How Accepting Bitcoin Can Help Your Business Thrive In 2020

After years of being seen as an emerging trend, Bitcoin has firmly made it into the mainstream after more than 100,000 companies — including giant companies like Microsoft, Overstock, TigerDirect, and Dell, dabbled in it. However, for some small and mid-size enterprises, this popular cryptocurrency still sounds a bit daunting and too-risky to invest in. Even as the post-COVID-19 economy is setting in, trust in bitcoin remains promising; by growing 29% in the past three years.

So, what exactly does bitcoin do to businesses? Can it help your business even in the wake of the pandemic outbreak? And is it time for your business to accept it, too? Here's a quick guide to bitcoin for businesses and how the popular cryptocurrency can help them survive and thrive in this topsy-turvy 2020.

Why Bitcoin And Why Your Business Should Care

The allure of accepting Bitcoin over other cryptocurrencies is quite simple: It's currently the most used and popular form of cryptocurrency with the largest market capitalization, trading on the exchange, and price stability over the decade.

Even in the midst of a pandemic crisis, Bitcoin price can immediately be on track from the cryptocurrencies "crisis" by touching the $12K zone once again, after dropping to $3,600 per BTC on March 12.

Today, there's around $25 billion worth of the crypto asset's global trade volume and has a $220 billion market valuation. Seeing the value above, it makes sense to keep an eye on the action. The sheer volume of activity means that Bitcoin will find some more impactful role in business and even society for years to come.

Thus, what it has to do to your business? The more stable Bitcoin, the more your business can invest in the crypto asset light-hearted way and without too many risks. And if you could provide your customers with this currency's digital format, it means you could also offer the blockchain technology that includes faster, cheaper, easier, and borderless exchanges of cash, from which your business may benefit.

Does Your Company Need It?

Accepting bitcoin also means to accept "foreign" currencies than just adding a new possible payment method. So, it comes as no surprise if savvy business owners spend more time researching the cryptocurrencies before making decisions for their company.

That's to say, there are significant benefits to accepting bitcoin– of course, with some drawbacks, too. Some industries might see bitcoin as a light-hearted way to improve their performance and operation compared to some others. Does your business need to be seen to be at the cutting edge of this payment technology?

So, here are some industries that need to consider accepting bitcoin anytime soon seriously:

#1. E-commerce

One of the most obvious companies that might require bitcoin for a new form of payment method is the e-commerce industry. Today, many online stores on e-commerce sites like Shopify have integrated Bitcoin payments by using plugins. Moreover, Bitpay also works directly with Shopify to encourage merchants to create stores that accept bitcoin as a new form of currency. Accepting bitcoin for your e-commerce stores means that you provide your customers with an exciting user experience to boost sales and make your store more lucrative quickly.

#2. Fintech

After all, bitcoin is the most well known as a digital currency, which is strongly related to the financial technology industry. Therefore, fintech companies can adopt bitcoin as a new form of cryptocurrency that can pull in more clients and users (for apps). Allowing customers and users to easily invest in such cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin can create a joyful, more handy financial experience. That's because bitcoin's secure cross-border transactions are completed much faster than any traditional bank-to-bank transactions.

#3. Travel

Since international transaction fees are very low, Bitcoin payments turn out to be very advantageous for all travelers. It can expedite and make the traveler's experience more enjoyable and comfortable. It comes as no surprise that more companies in the travel industry like travel giant Expedia to airlines companies like American Airlines swing toward bitcoin as a payment option. So, if you can adapt bitcoin as a viable medium of exchange in your travel or tourism industry, your business will be ones that might need to accept Bitcoin sooner.

3 Ways to Use Bitcoin For Your Company

There are some handy ways you can adapt bitcoin in your business operation. And it doesn't have to be all complicated. Here are some of the most simple and common way to use bitcoin to keep your accounting as simple as possible:

• Payment methods. This is where you can provide your customers with bitcoin payments. You can use a merchant service company such as BitPay or Coinbase, to help you set up the account and manage your bitcoin wallet.
• Gift cards. More and more platforms like Paxful, Purse, and Gyft allow you to trade gift cards from well-known retailers such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Domino's, and more into digital coins. If your business sells gift cards, you can sell those cards on designed bitcoin-friendly platforms
• Offline wallet address. If you have only a small volume of customers that have bitcoin wallets, the easiest way to adapt this digital currency is by creating an offline bitcoin address. You can use it to receive and send bitcoins directly to the address saved on your USB drive.

Wrapping Up

For some businesses, accepting bitcoin might sound daunting and overwhelming. In fact, it can help businesses survive and thrive, especially in these challenging times. With the pandemic outbreak and the challenge to cash as a medium of exchange, bitcoin can bring businesses a great positive outcome since it offers a cashless payment and greatly reduces costs associated with cross-border transactions.

Bitcoin's value will continue to evolve, and with the stats that remain promising, it's not impossible to see the benefits of using it for your business. Not to mention that there always will be more reasons why it's a good call to add it to your payment methods.

About the Author

Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
Twitter: @breadnbeyond
Email: andre@breadnbeyond.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreoentoro/

Image by Dmitry Demidko on Unsplash