Bitcoin is all the rage nowadays, with wild market volatility occurring almost daily. With this means of exchange now more than ten years old, it is finally making its way to the forefront. Many people are currently actively trading Bitcoin, with more businesses taking it up for their business.
Is Bitcoin, however, appropriate for your small business? Before accepting Bitcoin payments, there are many serious considerations, both technical and pragmatic. We'll weigh all the cryptocurrency factors that small business owners should consider and how some blockchain startups attempt to advance the space.
Benefits of Accepting Bitcoin
Lower Transaction Fees: The absence of a single central intermediary reduces transaction fees significantly. Small businesses that take credit card payments pay around 25 cents per card swipe plus 2% to 4% of the total transaction. These expenses add up, so service providers set credit card purchase minimums frequently on POS systems in smaller stores. Accepting cryptocurrency can reduce these costs to less than 1% of the transaction value.
Merchant Protection: The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency protects merchants from fraudulent chargebacks. Transactions are final, just like cash, because no third party can roll back charges. (Discover more about credit card receipt signatures and how they can protect your company from fraudulent chargebacks.)
Increased Sales: Crypto allows small businesses to grow and open their doors to international buyers who could not previously purchase their products and services. One small electronics retailer, for example, reported selling $300,000 in merchandise to nearly 40 nations by accepting Bitcoin.
Convenience for Customers: Acknowledging Bitcoin provides customers with additional payment options while adding an extra layer of security to their information.
Risks of Accepting Bitcoin
Bitcoin doesn't lack its downside as well. Here are some of its barriers.
Technical Impediments
Accepting Bitcoin necessitates the creation of a virtual wallet on a cryptocurrency exchange, which may be technically challenging for small business owners unaware of the technology. Cryptocurrency is a data field with a comparatively steep learning curve that can be a significant impediment when running a business.
Volatility of Cryptocurrencies
The most significant risk to digital currency is price volatility which renders its value extremely volatile. Bitcoin, for example, was initially valued in pennies in 2009 but has risen to more than $65,000 per coin in February 2021. As of June 2022, its value was $20,000, which could cause business problems.
Uncertainty in Regulatory Matters
Another issue with cryptocurrency acceptance is that the legal and regulatory framework will likely change soon. Legislators are currently developing laws to govern it. The enactment of laws will almost certainly evolve further, requiring business owners to adapt.
How to Accept Bitcoin
If you decide to proceed and begin accepting Bitcoin, there are several steps you must take. The procedure is comparable to signing up with a credit card processing company. As an interested trader, you must sign up on www.bitcoinsprint.io to start.
To begin, you'll have to consider if you want to accept payments through a processor or manually. Using a processor will make the process easier; however, you need to enroll with a payment company to begin receiving payments.
You can also manually accept Bitcoin payments to your small business, but the process is a little more complicated. First, you'll need to open an account on a cryptocurrency exchange so that customers can send you money. Then, you can integrate functionality (such as a QR code) into your website so that customers can send cryptocurrency to your exchange account.
Finally, you must withdraw your cryptocurrency from your exchange account by transferring it to a digital wallet or exchanging it for dollars and transferring the funds to your business bank account.