Why Use Bitcoin For Business

Big thanks to Raina Casbon-Kelts for writing today’s’ Guest post.

Bitcoin and Business go hand in hand.

For a moment, forget about the investment vehicle, the massive profits, and all the recent news reports. Bitcoin is still a new paradigm. There’s nothing on earth it can be compared to because nothing like it has ever existed before. Think of Bitcoin like the Internet, the Internet of Money!

Should you accept bitcoin in your business? Absolutely! And here’s why.

The Purpose of Bitcoin

As Americans, Bitcoin may be difficult for us to understand because we’ve grown up in the land of plenty. It’s normal for us to have banks within a few miles in every direction, the right to vote is a given, and we live in a generally strong country.

But, this is not the case everywhere.

Billions of humans on this planet fear their government leaders and have volatile currencies. For instance, even though Venezuela has free Internet, they also have Food Wars. Their government currency was devalued 64% in one day.

In India, the $500 Rupee note was declared worthless overnight causing bank riots. You may also remember seeing the riots at banks in Greece a few years back. A simple search will turn up many examples of countries with corrupt governments and instability. Their citizens are searching desperately for a trustworthy solution, and Bitcoin is a viable option.

How Does Bitcoin Work?

Bitcoin is not owned by anyone in particular. It is, in essence, a distributed ledger continually updated and supported by tens of thousands of computers across the world, via the Internet. It has no single point of control or failure, and therefore, it cannot be turned off.

Because it is decentralized and distributed, a hacker would be forced to simultaneously hack all computers containing a copy of the ledger, which is been proven time and time again to be impossible.

The Bitcoin Blockchain is backed by the principles of cryptography and mathematics. Plus, it’s immutable, completely transparent and uncensorable by any government or entity.

Why Use Bitcoin For Business

There are many reasons businesses should accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment.

First and foremost, Bitcoin is push transaction, as opposed to a credit card, which is a pull transaction. When someone gives you a credit card, they are giving you the authorization to take money from their account. You need pieces of their identity which must be kept secure, machines to read the card, and you pay a fee to Visa, Mastercard, Discover or Amex. On top of this, you must pay your credit card processing company to verify and process this transaction before you actually receive your money.

To break it down:

  • Bitcoin cannot be taken, it must be given. Plus, the consumer pays the transaction fee to give it to you.
  • Bitcoin is nearly instantaneous. The funds are available in your account to spend immediately.
  • The Bitcoin ledger is immutable. There are no chargebacks, and no disputed charges, 30, 60, or 90 days after payment. All transactions verified and published to the blockchain are irreversible.
  • New Orleans caters to tourists from all over the globe, many of whom see huge discrepancies between their native currency and the US Dollar. If you’re on the global bitcoin map as a business that accepts cryptocurrency, international consumers save time, and conversion fees by paying you in Bitcoin. Why wouldn’t they come to you before another vendor?

How To Accept Bitcoin

Your options for accepting Bitcoin are becoming easier by the day. Bitpay and Coinbase, for example, give you the choice to keep your money in cryptocurrency, or they can instantly change it to USD. This way you don’t have to fear price fluctuation or volatility. Bitcoin wallets also allow you to enter the amount of the transaction in USD, so you never have to figure out the conversion.

Accepting Bitcoin in your business also gives you a new marketing opportunity. Bitcoin can let you reconnect with your customers via a quick email blast, and affords you the opportunity to become an industry leader. For instance, Andrew Legrand of the Spera Law Group was the first attorney in Louisiana to accept Bitcoin. At David’s Antiques in the French Quarter, you can find Bitcoin tie clips and cufflinks. Plus, there is Café Luna on St. Charles Avenue who was the first in New Orleans to bring in a Bitcoin ATM machine.

Bitcoin Is Only Becoming More Popular

Do you still think it’s a fad? The market tells us otherwise. Bittrex, one of the most popular Bitcoin exchanges has been so inundated with new users that they had to change to a waiting list. This resulted in a free for all when the new user registration was opened for just 25 minutes one Tuesday in April. And if that’s not telling enough, the New York Stock Exchange is currently working on their own bitcoin trading platform. Bitcoin for business just isn’t going away.

We’d never tell you to abandon the traditional payments systems like credit cards and checks. But, adding more options for customers, and being ahead of the curve, never hurt.

Get Online NOLA is dedicated to bringing our clients the information they need to keep their business as current as possible. Want to learn more? Schedule a strategy session today!