Most people describe Bitcoin as one of the most secure payment systems, rapidly transforming how people do business today.
It enables users to transfer funds or receive payments worldwide without revealing any sensitive information associated with their identities or Bitcoin wallets. The increasing Bitcoin acceptance globally has inspired many online businesses to adopt it as a payment method for goods and services.
Accepting Bitcoin payments enable businesses to widen their customer base since it facilitates cross-border money transfers. It allows your web-based business to leverage millions of crypto users worldwide for increased profitability. Besides, Bitcoin’s low transaction costs also enable companies to cut operational costs without impacting service delivery or product quality. Bitcoin also offers enhanced transactional security, protecting merchants from fraud.
Bitcoin is decentralized without any central authority or governing body. Thus, web-based businesses do not have to undergo strenuous paperwork and other regulatory procedures to accept Bitcoin payments. Besides, integrating Bitcoin also offers companies the freedom to manage their funds as desired. Merchants can exchange the received Bitcoin tokens into any currency they prefer, trade or hold them in the long-term.
Ways of accepting Bitcoin payments on your website
Online merchants mainly have two options for integrating Bitcoin into their payment systems. They can create personal wallets to receive Bitcoin payments directly or rely on payment processors. However, each option has unique requirements that the merchant must meet to accept Bitcoin payments.
Receiving Bitcoin payments directly from customers
One of the unique benefits of using Bitcoin is that users do not rely on third parties to transact. Bitcoin transactions occur on a peer-to-peer network, meaning the involved parties can send and receive payments without an intermediary. The process only requires the merchant to generate a Bitcoin address, allowing customers to transfer funds directly to their wallets.
Although you can complete multiple transactions with a single Bitcoin address, experts recommend creating new Bitcoin addresses for each sale to ensure privacy protection. The website operator only needs to send instructions for the money to be paid and their public key. The customer will then transfer the stipulated funds to the given wallet address. The transaction usually lasts a few minutes and, the funds will reflect in the recipient’s wallet.
While the above option might seem very convenient, it also has some shortcomings. For instance, the website will handle customer invoicing and billing independently. Besides, they will also deliver the wallet address manually since broadcasting it on the website could impact security risks. Thus, the strategy is only ideal for websites with small sales volumes.
Using Bitcoin payment processors
Plenty of crypto payment processors exist in the online space today, such as BitIQ, handling Bitcoin payments on behalf of merchants. They support multiple cryptocurrencies, with the option of converting the funds into regular currency. Crypto payment processors also act as custodians, offering Bitcoin storage and investment services.
Bitcoin payment processors offer a wide range of services for e-commerce platforms seeking to integrate Bitcoin. If you have an e-commerce website, setting up Bitcoin payment is relatively easy since most platforms have in-built integrations. Even if your website does not support e-commerce, you can still select a reputable payment processor from the large numbers available online. Using Bitcoin payment processors is a more convenient alternative since the service providers do the invoicing and billing on behalf of their customers. Besides, they can also help businesses generate value from the received payments through Bitcoin investing, trading, and holding. However, payment processors charge a settlement fee.
Websites can accept Bitcoin payments directly or through payment processors. Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly a great way to widen your customer base since many customers use Bitcoin to pay for items and services in physical and online stores.