Acceptance of crypto and digital payments is no longer a question of when
Crypto is here to stay. There have been speculations about the future of crypto from its beginnings. From the launch of Bitcoin in 2009, when there were only a few who actually understood the crypto space and bought their share of BTC, to its big fall in 2017. Everyone who missed the first investment opportunities tried to console themselves by saying they’ve always known that crypto was nothing more than a craze and would not last. But Bitcoin started gaining power and so did other cryptocurrencies. While it is true that the crypto market is extremely volatile, the crypto space keeps proving again and again that this new payment method is here to stay.
How to spend crypto?
Crypto investors always could convert crypto into fiat currency and spend the investment returns in any way they wanted. But for each conversion, a certain fee had to be paid. Centralized Exchanges made an important turning point when they decided to offer their members debit cards and thus enabled them to spend crypto assets directly without converting them to fiat first. This is an obvious improvement as users can now avoid additional costs of financial transactions and spend their cryptos at any location accepting card payments.
Giving crypto holders the chance to spend their assets freely meant that suddenly an enormous customer base with a market cap of almost two trillion USD opened up for merchants worldwide. Crypto went from a digital currency with very limited real-life usage to a freely accessible payment method which gave way to faster adoption.
Statistics have shown that the main two demographic groups spending crypto are Millennials and Gen Z, which represent approximately 65% of the world’s population. Not that long ago, the number of businesses accepting crypto payments was so limited, crypto was mainly used to purchase more expensive items, like cars, real estate, jewelry, luxury watches, high-tech gadgets, and art.
Nowadays, crypto holders can use their cards to pay for everyday services — from hair salons and groceries to gas stations and home appliances. The collaboration between Centralized exchanges and card issuers has been one of the biggest steps toward mass crypto adoption.
This decision enabled millions of users to spend their crypto assets at any POS location, and it unlocked new and exciting possibilities for merchants as well. Business owners now have the chance to tap into a completely new customer base, known for spending its money on expensive products. The future seems exciting, but one of the merchants’ biggest pain points is still very much present — the notorious transaction fees. As anyone in the retail business knows well, card payments take away a noticeable percentage of merchants’ earnings. These can amount to 4 percent of every purchase depending on the card issuer. The crypto community decided to tackle this issue and came up with a solution, designed especially for merchants — the GoCrypto payment network. This solution was developed to serve as a cross point for all crypto stakeholders.
Merchants can easily integrate the GoCrypto payment network into their cash register system and start accepting crypto payments without any additional devices. Customers can pay for their items by using one of the supported crypto wallets, Binance Pay, Bitcoin.com Wallet, Elly Wallet, and others soon to follow. One of the biggest benefits that GoCrypto offers merchants are the low transaction fees. There are no middlemen involved in these transactions which makes them far less expensive and business owners can retain more of their revenue. The brilliance behind the network can also be found in the merchants’ choice to select settlements in crypto or in their local currency. If merchants choose settlements in fiat, their business isn’t at any risk of losses caused by the high volatility of the crypto market. On the other hand, businesses that accept settlements in crypto benefit from instant settlements.
The time to accept crypto payments is now
FinTech reports are all painting the same picture of a soon-to-be cashless society. It is said that certain European countries could go cashless by 2024. Global circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and others are only speeding up the transition toward the digital payment age. E-commerce has been flourishing as well and is expected to grow over 20% by 2023.
Acceptance of crypto and digital payments is no longer a question of when — users are using them now and so should the merchants. The benefits are clear as day, merchants can tap into a new customer base, representing over 65% of the world population, attract high-end clients who buy more expensive items, gain higher revenu by paying lower transaction fees, and most importantly, gain advantage over their competitors who are maybe still deciding if they are ready to step into the world of crypto. Overall, one thing is clear, when merchants start accepting crypto payments, customers will surely come and spend their cryptos in their stores.
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