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The use of cryptocurrency is becoming more and more popular as more and more people and industries are starting to embrace it. It took a while for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, DogeCoin, and many more to get to where they are today. After all, the father of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, has been around since 2008. It was really only a few years ago when he took center stage.
Currently, people buy or invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for several reasons. Mainly, this is because they want to have digital assets. Some want to simplify online transactions. While many would also bet with these cryptocurrencies. You can check clovr.com to find out which online casinos accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies if you’re interested.
However, people now also shop online with cryptocurrencies. Take Shopify as an example. It was only recently when Shopify partnered with CoinPayments. This platform or company helps merchants process payments of 1,800 types of different cryptocurrencies.
CoinPayments is also known for processing over $ 5 billion in cryptocurrency payments since it was founded in 2013. The company provides customers with various shopping cart plugins, APIs, and digital wallets.
Shopify said the partnership with CoinPayments should make cryptocurrency transactions easier and more accessible to merchants. It would also make crypto payment processing cheaper with its low fees.
CoinPayments is also proud of this partnership. Its CEO Jason Butcher said this partnership will be unstoppable in the payments industry. He said: “By combining our easy-to-use global crypto payments platform together with Shopify’s vast merchant base, we look forward to offering a seamless process for anyone looking to do business using cryptocurrencies.”
With this, Shopify now processes payments made by customers using Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and many more. With this, however, will it help Shopify, expand its reach or market?
This will really depend on how many people use cryptocurrencies for shopping. Crypto Radar recently claimed that in the US only 6.2% of its population owns Bitcoin. Meanwhile, 7.3% plan to buy some in the future. 21.8% of the population don’t know much about cryptocurrencies or haven’t heard of it. The rest of the population simply does not have the plan to buy or obtain them.
The previous year, there was a survey conducted by the Foundation for Interwallet Operability or FIO. They found that only 30% of cryptocurrency owners used their coins to make payments.
Most cryptocurrency owners mainly have coins as investments or digital assets. What FIO found is not far from Crypto.com found recently. Their recent survey found that only 34% of cryptocurrency owners would use their coins for payments.
Overall, the current number of people who own or own Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies still don’t seem to appeal to traditional buyers. However, many large companies are already adopting cryptocurrencies. This could be because they believe cryptocurrencies are the future of online transactions and this could indeed be the case.
People have very good reasons as to why they have decided to invest or buy Bitcoin. Sure, right now, its value is still hard to predict and fluctuates widely, but there are benefits that people can’t resist. Using cryptocurrencies is generally convenient. Unlike bank transactions, approvals are no longer required and transactions happen in seconds or instantly.
Going back to Shopify, this isn’t really the first time the company has noticed cryptocurrencies. In February, Shopify also joined the Libra Association. This is a stablecoin made by Facebook that aims to serve sub-bank markets with its cryptocurrency Libra.
Many have found this move surprising because, over the years and months, Libra has lost many of its core members like PayPal. Some even opposed its development. However, Libra is now being developed and introduced as a stablecoin. This means that Libra is locked on fiat currencies and doesn’t work with mining algorithms.
This means that Libra may be a more viable payment option than cryptocurrencies due to the stability of its value. It may also be easier to expand its reach because Libra will be tied to other Facebook-owned platforms such as Messenger, WhatsApp, and Facebook’s digital wallet, Calibra.
Well, what’s good for Shopify is that CoinPayments also processes payments with known stablecoins such as TrueUSD, Gemini Dollar or GUSD and USD Coin. And so, once Libra takes off, it’s likely Shopify will also accept Libra payments in the future.
