While the cryptocurrency revolution might have begun over a decade ago with the launch of Bitcoin, more and more industries are only just beginning to consider accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment option. Ecommerce platforms, major tech companies and other businesses around the world are starting to launch cryptocurrency as a payment option to capitalize on a growing demographic that prefers to pay for products and services with digital currencies.
Why Businesses Are Accepting Crypto
Cryptocurrency is a volatile market, with the price of major digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum shifting up to 20% in one day. However, the decentralized nature of crypto offers lots of different advantages that can have many benefits of businesses in lots of industries including reducing chargeback fraud and the low cost of sending and accepting cryptocurrencies. The latter in particular has made cryptocurrencies an attractive option for business industries such as the top online casino companies that often suffer with high credit and debit card processing fees.
Improved Cash Flow
Since cryptocurrency is immediately available, this can provide a major cash flow boost for small to medium businesses in particular. In comparison, customers making payments via debit or credit cards can often take several days for the funds to be released to the company, which can inhibit the profitability of a company that relies on a fast cash turnaround. These bottlenecks might only be worsened by slow transaction processes with SEPA or SWIFT international transfers, which could force small business owners to use their personal funds to cover temporary cash shortfalls. On the other hand, cryptocurrency payments can be immediately received and converted to fiat currency, which allows small to medium businesses to access immediate cash flow when they need it most.
New Customer Bases
Along with reducing overheads for payment acceptance and improving cashflow, many businesses have also found that accepting cryptocurrency payment options also opens up a potential new customer base in cryptocurrency holders. Data suggests that since 2018, cryptocurrency awareness has more than doubled, and since then, HBUS surveys have found that cryptocurrency ownership has increased from just 8% to 20% of respondents. For businesses, this means that offering cryptocurrency payment options is an ideal way to leverage this new customer market and put businesses in front of new potential customers that may previously have not been available.
How Businesses Can Start Accepting Cryptocurrency
There are various methods that a business can use to start accepting cryptocurrency, which will depend on the type of business that is being operated. For retail businesses it can be as simple as a QR code at the point of sale, or as complex as crypto point-of-sale systems. For eCommerce, accepting cryptocurrency is relatively easy with several plugins and third-party payment platforms that can be integrated into the website, many of which offer the option to convert payments immediately to fiat currency.
With cryptocurrency only getting more and more popular, it’s no surprise that more industries are starting to accept payments with cryptocurrency along with all the regular payment options.
