Have you noticed that cryptocurrency is becoming a more common payment option with many different businesses? Crypto is slowly but surely becoming a more prevalent part of life and entering the mainstream, which leaves many business owners wondering whether or not they should be offering crypto as a payment option to customers. This can be a smart strategic move for companies in any industry, but there is also a lot to consider. This post will examine some of the main benefits of offering crypto as a payment option, as well as address a few of the primary considerations.
Remain Competitive
First, you will find that accepting crypto payments is a smart way to stay competitive. Crypto is becoming more mainstream, which means that more and more businesses are starting to accept payments. If a close competitor offers crypto payments, but you do not, you cannot be surprised when customers begin to choose the competition instead of you. Therefore, accepting crypto is an intelligent way to remain competitive and could help you leapfrog those who have not yet set up this option. You only have to look at the global brands that currently accept crypto payments to see that it is worth considering – this includes:
- Microsoft
- PayPal
- Shopify
- AT&T
- Dell
Broaden Your Customer Base
Accepting crypto payments is also an effective way to broaden your customer base. There are over 420 million crypto users globally in 2023, so you can attract a much larger group by accepting crypto payments. As you might imagine, younger generations tend to use crypto more, so if you target younger people, you will want to offer crypto payments. When you can broaden your customer base, you can attract new customers, increase your market share, and position your company as an authoritative source in your market.
Keep Customers Happy
Offering crypto payments can also help you to keep customer satisfaction levels up. As crypto becomes more mainstream, expectations are changing, meaning that crypto payments are becoming the norm. By offering this option, you can keep your customers happy and simplify the checkout process.
An excellent example of this is online casinos, an industry requiring customers to make many different transactions. The top online casinos will offer crypto payments as they understand this will keep their customer base happy while allowing for fast and effective payments. Games like online roulette at places like Jackpotcitycasino.com are particularly popular as it is a highly engaging game that is easy to learn. You can play roulette games with impressive visuals and sound effects, as well as the ability to play live games against real-life dealers for a more immersive experience. In order to keep customers playing roulette and returning for more, you want to make sure that crypto payments are an option.
Quick & Cost-Effective Payments
It is clear that accepting crypto payments will benefit the customer, but you will also find that it can be advantageous for the business, too. Due to the fact that there is no middleman, crypto payments are generally faster and cheaper than card payments and bank transfers. This improves the overall efficiency of the payment process and can make it easier to keep on top of your finances while improving your bottom line.
Modernize Your Brand
Another benefit to offering crypto payments is that it will help to modernize your brand. In today’s technologically advanced age, businesses must position themselves as tech-savvy, innovative, and modern brands. Companies that can do this can appeal to modern consumers and develop a positive reputation that can help them stand out from the crowd. There are many ways to do this, but few will be as effective as offering crypto payments, as this directly involves your customer base.
It is clear that there are a handful of benefits to accepting crypto payments from customers, but what are some of the primary considerations?
Market Volatility
Perhaps the primary consideration for accepting crypto payments is the fact that the market is extremely volatile. Bitcoin is a great example of this as a digital currency that reached an all-time high of $68,789 on November 10th, 2021, but dropped below $20,000 by the end of 2022 and, at the time of writing, has a price of $23,366.
So, what does this volatility mean for businesses accepting crypto payments? Essentially, it means the fluctuations could lead to financial losses if you do not convert to a more stable fiat currency promptly. Of course, it could also lead to financial gains, but this is a dangerous game to play for any organization. Therefore, if you decide to accept crypto payments, then it is vital to have a process to quickly convert it into a more stable currency to minimize the risk of exposure to price fluctuations.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is another critical consideration during a time when cybercrime is on the rise and is said to be the biggest threat to modern-day businesses. Blockchain technology can indeed be more secure, but you will find that there are security issues. Transactions are irreversible, meaning that fraudulent transactions could be problematic and hard to resolve.
Additionally, you will need a digital wallet to accept crypto payments, which contain private keys required to access and use the funds. As you might imagine, these digital wallets are targeted heavily by cybercriminals nowadays. Therefore, you must develop robust security measures to secure your digital wallet, including encryption and multi-factor authentication (MFA). Hardware wallets can also be more secure as a way to store your private keys offline – just make sure that the physical device is kept somewhere secure.
Employee Education
Accepting crypto payments can also create a challenge regarding education and training employees. You will need to show employees how to process cryptocurrency transactions and use digital wallets. This is linked to the above point, as phishing and social engineering attacks are common when it comes to accessing private keys. 95% of cyber attacks succeed due to human error, so you must provide security training for your staff so that they know how to spot phishing scams and keep private keys safe at all times.
Changing Regulations
It is fair to say that the crypto situation is fast-changing and hard to predict. This means that regulations and laws are constantly evolving and can vary between different areas. Therefore, if you decide to accept crypto as a form of payment, you must ensure that you stay current with the latest regulations and laws. You do not want to operate illegally and find yourself entangled in legal action, so you will have to make an effort to stay abreast and be adaptable.
It is clear that there is a lot to think about when it comes to accepting crypto as a form of payment. It can be a smart way to broaden your customer base, simplify payment processing, and modernize your brand, but there are issues to consider. Therefore, it is intelligent for organizations to consider their own position and target market to determine whether it is a smart strategic decision. In today’s tech-driven world, many businesses will find that it is an intelligent business decision but will need to develop an effective strategy to implement this payment solution and overcome the challenges outlined in this post.