How To Accept Crypto Payments For My Website?
Crypto Payments For A Website – Fab or Fad?
Ever thought about taking **cryptocurrency** payments? Technology’s leap forward and blockchain’s rise have made it possible to pay and get paid with crypto. By June 2021, crypto usage shot up a whopping 880% from the year before. This shows how it’s becoming more popular and accepted in online markets.
However, it can be confusing for many website owners to understand how crypto works. There should be no worries! In this article, we will explain the working of crypto and how it can be an excellent choice for accepting payments.
Should I Accept Crypto Payments On My Site?
Cryptocurrencies exist in a digital form and are exploited on a decentralized network of blockchains. These virtual currencies are backed by cryptography and networks of blocks that validate and verify each transaction preventing potential risks such as fraudulent activities.
With over 2000 cryptocurrencies available, paying through crypto for subscription based services and e-commerce stores is a rising trend in today’s world. Therefore, online marketplaces and websites should accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method to offer diverse options to buyers and play their part in adopting this technology.
Benefits and Drawbacks Of Getting Paid By Crypto
Once you have decided to accept payments in crypto, it is important to evaluate the benefits and risks involved in accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment option.
Pros
- Adds an innovative edge to your business;
- Helps in improving your brand image;
- Low transaction costs as compared to traditional payment methods;
- Helps with international transactions without any hefty fees;
- Easy integration with websites;
- Ensures great security and user anonymity;
- Helps in avoiding fraudulent activities;
- Each transaction is recorded by the blockchain networks and can be traced to its source;
- No chargebacks, such as those involved in credit card payments;
- No involvement of third parties in the processing of funds, such as a bank;
- It does not require a bank account to process crypto payments;
- It enables merchants to avoid the risk of price volatility.
Read more about the what are the benefits of accepting payments in crypto for your business.
Cons
- The cryptocurrency market is extremely volatile;
- Difficult to manage payments and customer queries;
- The customer support team needs to be trained to answer queries related to crypto payments;
- It requires different plugins and custom integration tools to accept crypto payments.
What Do I Need To Accept Crypto Payments On My Site?
Crypto is an invention of the modern world and enables customers to pay for their purchases easily through different digital currencies, especially Bitcoin. Although receiving crypto into your wallet is a simple process, there are some significant factors which must be considered bt merchants when deciding on the best way to accept crypto payments for their websites.
This is a great video explaining how to implement cryptocurrency payments on your site:
A cryptocurrency wallet:
This is a digital wallet that allows you to receive, store, and send cryptocurrencies. There are various types of cryptocurrency wallets, including software wallets that you can download to your computer or mobile device, and hardware wallets that are physical, off-line devices designed for secure cryptocurrency storage.
Website Integration
The user-friendliness of an e-commerce site is one of the key elements that account for the success of an online business. Different websites require various plugins to integrate solutions for the process of crypto payments effectively.
Moreover, major platforms such as WordPress, WooCommerce and Shopify have different plugins that can be used for quick setups. In case you’re not able to find a suitable plugin, you can try out Bitcoin payment tools that offer multiple features, such as custom invoices and payment buttons.
In case you are running a Magento e-commerce store, we have prepared a great guide on how to start accepting crypto payments in Magento store.
Crypto Payment Gateway
It is essential that you choose an efficient crypto payment processing platform for your website with features such as top-notch security, low fees, embeddable invoices, exceptional customer support, and multiple cryptocurrencies.
In addition, cryptocurrency was designed over a decentralized system and does not require a financial institution such as a bank to process funds. Therefore, you can allow your customers directly to pay with bitcoins for the goods or services you offer.
Read our complete guide on crypto payment gateways here.
Merchant account
This is a special type of account that allows you to accept and process payments from customers. You will need to set up a merchant account with a payment gateway or a cryptocurrency exchange to start accepting cryptocurrency payments on your website.
SSL certificate
It is a good idea to install a SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate on your website to ensure that all transactions are secure and encrypted. This will help to protect your customers’ personal and financial information and build trust in your business.
What Kind Of Sites Can Accept Crypto Payments?
Accepting crypto is possible for a diverse range of sites due to seamless integration and the requirement of a few plugins that simplify the process of accepting crypto payments. So, regardless of the product or service you offer, if you have an online store or a SaaS site, it is possible to accept crypto for consumer purchases.
How To Accept Bitcoin Payments?
Accepting Bitcoin for purchases made through your website is a simple process once you have a virtual currency wallet and a merchant account with a good payment facilitating platform.
Moreover, you can integrate multiple plugins to accept Bitcoin on the checkout process or offer payment buttons to allow consumers to pay in the form of crypto and receive Bitcoin in your wallet. After accepting Bitcoin, you can convert it into your desired currency to avoid cryptocurrency market volatility.
Can I Accept Crypto Payments On PayPal?
Although online business owners can get paid by crypto through PayPal, there is an aspect that they should know about in order to avoid inconvenience later. Consumers can pay through cryptocurrencies, but the merchants will receive fiat currency for purchases on their websites.
PayPal converts crypto into USD to make purchases on a website so that the business will receive USD and not crypto against each purchase invoice. Therefore, PayPal can be a perfect choice to reach a larger segment of consumers while being secure from the cryptocurrency market’s volatility.
What To Look For In A Crypto Payment Gateway?
In order to collect crypto payments, it is necessary that you should have a payment processor to facilitate transactions such as Bitcoin payments. Choosing an ideal payment processing platform can be complex due to the involvement of multiple factors that ensure the efficient processing of transactions. Here are some must-haves you need to consider when deciding on a payment gateway for your website.
Security
The primary concern of any individual is the security of your business and consumers in order to support healthy customer relationships. An efficient payment facilitation platform maintains the security and privacy of users by installing new updates and making regular backups to crypto wallets.
Transaction Fees
Another important factor to consider is the transaction fees involved in processing crypto payments. You need to choose a platform with minimal fees and no hidden charges to allow efficient processing of transactions.
Payout Frequency
All business owners want to have quick access to cash to ensure efficient cash flow management. Some payment processors allow for daily payouts, whereas others require three to five days to process payments. Therefore, it is important to consider the payout frequency of different crypto processors to make well-informed choices. Here you can find more information about cryptocurrency payouts for business.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
The top payment-facilitating platforms support multiple cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash, to allow customers to make payments in their desired digital currency. Therefore, choosing a platform that offers different currencies as a payment method is important to ensure ease of transactions. Stablecoins are a great choice if you want to take advantage of the benefits that cryptocurrency offer, but avoid its volatility.
Customer Support
Whenever we talk about the world of online marketplaces, customer support is an essential aspect to ensure pleasant consumer experiences. You need to choose a payment processor that offers excellent customer support to cater to consumer queries in a timely manner.
Here are the aspects that all website owners should consider when choosing a reliable payment processor for accepting Bitcoin and other crypto payments to ensure efficient processing of transactions.
FAQs: Accepting Crypto For A Website
Why Do I Need To Choose A Crypto Gateway To Accept Crypto Payments For My Website?
A crypto payment processor facilitates the process of making crypto payments by allowing transactions in any digital currency and enabling users to convert crypto into their desired currency immediately. Payments can be made into a cryptocurrency wallet by just scanning a QR code or having a wallet address.
Can I pay my employees in crypto?
This mainly depends on local regulations. Some states require salaries to be paid only in USD. However, based on U.S. Labor Department Statement, the minimum wage must be paid in fiat, but bonuses and overtime can be paid in cryptocurrency. Find more info on the topic here – Paying Employees In Cryptocurrency.
Final Thoughts
Crypto payments are becoming mainstream with greater acceptability amongst online marketplaces and consumers. People can accept cryptocurrency payments on their websites without exposing themselves to unnecessary hassle and risks.
Moreover, here are some tips to ensure the smooth processing of payments on your website. People need to choose the right plugins and an efficient crypto gateway to convert crypto payments into their preferred currency easily which helps in avoiding the cryptocurrency market volatility which might deteriorate value of your money.
In addition, the integration of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method enhances the brand image of a business while providing excellent customer service to consumers. Lastly, it is important that users should do their own research by understanding the needs of their consumers combined with the benefits and drawbacks of crypto transactions to make beneficial decisions.
We hope this article will clear all your doubts relating to accepting crypto payments for your website. Please note that this is not a financial advice and has only informational and educational purpose.
Zornitsa is the Editor-in-chief at Coinlabz. She is involved in researching the impact of blockchain technology and the way crypto is transforming peoples’ perceptions of finances.