Should Your Ecommerce Website Support Bitcoin Payments?

Since its creation in 2009, Bitcoin has gone through an astonishing rise. Along the way, it’s hit value highs of over $1000 per Bitcoin, been touted as a viable alternative to traditional forms of money and is now even being considered for currency status by the Japanese government. Whilst the hype surrounding the currency has waxed and waned, today a single Bitcoin is still worth around £300.

The question for ecommerce businesses though is whether they should accept Bitcoin as a form of payment? In this article, we’ll look at whether it makes sense for your business.

Firstly, it’s important to note that if your business deals in occasional and large payments, Bitcoin won’t be the currency for you. For small and medium sized businesses though, Bitcoin presents some exciting opportunities. Once the realm of specialist websites only, Bitcoin has exploded in popularity as a payment method. Huge companies like Amazon, Apple, Rakutan, Tesla, Expedia and countless others now accept payments in Bitcoin. Why? Let us explain.

Because Bitcoin is a peer to peer payment method, all transactions are completely free, meaning a complete reduction of all transaction fees typically applied. Whilst that’s certainly a bonus, the real benefit of supporting Bitcoin payments is in bringing potential new customers into the fold. For those who invested in Bitcoin early, they’ve seen huge returns on their initial investment, and are now looking to spend. Opening your business to that kind of customer can only ever be a good thing.

Part of the hesitation that many business have in accepting Bitcoin as a payment method is in the technical details. Just how would I get my website ready to accept Bitcoin solutions? How do I pay tax on purchases made with Bitcoin? Mercifully, supporting Bitcoin in 2016 is an almost completely painless experience. There are some rather comprehensive guides available online for free to answer your questions and get yourself started, and before long you’ll be able to accept Bitcoin as a payment method.

This, of course, is not to say that Bitcoin is the be all and end all of ecommerce payment solutions. However, in opening the door to yet more consumers, you could be opening the door to greater profits than ever and what business could say no to that?