With so many people holding and using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Etherium, Cardano, and others, companies should consider accepting crypto payments from their customers and expanding their business. But before we get to the part on how to implement BTC in your store and get paid in BTC from your clients, let’s start from the beginning.
BTC was made possible by a group of people who believed in it, and its future is incredibly reliant on the front runners of BTC’s legacy — the general public. While BTC’s rise from a whitepaper into mainstream finance is worthy of a Netflix special on itself, the unswerving support from the ecosystem of users, traders, and miners has assisted BTC beat all odds and become one of the most profitable assets in financial history that every experienced digital asset investor would like to hold in their portfolio.
Nevertheless, living the crypto dream would ideally entail purchasing a slice of pizza from a local pizzeria with BTC. And the good news here is that many businesses worldwide have started accepting BTC in exchange for their products or services.
Due to the increase in BTC’s acceptance and considering the possibility of a great ROI, the new generation of entrepreneurs wants to accept BTC as a payment method for their services.
Currently, the BTC ecosystem hosts many players offering a safe place to store BTC. Nevertheless, the risk of storing BTC with an unsafe provider is possible, which can ultimately lead to losing your hard-earned BTC forever. Below, we’ll showcase all the essential things you should know to implement BTC in your business and accept it as a payment method.
The Basic Requirements
To accept BTC as an official way to purchase goods or services from your company, there are a couple of technical instruments and tools that you’ll have to set up on behalf of your company. These include:
Bitcoin wallet
The BTC wallet is essentially just like your regular wallet, where you keep your money. The only difference is that the BTC wallet is digital, and it stores only BTC. Keep in mind that Bitcoin wallets can only accept BTC and no other cryptocurrencies.
Still, there are wallet services that allow users to store multiple cryptocurrencies using different addresses. BTC wallets are safeguarded by passwords and private keys, which are the only possible options to access the funds.
Bitcoin address
Each BTC wallet comes with a unique address. This address will be individual to your business’s wallet and should be shared with your customers to receive payments. Most BTC wallets also have the option to convert the BTC address into an easily scannable QR code, which can be displayed at your store or office.
Nevertheless, you should keep in mind that if a customer makes a transaction to a wrong address or with an unsupported cryptocurrency, the underlying tech won’t allow them to reverse the transaction or cancel it.
Private key
The wallet’s private key acts like a mathematical gateway to your BTC reserve. Without this key, you might instantly lose access to your BTC wallet. And while all BTC wallets come with unique private keys, they also have options to log in through passwords.
In any case, it’s recommended to store a copy of this valuable information on other devices like a USB stick for a backup.
Other Essentials You Need to Know
So, after getting familiar with the essential requirements you need to hold and store BTC, a couple more steps need to be taken to set up your business for it.
First of all, look out for your local regulations. Before you put up a sign that says “We accept BTC,” it would be wise to check local laws and regulations since accepting BTC as a payment method may incur severe legal charges in some geographical regions.
Secondly, setting up your business’s Bitcoin wallet is as easy as signing up for a new email address. You should know that some of the most famous platforms for BTC wallets include cryptocurrency exchanges and online app-based wallets.
As a business, you also can procure a point-of-sale machine for collecting BTC payments through cards. Online companies may also use third-party payment processors to set up website payment gateways for BTC transactions.
Conclusion
Once you start accepting BTC, because of its volatility, we advise you to keep invoice copies with BTC’s price based on the time of each transaction, as this can help you keep track of your actual income.
Also, you should know that taxes calculated on BTC are heavily dependent on local jurisdiction. For instance, the U.S. considers BTC as property and taxes it differently than jurisdictions that accept it as a currency.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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