Businesses accelerate the acceptance of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a gateway of payment and pave the way for more companies to join this trend.

Along with the increase in e-Commerce in recent months, the trend to accept other payment methods is also catapulted to give more options to the customer, beyond the traditional ones. Some companies are clear about it and decided to take the bull by the horns and now accept payments in cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC).

According to predictions, the institutionalization of cryptocurrencies is expected to continue, driven by increased attention from central banks, a decentralization of finances, and standardization of stablecoins (designed to counteract the volatility of cryptocurrencies), among other factors.

When all these elements come together, the doors are opened, and trust is generated for more institutions to accept these digital currencies as payment methods.

Among the incentives for companies to accept BTC as a payment method are diversifying the options they offer consumers to buy products or services. In addition to this, cryptocurrency offers advantages by avoiding bank transaction fees, since it only charges between 0.5 and 1%, when banks charge between 1.55 and 2.4%.

Other benefits: fast operations, national and international transactions with greater fluidity, there are no surcharges, and conversions to traditional money can be made.

Time to forget about wallets

With the outlook that cryptocurrencies are opening up and predicting that they are the future, perhaps anticipating the disappearance of fiat money, it is not surprising that various companies already have this option and that more and more companies are joining to offer their consumers the possibility of making payments with Bitcoin.

Although it is definitely not the first company to do so, Tesla caused a stir when it announced the possibility that customers could buy the new S, 3, X and Y models with Bitcoins. In case they are encouraged, people only have to complete the checkout and make a deposit that would be around 1.55 BTC when the value for each unit is 59,210 USD (as of March 31, 2021), depending on the price of the car.

In February, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, shared the news about investing 1.5 billion dollars in Bitcoin with the intention of having liquidity in this cryptocurrency once it begins to accept payments. In addition, at the time, he assured that the payments would not be converted to cash, which the governments control. In this way, it sought to generate trust in users and investors.

PayPal is another company that allows customers in the United States to check out millions of online businesses and pay with cryptocurrencies such as BTC, Litecoin, Ethereum, among others. His plan is to expand this service in the following months to the 29 million affiliated online businesses. However, the payment that businesses receive is in US dollars; the conversion is done.

Visa does the same with the USD Coin (USDC), a stable currency linked to the dollar, for which it launched its Crypto.com platform for operations through its payment network. Similarly, deposits in business accounts will be made in fiat money.

For its part, AT&T is the first telephony provider to accept payments with Bitcoin through a third party called BitPay that acts as an intermediary. The company realized that it had users who used cryptocurrencies, so it saw the opportunity to pay their bills with BTC. The advantage BitPay offers for AT&T customers is protection against price volatility in Bitcoin. For example, if the telecom company wants to receive 100% of the payment in traditional money, the dollars are deposited the next business day, paying 1% to BitPay for the transaction.

The three previous cases, being highly recognized international companies, will undoubtedly encourage others to adopt cryptocurrencies as payment methods. In this way, a 180-degree turn will be given to international financial operations.

Shopify also integrates BitPay to allow consumers to purchase products through the online trading platform with the advantage of paying with BTC and Ethereum, among other more than 300 digital currencies that currently exist.

Not everything is rosy

Microsoft stopped offering payments in its online store due to the high volatility of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are those who are not in favor of, at least for now, normalizing transactions with this class of digital assets.

Although the value of Bitcoin has remained stable in recent weeks, that does not exempt it from suffering a fall in the coming months, even weeks or days. This factor is the highest risk factor, so it is to be assumed that not all companies can follow in the footsteps, for example, Tesla, which is why they maintain a conservative position regarding the adoption of cryptocurrencies as payment methods.

On the other hand, the regulation of digital wallets is in a gray area, since few international banks are willing to offer virtual storage infrastructure to both businesses and consumers. Consequently, there is a gap in the jurisdiction to manage these digital wallets.

It is a fact that there is a danger with cryptocurrencies, but there is no doubt that they are the future. For example, it is estimated that the value of BTC for the end of 2025 is worth 557,429 dollars per unit, while for 2030, the figure will be around 829,347 USD 3, an increase of 841.4% and 1300.7% respectively, in relation to its value. current. So much so?

While cryptocurrencies as payment methods are the promise to buy products and services on a day-to-day basis, there is still a long way to go. Is it possible that prices not only remain stable but are lowered in order to be accessible to the majority of customers without putting too much impact on their pocketbooks and reducing the uncertainty of losing their money?