How can Businesses Accept Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is swiftly becoming popular around the world and more and more people are looking to own it and transact with it. While the cryptocurrency poses certain challenges for businesses to be able to adopt to it, it also offers a lot of opportunities for trade and promotion of commerce as well. Conventional payment companies do not have the capacity to cater for the needs of the growing market and that is why Bitcoin can make inroads into the sector.

Bitcoin is a borderless, universally verifiable and non-third party-based payment solution and that is perfect for online payments. However, at the moment Bitcoin is extremely volatile and that is why traders are wary of it and do not want to be affected by that. This is why crypto payment companies are offering various innovative ways to transact with the cryptocurrency without the need for relying on its volatility.

Instant Conversion Capability

The most important of these innovations include the option of instant conversion at the time of purchase. Buyers are allowed to pay in Bitcoin by the merchants but the Bitcoin payment companies allow instant conversion to fiat as well, thus reducing the volatility aspect of the cryptocurrency. This is followed by many of the top crypto payment outlets including Bitcoin ATM cards and QR code-based payment services.

Businesses can also opt for an option that automatically converts crypto into fiat and deposits it directly into their accounts. So, if a person buys merchandise or services online with the help of Bitcoin, the seller may not have to be worry about any price fluctuation of Bitcoin as he is getting his required fiat amount directly into his/her account.

Payment Services

Bitcoin can be used just like physical cash for a variety of services. There are various ways in which Bitcoin can be used to pay for services. Popular Bitcoin exchanges including Coinbase, Coinbase, etc offer payment options in their online wallets through a QR code-based reader on retail stores. They can also be used to pay for services and products online. For a more robust experience, Bitcoin payment companies can be used including Coinpayments, BitPay and others. These payment platforms can be used by sellers to generate blockchain-based receipts for the buyers and they can be used to verify the previous working history of the company as well.

There are various services being offered by these companies in addition to basic payment options.

Bitcoin Gift Cards

Since cryptocurrencies are difficult to deal with, many Bitcoin payment companies are also offering the option of using gift cards for making purchases easier. Coinpayments, BitPay and other companies also offer the option of purchasing gift cards that can be spent on all top stores including clothing brands. There are some limitations to where the gift cards can be used as normally, they are active only within the same currency areas like the European Union and America but that still is a sizeable opportunity for many users.

Gift cards can also be transferred from one person to another like money and thus can be really handy for cryptocurrency enthusiasts both for managing physical cash and making payments directly at the retail store as well as online.

Bitcoin Payment Terminals

Since Bitcoin is becoming more and more popular around the world, there are new point-of-sale options also being made available for customers. Hardware terminals for accepting Bitcoin are the latest trend. They are payment machines just like with fiat currency that can be seen in restaurants and clothing stores but especially programmed for accepting Bitcoin payments through secure servers as well. While some of these hardware are specifically designed for Bitcoin, many are just simply Application Program Interface (API) that can be programmed into the existing hardware.

Various functionalities are being offered by companies operating in this space. They include:

1. Chip and PIN terminals. These devices if properly set up can accept Bitcoin ATM cards which are becoming more and more popular among the crypto community. These terminals can only operate Bitcoin ATM cards. Coinkite offers these services.
2. Payment APIs can be integrated simply into another Point-of-Sale (PoS) device and so, users can use the same machine for multiple currency options including cryptocurrency itself.
3. NFC or QR-enabled Code payment options are also developed by some crypto payment companies. XBTerminal, is offering a PoS service that facilitates offline payments through bluetooth enabled devices.

Major Advantages

Cryptocurrencies are extremely important for the future because they have the inherent ability to resolve problems that are associated with conventional payment channels. The issue of double spending is completely neutralized by cryptocurrencies since all of the payments being made are stored on the blockchain network and thus is quite transparent. Double spending on conventional platforms has become a scourge and remains one of the biggest problems. Double spending is when you spend digital money and a problem with the network allows a user to spend the same money twice, thus compromising the integrity of the money ledger. Blockchain networks are free of it because every transaction is stored on the ledger and can be traced and audited. Transactions cannot be reversed and thus the danger of double spending remains non-existent.

Borderless acceptance, P2P payment option and complete control over one’s crypto assets are other major advantages of dealing in crypto.

Disadvantages

While dealing in cryptocurrencies can be extremely beneficial, there can be some drawbacks as well. They include:

1. Legal acceptability is a lingering issue as much of the world is confused by how to bring regulatory clarity and then taxation on cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-related services.
2. Limited acceptance is still prevalent among the populace as new technologies take some time to get accepted by the general population.
3. Volatility factor is still strong as merchants do not wish to have their final payout in Bitcoin thus contributing to more volatility as a result of it.
4. Lack of infrastructure is still hurting the sector. While cryptocurrency sector doesn’t need a centralized infrastructure, some investments need to be made for its smooth running and universal acceptance.

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