Space tourists can now pay for suborbital flights with cryptocurrency

Blue Origin, in partnership with Shift4 Payments, has introduced the ability to buy tickets for suborbital flights using cryptocurrency. From now on, seats on the reusable New Shepard rocket can be paid for in Bitcoin BTC $118,366.72 Bitcoin -2.66% Market capitalization $2.36 trillion VOL. 24 hours $3.68 billion , Ethereum ETH $4,593.87 Bridged Ether (StarkGate) -0.94% Market capitalization $0.12 billion VOL. 24 hours $5.65 billion , Solana SOL $195.79 Binance-Peg SOL -1.78% Market capitalization $0.21 billion VOL. 24 hours $1.77 billion ,or USDC $1.01 Bridged USD Coin (Linea) -0.04% Market capitalization $53.95 million VOL. 24 hours $3.96 billion using popular wallets, including Coinbase and MetaMask.

According to the companies, more than 75 people have already traveled on the Karman line during New Shepard flights. The integration of crypto payments should help attract digital asset holders, simplify international transactions, and provide instant transfer of funds in US dollars at any time. Shift4 CEO Taylor Lauber said that the company aims to «revolutionize commerce,» and now this goal goes beyond the Earth.

Alex Wilson, head of cryptocurrencies at Shift4, noted that the cryptocurrency market has already reached $ 4 trillion, and they are increasingly being used for large purchases. According to him, the introduction of crypto payments in space tourism is a logical step in the development of financial services.

The announcement coincided with the publication of Shift4's financial results for the second quarter of 2025: earnings per share amounted to $ 1.10, while the expected $ 1.22, and revenue amounted to $ 966.2 million, which significantly exceeded the forecast of $ 409.79 million. In July, the company completed the acquisition of Global Blue. Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Buy recommendation and a target price of $ 104, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered its forecast to $ 100, and UBS lowered its forecast to $ 115.

Shift4 maintained its full-year forecast, expecting a slowdown in growth in the second half of the year. The company’s shares have fallen by 20% over the past week. The current gross profit margin is 31%, and the current ratio is 2.53.