Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency that is on everyone’s lips. Recently the price soared making the finance and investment community very excited. Some online and physical stores are accepting the currency, and leading brands such as Amazon and eBay are considering taking it as a form of payment.

Should big brands start to implement the Bitcoin payment, should you? This post will help you make up your mind.

Accepting Cryptocurrency

If you choose to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment, it is essential you understand how it works, and what the benefits and risks are.

Generally, for an e-commerce store, especially one that runs on WordPress you can install plugins such as Bitcoin Payment Gateway and you can accept Bitcoin, converting them into the currency of your choice.

Another option is GoURL, which accepts the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin and several altcoin options.

These plugins take no monthly fee and are easy to install and configure. Every Bitcoin payment gateway plugin will require linking to a bank account.

Physical stores can use card readers which accommodate Bitcoin. Once you have this, you will be able to start accepting Bitcoin payments.

Benefits of Accepting Bitcoin

If you choose to accept Bitcoin you will:

• Offer better customer service. The more payment options you can provide the better your reputation. Also, if you accept cryptocurrency soon, you can get ahead of your competitors.
• Make chargebacks a thing of the past. Due to the nature of Bitcoin payments, once the payment is taken, it is locked in to the blockchain. The risks you run from accepting credit card payments and subsequent fraud is negated.
• You determine transaction fees. Rather than paying a fixed transaction fee with Bitcoin, it works slightly differently. The higher transaction fee you are prepared to pay the quicker payment processes and appears in your bank account. If you choose to pay no transaction fee the wait for the money to hit your bank account is longer.
• Increased revenue. As Bitcoin payments are not widespread offering to take this form of payment will attract customers that want to use the currency.

Risks of Accepting Bitcoin

There are risks to accepting cryptocurrency payments, and it is important to highlight what these are:

• Volatile. There can be no question that Bitcoin is volatile. Over the last few months, the price has soared, but this increase has followed a crash. This creates all kinds of problems for you as a business owner.

You can receive $1000 in Bitcoin and if the market crashes, your Bitcoin is worth less, possibly a lot less. When the market is good people with Bitcoins may tend to hang on to them and as such your sales will slow down.

You can implement strategies to overcome this. Exchanging Bitcoins for your chosen fiat currency as soon as it hits your bank account is one way to maintain value for the goods you sell.

Alternatively, you may want to hang on to your Bitcoin and wait for the price to increase and make a substantial profit.

It is probably a good idea to speak to someone knowledgeable about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency before making a decision.