Saturday 12 July 2014

How Can Your Small Business Start Accepting Bitcoin?



Bitcoin has been the buzzword for the last two years and if you happened to avoid all the hype, Bitcoin is a digital peer-to-peer currency that doesn’t require any approval from financial institutions. In 2013, bitcoin became mainstream digital currency because of its wide acceptance by trusted brands and online stores including Overstock.com. It has become quite common to spot an offline restaurant or store accepting Bitcoin for goods and services.


Are you small business owner planning to use bitcoin as a payment option? The best part of bitcoin is that it is decentralized, which makes the overall transaction cost affordable and perhaps you can start saving money with a Bitcoin online shop

What are Bitcoins and their current worth?

In technical terms, Bitcoins are mathematical algorithms with specific monetary value. You can purchase Bitcoins online with real money and use it for transactions all over the Internet. As of today, you can buy 1 Bitcoin for USD $635 and the value of Bitcoin can fluctuate depending upon the trend. Bitcoin transactions are safe because of the dual-key encryption including one public and one private key. Every transaction receives verification from the network of Bitcoin community members.

How can small businesses start accepting bitcoin?

Unlike other tech-savvy payment methods, you can start accepting Bitcoin within a day by following some simple steps. 

1.      Create a Bitcoin wallet: A Bitcoin wallet is an address where your customer will send Bitcoin and the processing is quite similar to accepting money through your PayPal email id. You can consider your Bitcoin wallet as a cash register and it is best to keep small amount of bitcoins in the wallet for protection and security purposes. 

Another option is to choose Bitcoin payment processors on Bitcoin online shop or store (Smartphone). These payment processors take the technical part out of the way for a small fee, which is much cheaper than traditional credit card transactions. These payment gateways allow you to convert Bitcoin into money instantly. 

2.      Promote Bitcoin as a payment option: The next step is to advertise your Bitcoin acceptance to the customers. You can promote Bitcoin acceptance with an online sticker or a poster pasted outside your store. Most of the people will notice it quickly and spread the word around.

3.      Align your account for bookkeeping: If you plan to use Bitcoin, make sure to inform your accountant about it and find out more about the tax laws in the concerned matter. There are some online and offline firms promoting themselves as specialists in handling Bitcoin accounts. One of the most important benefits of having a Bitcoin online shop is the extra profit you can make. You will save money on credit card and PayPal transactions making Bitcoin automatically profitable for your business. Bitcoin allows you easy conversion and if you are not sure about its value, simply convert it into USD. Customers are impressed with shoppers offering Bitcoin as a payment option and it can even stage your brand/store as the industry leader.

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