How this directory is built
SpendKoin lists 29,082 places accepting cryptocurrency across 115 countries. This page explains where those listings come from, what keeps them current, and where the limits are — a directory that sends people across town owes an answer to “can I trust this?”.
Open data, not a proprietary database
Most listings come from OpenStreetMap, where contributors record that a business accepts bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. Two sources are queried: the BTC Map aggregator, which tracks Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, and OpenStreetMap’s Overpass API directly — the only way to find places accepting Ethereum, Monero or Litecoin. Nothing is invented or bought: every listing can be checked at its source, and corrected there as well as here.
Refreshed every night
Two syncs run automatically each night, picking up new places, corrections and closures. A business with no sign of activity for twelve months is flagged as uncertain rather than deleted: silence is not proof that somewhere has closed.
Confirmed by people who went there
This is what separates this directory from a copied list. On every listing, anyone who has paid in crypto can confirm it with one click, or report that it is no longer true. A single report does not remove a listing — other visitors have to agree. Places submitted through the form are reviewed before they go live.
What this directory does not guarantee
A listing shows that a business has accepted cryptocurrency, not that it still does today: for anything expensive, call ahead rather than turning up. Not every OpenStreetMap entry carries a town either. Where it is missing, it is inferred from the coordinates using the GeoNames dataset — right about three times in four, which is enough to sort a business but can place it in the neighbouring town. City pages resting mostly on that inference must clear a higher bar before they are offered to search engines.
Who runs this site
SpendKoin is an independent project, unaffiliated with OpenStreetMap and with any exchange. The site does not sell cryptocurrency, does not hold any on anyone’s behalf, and takes no cut of the payments it helps you find.
Licences
Map and business data come from OpenStreetMap contributors and are available under the ODbL licence. Inferred towns rely on GeoNames, under CC BY 4.0. These attributions also appear at the foot of every page.