Cryptocurrency is on the rise now and does not seem to be stopping. While cryptocurrency was named for its use of encryption to validate transactions, its enigmatic nature and purpose in today’s trade makes the word even more apt. While it will take some time for the typical consumer to grasp the concept of cryptocurrencies, it is clear—especially to anybody who watched the Super Bowl advertising this year—that cryptocurrency has entered the mainstream.

If you want to keep your e-commerce business on the cutting edge, you should consider adding bitcoin to your list of acceptable payment methods. Here are a few expert reasons why your e-commerce business should start accepting crypto payments.

Increasing Consumer Adoption

While there is still a lot of misunderstanding and ambiguity about what cryptocurrency is and how it works, it is more popular than you might think. According to a Consumer Crypto Survey of more than 2,000 U.S. customers, nearly half (48%) of consumers in the United States reported investing money in bitcoin in the first half of 2021. According to a 2021 Visa survey, 21% of worldwide customers are active owners of cryptocurrencies, meaning they have used it to transmit or receive money, buy things, or accept payment at least once. A smaller percentage (11%) said they had purchased cryptocurrencies as an investment but had yet to use it.

As a result, though the widespread adoption has still not taken place, there is considerable awareness and curiosity in the masses. So, the shift in transactional marketplace can happen at the drop of a dime.

Early Brid Gets the Worm

Leading e-commerce retailers, platforms, and payment processors have already signed on. Shopify, Overstock.com, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and eGifter are among the most popular e-commerce platforms and companies that now accept numerous cryptocurrencies. PayPal announced Checkout with Crypto last year, allowing its users to utilise digital currency to make transactions with merchants who accept PayPal—a total of 426 million active users as of the fourth quarter of 2021. Venmo, which is owned by PayPal, now allows over 76 million people to use cryptocurrencies directly from the app.

While the majority of customers aren’t using cryptocurrencies at the moment, many are earning it as a sort of incentive. The majority of my company’s clients are beauty businesses, which is also a very popular category on Lolli, a rewards programme that allows users to earn bitcoin by purchasing online. There are now hundreds of thousands of active shoppers earning crypto that is sitting in their digital wallets, waiting to be spent, thanks to the platform’s partnership with over 1,000 merchants.

The Faster the Better is the Word for E-Commerce

When it comes to e-commerce, the faster the better, and payment processing is no exception. This works in cryptocurrency’s benefit because transactions are completed instantly, but credit card transactions take a few days. When it comes to cash flow, having faster access to funds is a very appealing advantage for a business owner. The quick transaction rates promised by cryptocurrencies will attract customers from all categories.

Market Expansion

Cryptocurrency acceptance in e-commerce sites is still relatively new. Hence, it may attract new demographic groups that like to use the most advanced tech and wants to be on the cutting edge technology. And, based on some of the research that has been published, it appears that these groups are here to spend.

Accepting Crypto attracts new customers and increases average order value, according to a 2020 Forrester report, with purchase quantities twice that of credit card sales. According to the Cryptocurrency Payments Report published in 2021, 31% of cryptocurrency owners make transactions of $100 to $1,000, while 19% make purchases worth more than $1,000.

Final Word

Adding a payment option, especially one as unusual as this, is a big decision. Cryptocurrencies have been criticised for a variety of reasons, including their usage in criminal operations, exchange rate volatility, and the vulnerability of their core infrastructure. Because they are virtual, there is no central database to store them, thus if the hard disc on which they are kept is lost or destroyed, they will be lost. The capacity to instantly transfer funds from one location to another without the use of a third-party financial institution is what makes bitcoin appealing as an e-commerce payment method. It’s unclear whether Bitcoin represents the future of conventional business, but change comes slowly at first, then all at once, as it does with most emerging technology. It is preferable to be prepared than to be caught off guard.