Crypto Space Tourism Now Possible with Blue Origin Taking BTC, ETH, & More

In a small step for Jeff Bezos but a giant leap for crypto adoption, Blue Origin has teamed up with Shift4 Payments to enable crypto payments for New Shepard tours in outer space. From now on, prospective space tourists will be able to fund their trips using Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Tether (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC).

The tickets to space and back can be purchased via direct payments using popular crypto wallets like Coinbase and MetaMask, very much like funding crypto casino account or making regular online purchases.

75+ Travelers and Counting – Now with Crypto Onboard

The move to integrate crypto payments represents a strategic push toward high-end, frictionless transactions for tech-forward clients. Taylor Lauber, CEO of Shift4Indeed, hailed the Blue Origin deal’s potential to “enable adventurous travelers to book the adventure of a lifetime, no matter their preferred payment method.”

Alex Wilson, Head of Crypto at Shift4, was no less enthusiastic: “We believe crypto and stablecoins are going to become an increasingly popular way for consumers to pay, particularly for high-end purchases, as both the consumer and merchant benefit financially from these transactions.”

From New Shepard, with Love

So far, 75 people have boarded the New Shepard and travelled 100km into Earth’s orbit. On August 3, Blue Origin launched its 14th crewed flight, NS-34, with six people on board. The celebrities who have made the trip so far include pop singer Katy Perry and TV journalist Gayle King. Only five people have flown twice.

A Match Made in Space

Blue Origin’s collaboration with Shift4 Payments is not crypto’s first venture past the Kármán Line – the unofficially accepted border where Earth’s atmosphere ends and quote-unquote space begins.

In fact, there is an entire blockchain infrastructure orbiting the Earth as we speak. The SpaceChain project, based on the International Space Station (ISS), has thus far launched several blockchain-enabled payloads into space, demonstrating that interstellar crypto transactions are not just a possibility but a viable future. The company has recently shifted its focus towards AI and has a lot in store for the coming years.

Also, remember NFTs and the splash they made? In 2022, Azuki’s non-fungible token of Bobu the Bean Farmer was launched into space by a joint mission of  NASA and SpaceX. 2,000 Bobu tokens were stored on the Ledger hardware wallet and sent to the ISS alongside Crew-4, making it the first NFT in space. It’s currently held by some 12,000 owners with a market cap of 222.94 ETH.

Wider Crypto Adoption

As digital currency adoption expands, other travel and luxury sectors may follow suit in offering crypto-friendly payment solutions. While space travel has the highest cool factor, it’s just a drop in the ocean of everything that’s going on with crypto adoption in Q3 of 2025.

Only last month, PayPal unveiled its very own crypto checkout tool, enabling users to facilitate digital payments through the popular platform. Over 100 tokens are available on the checkout. Available in the US only, the plan is to launch the feature globally in the coming months.

In the US, the passing of the GENIUS Act ushered in a new era for stablecoins. By allowing banks and other approved entities to issue their own tokens, the Act has the potential to reshape the crypto world as we know it. On the one hand, it represents a significant step towards institutional adoption, but it may come at the cost of decentralization.

Meanwhile, the number of newly created Bitcoin addresses per day has reached its highest mark in the year, sitting at 364,126. Experts mostly attribute this newfound interest to cryptocurrency catching on thanks to the increasing institutional support it has been receiving lately.