Virgin Galactic Takes Bitcoin To New Heights…Literally

Space travel and bitcoin seem to go hand in hand don’t they?

Sir Richard Branson, billionaire owner of Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Virgin aiming to shoot wealthy people in to space, announced that his space faring company would accept bitcoin as a method of payment.

The first ticket bought with bitcoin was on November 22^nd, fittingly enough by a flight attendant. Now that one bitcoin is worth somewhere north of $1000, 250 bitcoins will get you on board SpaceShipTwo (a ticket is worth $250,000).

Branson himself is no stranger to bitcoin, as he himself has become a bitcoin evangelist in his own right. He’s invested in the currency, and he must believe that bitcoin has staying power if he’s willing to trade it for trips destined for leaving planet Earth.

Branson writes, “The days of carrying cash and coins could soon be over. Sometime in the future, innovative payment models such as Square, Clinkle and Bitcoin will become serious challengers to traditional banks, which will spur more competition and give customers even more options.”

It makes sense for a space pioneering company to accept a pioneering digital currency. The question that still remains to be answered is if more regular, every day merchants will begin to accept bitcoin. Thanks to the efforts of the bitcoin community, it may just be inevitable.