When you mention cryptocurrency, bitcoin is most likely the first thing that comes to your mind. It’s been no doubt the foremost success story of the industry—rising from just $1 in 2010 and now clocking at $14,753.13 as of January 9, 2018.
Now pegged as the world’s leading alternative currency, it’s also being celebrated as the first fully democratic currency that has no bounds geographically. Over the past years, bitcoin has proven its usefulness and is now accepted as a form of worldwide payment system by many major institutions.
In fact, its mainstream appeal has been embraced by a growing number of people all over the world as well as multinationals and big Companies like Dell, Microsoft, Ebay, and Paypal, to name just a few. To date, it’s even used to pay purchases on brick and mortar shops as well as more than 100,000 vendors and merchants accepting it as a form of payment as of 2015.
It has indeed become the future of spending so below are just some of the reasons why bitcoin has both benefited merchants and consumers alike.
Easy to Accept Payments
One of bitcoin’s biggest draw is the convenience it provides. It’s an easy to accept form of payment for merchants in the retail industry because there are various methods that support it.
Retailers can now charge a customer’s purchase on a bitcoin card that’s identified with the buyer’s wallet using a card reader. The amount of purchase is then instantly transferred from the customer’s wallet to the merchant’s wallet.
Another way to accept bitcoin payments is to have a QR code for the item or service being offered and then customers can just scan it using an app in order to send the money to the vendor or merchant in a secure way.
Immediately Convert to Real Currency
Another great thing about bitcoin is that you can instantly convert it to real currency. This is especially beneficial for businesses since they can easily convert the bitcoin they receive into local currency.
This can be done during the transaction itself so when merchants receive the bitcoin, it’s instantly sold based on the current exchange rate.
The Bitcoin Benefit for the Consumer
On the part of the consumer, all you have to do is get a bitcoin wallet, buy some coins at a bitcoin ATM, and use it on merchants that accept bitcoin. In terms of transaction fees, a lot of wallets today will let users choose your own fees and set a dynamic fee estimation for better flexibility.
There are definitely a lot of merits to using bitcoin as a form of payment as mentioned in the above points. But its biggest selling point is that it’s safe, secure, and is accepted globally. There’s no doubt that it’s a great alternative to paying with cash or credit card since it’s virtually accepted everywhere you go.