Crypto in E-commerce: The Future of Online Shopping

The time when cryptocurrencies were relegated to the fringes of finance is long gone. Today, these digital assets are powering some of the most powerful financial systems in the world and picking up pace when it comes to transactions in the virtual marketplace. Today, we’re going to look into how cryptocurrencies are transforming the way we buy and sell online.

Before we begin, we’d like to point out that using cryptocurrencies comes with challenges, especially for beginners. Unlike normal transactions that you have learned over the years, cryptocurrency transactions may sometimes confuse you, as they necessitate the use of exchanges and wallets. For this reason, we recommend reading up on a reliable guides, as well as expert analysis on how to use crypto before you start using it actively.

With that out of the way, let’s dive right into it!

Cryptocurrency in E-commerce: The Emergence

Cryptocurrencies have brought about a pivotal shift in the way we look at online transactions. They don’t always have to originate from a traditional bank account anymore! Once we consider these digital assets experimental—But that would be a gross mistake today.

Digital assets such as crypto have evolved into a viable alternative to traditional payment methods like cards and bank transfers. The decentralized nature and cryptographic security of cryptocurrencies, particularly, provide businesses and consumers to do transactions for goods over the internet more securely and efficiently.

Incidentally, cryptocurrencies have emerged as a well-known payment method today.

Enhanced Security and Privacy

Cryptocurrencies offer an unparalleled level of security and privacy. The underlying technology, blockchain, ensures that the transactions are 100% encrypted. This makes them more resistant to attacks.

Blockchains are decentralized. This basically means that the whole chain of transactions is dispersed throughout the world. In the case of major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the “nodes” running the Bitcoin network are the systems that share a copy of this blockchain.

To be able to make an edit in this blockchain (to double-spend or to commit any kind of financial crime), an attacker will need to have direct access to 51% of these nodes. At the time of writing, there are 16,747 active nodes. This does not include large-scale validators.

As such, it’s virtually impossible to hack the Bitcoin chain to do an illegal transaction or get someone else’s money. This applies to all major blockchains.

In contrast, a bank keeps all information, including account details and online banking passwords, in databases. These databases are stored centrally inside company-owned servers. And these servers have a live connection to the internet.

As such, the same attacker will only need to find a vulnerability or get backdoor access to a single server to do significant harm instead of thousands of computers all over the world.

Global Accessibility and Borderless Transactions

Faster and hassle-free cross-border transactions make cryptocurrencies even more lucrative than the security argument does. Today, global e-commerce trade is pretty limited, mainly because of the reason that payment processors don’t accept currency conversions.

And it’s not their fault.

Fiat currencies, like the US Dollar against the German Mark, will have a different exchange rate depending on when you look at it. Even if a seller wants to sell in both the US and Germany, he or she can’t. The payment process installed on their e-commerce store will simply not accept any provision like this due to the volatility.

It’s simply a hassle, and banks in most countries as well as localized or regional payment processors, find it easier to stick to one currency. “The other consumers in other countries can buy from their own vendors; it’s not our problem.”

Though there are solutions like PayPal and Skrill, they charge a premium for this facilitation:

They have a service charge that’s usually higher than cryptocurrency transaction fees.

They use conversion rates on the lower end of the spectrum, so the seller receives less than the actual converted amount, discouraging sellers from using them.

Cryptocurrencies solve these problems and unify the world in a better way. They are truly the only way out for a connected digital commerce system.

Wrapping Up

All you need is a cryptocurrency wallet, and you too can use all these features of cryptocurrencies, like fast borderless transactions, without the hassle of exchanging or converting your money! Cryptocurrencies have introduced new ways to transact online, and they have been instrumental to the proliferation of a more interconnected digital marketplace.

As per our market analysis, cryptocurrencies have already reached a high level of authenticity and legitimacy. Less aware people jumping on the bandwagon and buying cryptocurrencies without checking any background were the reason scams profiteered so much and gave a bad name to the industry in general. The truth is that as long as you do your research and stick to well-known coins, you’re in the clear.

These remarkable tools are only growing in the number of consumers using them and the number of vendors accepting them. So, it’s only a matter of time before even a regional retailer of handmade goods, for example, will be accepting crypto payments!