Accepting Bitcoin is good for business
Blockchain technology represents a seismic shift. It is like that of email and web in the 90s and Facebook and Twitter a decade later. This innovative technology also makes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies possible without centralized authority. But cryptocurrencies are just the tip of the iceberg, much bigger and more essential things lie below the surface. Blockchain technology has the potential to create countless opportunities everywhere. 21.co, a blockchain startup founded by Dr. Balaji Srinivasan, is a compelling case in point.
Some businesses prefer to stick to their past, but this is not a good marketing strategy. Instead, it is essential to take a progressive approach and look out for the next big thing. That is what happens when companies begin to accept Bitcoin that put them in a position for greater success. Embracing the power of this new technology is good for businesses. It shows the customers and prospects of a business that it is well ahead of the curve. Accepting Bitcoin is a marketing strategy that could positively impact the company’s bottom line. With such transactions on the rise, many companies are using Bitcoin to their advantage.
New market segment
There are customers out there that only work with those businesses that accept Bitcoin. The bigger such an audience, the higher chance of making sales, moving past the competition, and boosting profits. Accepting Bitcoin may be a gimmick, but it could give the company an edge over the competitors. Since many are not on board with this technology as yet, it is possible to beat them to it. Hence, companies that use Bitcoin are fortunate enough to generate business from a fresh audience and a new market segment.
Appeals younger generation
Just the same as the conventional form of payment, every one of all ages can use Bitcoin. But it is the younger generation who are most likely to adopt this fast-growing form of payment. Companies that work towards appealing to such a demographic needs to give them something to get excited. One of the many ways is accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for the products or services. It is a differentiating factor that the younger generation look at when purchasing items.
Peace of mind
Data breaches that rock the world may not have impacted many companies. But there is no guarantee of that not happening in the future. In regards to data security, Bitcoin gives peace of mind since it does not store payment information. Or not at least in the way traditional financial sector does. That way, it provides the prospects and customers a higher level of trust in the companies.
Traditional affiliate networks
Bitcoin is going to affect traditional affiliate networks, which may have to reexamine their minimum network fees for the commissionable transaction. Affiliate marketing uses Bitcoin because of the cost-effective manner of rewarding virtually any purchase. It also allows paying in real-time in which case purchase transactions are not reversible.
Impacts variable rates
Bitcoin impacts the prices of those products marketed through the affiliate program. Those who offer automatic services or intangible products may be able to consume the risk of the variable value of Bitcoin. Companies selling tangible products may likely keep their prices in their currency and then convert it on the fly. Merchants may give some extra incentives to affiliates who promote Bitcoin-priced products and also to those affiliates accepting Bitcoins as commissions. Again, it will be easier for merchants to edge potential changes when the value of Bitcoin becomes stable.
Lead generation companies
Lead-gen marketing companies may receive high payouts for hot leads but a fraction of that for cold leads. The first examples are in the Bitcoin space itself whereby the firms refer active users to Bitcoin Exchanges. CoinMate.io is a British based Exchange that serves continental Europe but does not operate in North America and offers a fee for recommended users. On the other side is Coinbase, a leading exchange who pays handsomely to both the referred user and the referring user. Considering Bitcoin can reward almost any transaction, in the future it will adopt a percentage approach and would add premium percentages for referring top-tier customers. As the value of Bitcoin becomes stable, commissions will be expressed more frequently in Bitcoin.
Cheap website traffic
Faucets are a cheap way to get traffic on to a website by rewarding the people who either visit the site or complete specific actions. If an overlap exists between the company’s customers and the users of the Bitcoin faucet, there may be value for the company.
Binary options trade
Bitcoin is very beneficial for binary options because it allows traders to transact business when other markets remain closed. Accepting Bitcoin payments from traders will have many implications on the product itself. The binary options brokers, e gaming, and daily fantasy sports operators accept Bitcoin and convert it into a currency that goes to the customer’s account. However, bearing the risk of receiving Bitcoins, and then having to pay winners a different amount of Bitcoins, requires careful planning, until their value stabilizes.
Decentralised digital currency
Bitcoin is similar to Euro or Dollars or Yen with the difference that Bitcoin is not under the jurisdiction of a bank or a country. This digital currency is not supported by economic drivers and exists only on computers. Like standard money, Bitcoin can be used to buy services and goods from companies who accept it. The details can get complex, but a simple example can explain how it works on a fundamental level.
Illustration with example
Let us assume that an online store sells a bat for $100/- and accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment. If the purchaser pays $100/- today and if the rate drops by 30%, effectively, that bat was sold yesterday for $70/-. If, on the other hand, the rate goes up by 30%, that bat was sold yesterday for $130/-. And that makes good business sense, but the exchange rate is hard to predict on a day-to-day basis. Domino’s Pizza was the first company to take Bitcoin back in 2013. Some companies already take Bitcoin; most notably among them are Dell, Newegg, and Overstock.com.
Establishing Bitcoin functionality
For those websites that already allow Bitcoin payments in the online store, such as Shopify, they have to establish and enable the functionality of a Bitcoin wallet. Otherwise, the more straightforward solution might be a Bitcoin Payment Processor or Gateway such as CoinGate, Stripe, BitPay, or any of the others. If everything else fails, consider changing the website hosts but only as a last resort.
Strategy enhances brand
Merely having a payment method that is Bitcoin-friendly will become the mark of a forward-thinking company. In other words, using blockchain to formalize digital payments between companies can work in one’s favor. From a business point-of-view, not only is this secure but from a marketing perspective, it helps add to the branding. A mass-adoption future where the world would just use Bitcoin instead of paper currencies is a little far-fetched right now, but having a strategy in place will help in the long run to be ahead of the game.
Businesses follow suit
Bitcoins is a celebrity of its own, but their chief value in marketing and digital commerce may be that they introduced blockchains. The technology that makes Bitcoin possible is the aspect that makes it most disruptive giving rise to different kinds of applications. Very soon, companies or banks will be managing blockchain technology because they see the potential in its ability to record transactions permanently and globally with one entry.
Blockchain resembles Internet
The blockchain movement feels like the Internet primarily because both offer decentralized systems, except that Bitcoin is about a rapid transfer of value, and the Internet is about the transmission of information. Consumers can purchase blockchain-generated tokens representing values or products, employing the power of falling and rising token prices in a self-regulating, decentralized blockchain environment. In the most idealized version, a community of developers will be maintaining each blockchain faithfully and owning tokens that would increase in value.
Charlie Shrem was among the pioneer public faces of cryptocurrency. He co-founded a startup company in 2011 called BitInstant that was one of the earliest cryptocurrency companies processing a third of all Bitcoin transactions. In 2015, Shremwent to prison for two years for aiding an unlicensed money transmitter acquire Bitcoins to trade in the underground marketplace, where it was used to buy drugs. It was a felony that is the first of its kind in the crypto world.
