June 23, 2026
10 mins
You’ve built a strong portfolio on Bitpanda over time. Maybe you hold BTC, ETH, and USDT, with some gold or ETFs on the side as well. You open the app regularly, track your positions, and watch your portfolio grow. But when it is time to actually use your holdings in real life, most people still end up doing the same thing. They sell their crypto, move the money back to their bank, wait for the transfer to settle, and then spend in fiat like they would with any traditional account.
The problem is that this process usually comes with conversion fees, delays, and unnecessary steps. It also undermines one of the biggest advantages of holding digital assets in the first place: the ability to move and use value directly.
What many Bitpanda users do not realise is that a lot of the assets already sitting in their portfolio can be used directly for real-world spending. One of the ways to do it is to book discounted travel directly with your crypto via CoinBooking platform. Once you understand how the ecosystem fits together, your Bitpanda account becomes a financial toolkit you can actually use!
One of the things that makes Bitpanda different from many crypto exchanges is that it was built to operate inside traditional financial systems instead of outside them. The platform holds regulatory approvals across the European Union, including licenses connected to Germany’s BaFin, Austria’s FMA, and Malta’s MFSA. For users across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the wider European market, that level of compliance creates a stronger sense of trust and stability than many offshore exchanges.
But the bigger advantage is how Bitpanda combines different asset classes in one place. Instead of separating crypto from everything else, Bitpanda allows users to hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, stocks, ETFs, gold, silver, and commodities inside the same account. That changes the way spending works because you are not limited to using crypto alone. Your entire portfolio becomes flexible.
For example, BTC, ETH, and USDT held on Bitpanda can already be used directly through CoinBooking for hotel and flight bookings at rates that are up to 30% lower than Booking.com or Expedia. At the same time, the Bitpanda Card can handle day-to-day purchases anywhere Visa is accepted. Together, these tools create a full spending setup where your investments and your real-world spending are connected in a much more practical way.
If you're still booking travel through Expedia or Booking.com, you are paying more than necessary. CoinBooking offers up to 30% less on hotel and flight rates compared to traditional booking platforms, and you can pay with more than 200 cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, and USDT. CoinBooking offers access to over 2 million hotels and flights across 190+ countries, making it easy to plan everything from a weekend getaway to an international adventure.
Instead of selling crypto, waiting for bank transfers, or dealing with fiat conversions, you can pay directly with your holdings at checkout and complete your booking in minutes. Better yet, CoinBooking sources deals from more than 100 travel providers worldwide, helping you secure rates that are often unavailable on other booking sites.
If you're looking for an exciting way to spend your crypto, explore the best beach vacations that will not break your wallet, book your next trip, and enjoy the best value for your money. Sign up now for $25 off your first booking for an additional discount.
Once your flights and accommodation are sorted, you still need a way to handle daily expenses while travelling. That is where the Bitpanda Card comes in.
The Bitpanda Card is a Visa debit card connected directly to your Bitpanda account. When you pay for something, the platform automatically converts your chosen asset into euros at the moment of purchase. This means you can pay for restaurants, transport, shopping, coffee, or anything else that accepts Visa using the assets already in your portfolio.
You can choose which asset should fund your spending inside the Bitpanda app. For example, you might choose BTC as your primary payment asset and USDT as a backup in case your Bitcoin balance falls below a certain amount.
Combined with CoinBooking, the Bitpanda Card allows you to handle almost every part of a trip without needing a traditional bank account for spending.
One of Bitpanda’s more unique features is the ability to hold precious metals like gold and silver alongside crypto assets. If gold prices rise significantly and you decide to take profits, you can liquidate part of that position and convert the proceeds into USDT or euros for a real-world purchase. That might mean funding a holiday, buying electronics, or covering a large expense without touching your long-term crypto positions.
This is not something users need to do constantly, but it gives flexibility during periods where metals perform strongly.
Bitpanda also allows users to hold fractional stocks and ETFs in the same account as their crypto. That means investment gains can move directly into spending without requiring multiple platforms or complicated transfers.
For example, if one of your ETF positions performs well and you decide to take partial profits, you can sell the position, convert the value into USDT, and immediately use it for travel bookings or card spending.
Instead of treating investing and spending as separate systems, Bitpanda connects them within one ecosystem.
Many users automatically reinvest all staking and “earn rewards” back into their portfolio. While compounding can be useful, there is another approach that feels much more practical for everyday life. You can treat your “earn rewards" as a separate spending fund.
For example, instead of touching your main BTC holdings, you could direct your monthly staking rewards toward travel, subscriptions, or entertainment expenses. Over time, this creates a situation where your portfolio helps fund parts of your lifestyle without requiring you to sell your core positions. It works similarly to how some people use dividend income from traditional investments.
Platforms like Bitrefill allow users to exchange crypto for gift cards covering major retailers and services. For Bitpanda users across Europe, this creates a straightforward path from crypto holdings to everyday spending. Gift cards are available for brands like Amazon, Zalando, Google Play, and many others, depending on your region.
Instead of withdrawing funds to a bank account first, you can simply use your crypto balance to buy digital credit directly.
A growing number of digital services now accept crypto payments directly. Platforms like Namecheap allow users to pay for domains and hosting with BTC, while many VPN providers and software tools also support crypto transactions.
For Bitpanda users, this creates a simple way to route recurring online expenses through their portfolio instead of through a traditional debit card.
It is also worth noting that users holding VSN, Bitpanda’s loyalty token, receive discounts on platform transaction fees, which can help reduce conversion costs before making larger purchases.
Sending money across borders through Bitpanda using USDT can be a simpler and often cheaper alternative to traditional bank transfers. Instead of going through the SWIFT system, which usually involves multiple banks, high fees, and delays of 1-3 business days, USDT transfers on Bitpanda can move in minutes and typically cost very little in network fees, depending on the blockchain used. This means you can send money to someone in another country without dealing with intermediary bank charges or long waiting times, as long as the recipient has a compatible crypto wallet.
For many Bitpanda users in Europe, especially in Eastern Europe, where sending and receiving money across borders is a regular need, this can be especially useful. It can apply to everyday situations like supporting family abroad, paying international freelancers or contractors, or settling purchases in another currency. Instead of converting money multiple times through banks and losing value to fees and exchange rate spreads, USDT allows value to move more directly. The key requirement is that both sender and recipient are comfortable using digital wallets, but once set up, the process is straightforward and much more predictable than traditional international bank wires.
Donating in crypto from Bitpanda can be a straightforward way to support charities while using assets you already hold, such as BTC, ETH, or USDT. Many nonprofits today accept crypto donations either directly through wallet addresses or through platforms like The Giving Block, which acts as an intermediary that helps charities securely receive, convert, and manage crypto contributions. You choose a participating charity, send your crypto to their donation address or via the platform, and the organization receives it either in crypto or converted fiat, depending on how they’ve set it up.
For Bitpanda users who already think in terms of portfolio allocation, this can be a practical way to set aside a portion of gains for giving without first converting everything into euros. In some European countries, donating appreciated crypto assets may also have tax implications that differ from selling and then donating cash, but the rules vary significantly by jurisdiction. We recommend checking how crypto donations are treated in your specific country before assuming any benefit.
Paying international freelancers and contractors in USDT through Bitpanda is becoming a practical option, especially in fields like software development, design, marketing, and content creation, where cross-border work is common. Instead of relying on traditional bank transfers, which can involve SWIFT fees, currency conversion costs, and delays of several days, you can convert your crypto or fiat balance on Bitpanda into USDT and send it directly to the recipient’s wallet. For the freelancer, the only requirement is a compatible crypto wallet, meaning they don’t need a bank account in your country to receive payment.
You start by converting the amount you want to pay into USDT within Bitpanda, then withdraw it to the contractor’s wallet address, just like sending any standard crypto transaction. Once confirmed on the network, the payment is settled, often within minutes, depending on network conditions.
A growing number of select luxury retailers in Europe and internationally now accept BTC and ETH for high-value purchases, particularly in categories like watches, jewelry, designer fashion, and art. These are typically merchants that already sell to an international customer base and are comfortable handling alternative payment methods for large transactions. For Bitpanda users, this can be useful when making cross-border luxury purchases, as paying directly with crypto can reduce reliance on traditional card networks and the international transaction fees or currency conversion costs that often come with them.
Crypto acceptance in this space is usually enabled through payment processors such as BitPay or Coinbase Commerce. Look for these logos at checkout or in the payment section of a website, as they indicate that the merchant can securely convert crypto into fiat on the backend. Where direct crypto payments are not available, the Bitpanda Card offers an alternative route by letting you spend your crypto balance like a regular card payment.
The BEST (Bitpanda Ecosystem Token) token is used on Bitpanda to reduce trading and conversion fees when you hold and use it within the platform. The more BEST you hold, the lower your fees can be when you buy, sell, or convert assets like BTC, ETH, or USDT. This becomes especially relevant before larger moves such as converting a sizable crypto position into USDT ahead of a purchase, because even small percentage reductions in fees can translate into meaningful savings with large transactions.
Bitpanda applies a tiered system, with each tier coming with progressively better reductions on trading and conversion costs. The exact thresholds and benefits are shown directly in the Bitpanda platform, where you can see what level you currently qualify for and what additional savings you would unlock by holding more BEST. For users who transact occasionally but in larger amounts, it’s essentially a way to reduce friction costs in the background without changing how you use the platform.
A useful way to think about long-term wealth building on Bitpanda is to separate your money into active capital and long-term savings capital. You can do this by regularly setting aside a portion of your Earn rewards or broader investment returns and converting them into BTC or ETH, then moving them into a cold storage wallet that you don’t use for day-to-day trading or spending. This creates a clear separation: one part of your portfolio stays liquid for opportunities and spending, while the other is intentionally left untouched as a long-term store of value.
What makes Bitpanda’s structure practical here is that your funding sources don’t have to come only from crypto gains. You can just as easily take profits from stocks, ETFs, or even precious metals within the platform, convert them into BTC or ETH, and then transfer them out to cold storage as part of the same routine. This is an excellent way to build a consistent system where a portion of gains is automatically redirected into long-term assets that aren’t affected by short-term decisions or market conditions.
Crypto can also be used to invest back into yourself. Online learning platforms, certifications, and professional training services increasingly support crypto payments either directly or through Visa-compatible cards. This is more common with smaller or crypto-forward learning platforms rather than the biggest mainstream providers. A few niche education services in the blockchain and tech space also accept direct crypto payments, and others indirectly support it by allowing crypto-funded gift cards or third-party checkout integrations.
For major mainstream learning platforms that don’t yet accept crypto directly, the Bitpanda Card effectively fills the gap. Because it runs on the Visa network, it can be used on virtually all major online course providers and certification bodies, including those that only accept standard card payments. This makes it practical for Bitpanda users who want to reinvest portfolio gains into education or professional development without first converting to bank transfers or fiat withdrawals.
Several electronics and tech retailers now accept BTC and, in some cases, ETH through crypto payment processors such as BitPay. One of the most well-known examples is Newegg, which allows customers in supported regions to pay directly with crypto for items like laptops, gaming hardware, and accessories. Outside of this, direct crypto acceptance is still relatively limited in mainstream electronics retail, but it tends to appear more often in online-first retailers that already serve international customers and want flexible payment options at checkout.
For the broader market, Bitpanda users still have practical alternatives even where direct crypto payments aren’t available. You can automatically convert your crypto balance into local currency at the point of sale by using the Bitpanda Card at any Visa-accepting electronics retailer. Another common route is using crypto-funded gift cards through services like Bitrefill, which can be redeemed at major platforms such as Amazon and other large tech marketplaces. Together, these options mean that whether a retailer accepts crypto directly or not, you can still use Bitpanda holdings to purchase electronics with minimal friction.
For many Bitpanda users, the issue has never been whether their portfolio has value. The real challenge is knowing how to turn that value into something useful in everyday life. Platforms like CoinBooking and tools like the Bitpanda Card help bridge that gap by giving you practical ways to pay for travel, purchases, services, and other real-world expenses directly from your holdings.
CoinBooking is a particularly strong example. Instead of cashing out crypto and booking through traditional travel sites, you can book hotels and flights with more than 200 cryptocurrencies while accessing rates up to 30% lower than major booking platforms. Combine this with access to over 2 million properties worldwide and a $25 discount for first-time users, and you have a simple way to convert digital assets into real-world experiences.
This article is for educational purposes only. It is a general guide for founders and users navigating the Web3 space. It does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.If you want to learn more about raising funds or which IDOs to look into, our team is here to help. Feel free to reach out to us on Telegram at any time.