. Register on the Huobi website. This can be done using an email address or phone number.

2. Complete verification. Confirm your phone number, upload photos of your documents (if the service requires it). If you are planning to operate with large amounts, for additional security you may need to confirm your place of residence and fill out a questionnaire about the source of funds.

3. Buy cryptocurrency. You can top up your Huobi account in three main ways:

• Quickly buy currency from the exchange by paying with a bank card
• Transfer money from one of the other financial services (Advcash, Geo Pay, etc.)
• Buy cryptocurrency from other exchange users via P2P.
   

The last option (P2P) is the most preferable. First, you do not pay any commission. Second, absolutely any payment methods are available this way: bank transfers, cards, services like ADVcash or Transferwise, QIWI wallet, Tinkoff, Alfa-Bank. You will definitely find the method that is convenient for you. This way, you can also buy cryptocurrency for rubles.

At the same time, such a purchase is completely safe. The funds of the user who transfers the currency to you are blocked for the duration of the transaction. Even if they suddenly do not want to send it to you (which is unlikely, because then they will quickly be blocked on the exchange) — you will be able to contact support regarding this transaction and show them screenshots of your transfer. The decision will always be made in your favor.

It is better to buy USDT to your Huobi wallet — the most universal cryptocurrency. However, whatever currency you buy, inside the exchange it can easily be exchanged through spot trading.

4. Transfer cryptocurrency to the mail forwarder website (or store). After you have bought cryptocurrency and it has appeared in your personal account, all that remains is to make a direct transfer of this currency to an external crypto wallet. To do this, go to the «Assets» section (top right corner) → «My Assets» and click the «Withdraw» button. Both P2P and withdrawals on Kucoin, Huobi, and Binance work the same way.

You can view the wallet address in your personal account on the mail forwarder website (or it will appear in the store when paying with cryptocurrency). Make sure that the USDT standard matches. The easiest way is to choose the most popular Ethereum network (ERC-20) and send to its wallet. Just copy the wallet address from the mail forwarder website and paste it into the required field in Huobi.

For example, if on the mail forwarder website we chose a transfer on the Ethereum blockchain, then accordingly we specify ERC20 on the Huobi website.

The Tron blockchain (TRC20 tokens) is less popular, so the transfer fee will be significantly lower, and the transaction speed — higher. When transferring from the exchange, you can choose any blockchain whose wallet is available from your mail forwarder. When carrying out such a simple operation, there is no difference between blockchains except for the fee.

5. Congratulations! Now you can freely make purchases in foreign online stores without worrying about unrelated things.

On other exchanges, the process works exactly the same. Buying cryptocurrency on Binance or KuCoin is also most выгоднее through P2P. There are also dozens of payment methods there and the ability to exchange any currency for any other through spot trading.

You can buy cryptocurrency for rubles on Binance, and then earn interest on it through the Binance Earn program, temporarily invest in the launch of a new project through the launchpad, or immediately pay with cryptocurrency for goods in foreign stores. You gain enormous freedom of choice that did not exist before.

Most importantly — remember that the minimum fee is always with P2P transactions, and USDT must be sent in exactly the same standard as the wallet address from which you received it, so that the blockchain accepts it.

Step-by-step process of paying with cryptocurrency for purchases in US online stores

So, once again. Step by step, the process is as follows:

go to Huobi/KuCoin/Binance
buy cryptocurrency (from the exchange or from users via P2P)
transfer it to your account with the forwarding company (or go directly to the store’s website if it accepts cryptocurrency payments)
buy goods in stores by transferring cryptocurrency from your exchange account to the specified crypto wallet
receive packages at your address in the USA, and choose a method for forwarding them to Russia. You can combine several packages into one so that the cost of forwarding them is lower
save thousands of rubles on every purchase, and buy goods long before they are released in Russia.

Why shopping with cryptocurrency is beneficial

1. The lowest fees. Creating a wallet on any service or blockchain is free. And then you can receive or send electronic money no more difficultly than with YooMoney. But, as a rule, with a lower transaction fee.
2. Your funds are yours alone. No matter what the sanctions are, no matter which banks and services go bankrupt. Tokens on the blockchain will remain there. If, of course, you create such a blockchain wallet.
3. A wide choice of options. Many exchanges, many different blockchains and cryptocurrencies. Everyone can find something with an interface and technology that suits them.
    

And, of course, paying for goods with cryptocurrency is an opportunity to save a lot or even earn money. You do not spend big money on the exchange rate difference between rubles in Tinkoff and dollars on an American service. And while you are not buying, cryptocurrency can work for you (if you do staking, participate in launchpads, or add it to a liquidity pool). There are many ways to receive passive income if you have it available. This is a huge advantage of cryptocurrency over regular money. And when you buy goods abroad, you save many times over on each item compared to how much it costs in Russia. You save tens of thousands of rubles on iPhones and electronics, or many thousands of rubles on clothes and shoes.

It is time to start working with a very useful next-generation tool! Pay with cryptocurrency — and do not be afraid of any restrictions.