Over the last few years, those spending a decent amount of time on the internet will have all heard of cryptocurrencies.
Being in the news and other popular media all the time, this new form of money is becoming incredibly popular. Of course, as they mature, options like Bitcoin are becoming very promising as viable payment methods on your website, and accepting them now could see some huge benefits in the near future. With the tools you have out there, this sort of job has never been quite as easy.
The options
There are three routes you can take when you’re providing people with the ability to pay with Bitcoin. From the top down, they will go from easiest and cheapest, to hardest, most expensive, but also most effective. There are loads of alternatives to the specific tools discussed below, and you can find them with some research around the web.
The manual process
Like any form of currency, Bitcoin has a system designed to enable users to send and receive it as much as they like. You only need a basic website with contact details, a Bitcoin wallet, and some customers to get you started. When someone wants to buy something from you, you can have them send the funds to your special wallet code, checking it manually when they’ve confirmed the transaction. This could take a bit of time to complete each time you sell something through your site.
A helping hand
With over 25 per cent of the websites online being hosted using WordPress, it’s quite likely that the website you’re using is on the same platform. For plugins like WooCommerce, there are loads of plugins out there which enable you to take Bitcoin payments to automated wallets. This sort of approach is much less hands-on than the one above, and won’t cost anything extra. Even if you’re using a different CMS tool, you will almost certainly be able to find a plugin or extension which does the job for you.
Something unique
Unfortunately, if you’re business is going to be operating in a way which doesn’t work with an existing tool, you may have to consider building your own. Blockchain, the folks responsible for maintaining Bitcoin, have their own API which can be used to build a payment system for it. A company like Onestop e-commerce solutions will have the resources and knowledge to help you out with a job like this. Of course, though, you will want to read some reviews of the developers you like before you choose to work with them.
The benefits
When you decide to work with something like Bitcoin, it’s very important to consider the benefits which will come with it. To start, this sort of currency has made some huge leaps in value over the last couple of months. If this trend continues, getting your hands on it now could be a great way to make a good profit in the future. Along with this, a lot of people will fail to consider the fact that there are no fees when receiving Bitcoin, and this makes it a lot cheaper than taking payments from a traditional bank.
The risks and concerns
Of course, it can’t be all sunshine and roses, and there will always be some risks which come with this sort of money. Chief among these is the consequences for a small amount of human error. Sending money to the wrong address could see it lost forever, and this could happen to huge transactions. Avoiding this is a simple matter of being very attentive when using the currency. Along with this, most places still don’t accept money like this, and this means that you’ll have to go through the process of selling it for traditional money if you want to use it.
Making digital money
Making money like this is one of the best ways to embrace the modern world. Not a lot of companies have jumped onto this method just yet, and this means that there’s loads of room to work with people that are using this sort of money. As it becomes more popular, being in at the ground floor will be a great benefit to your company. While others are struggling to catch up, you will have a system and methods in place to take this valuable currency.
Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start working harder on the time you put into the payment methods you offer. It isn’t too much effort to add something like this to the system you already have. Of course, though, it may not always make sense with the sort of business you run.
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