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The Digitec Galaxus Group, the first online retail store in Switzerland, today announced that its two Web platforms will accept payments in cryptocurrency. It concerns the popular bitcoin, but also a half-dozen other crypto-currencies, including ether, bitcoin and litecoin.
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– digitec (@digitec_de) March 19, 2019
Customers of Digitec and Galaxus, have read the announcement, will be able to pay the baskets exceeding 200 francs through the intermediary of a third party service, Coinify. The Danish start-up would convert cryptographic payments into fiat in real time, protecting merchants from the notorious volatility of cryptocurrency prices. This explains why Digitec and Galaxus will not keep the crypto-currencies themselves, but would allow users to spend them without obstruction anyway.
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Oliver Herren, director of innovation at Digitec Galaxus Group, confirmed that his group was more inclined to test crypto-integration than to become the standard bearer.
"By using Coinify, we do not hit the knife," he said, adding, "I still do not see why blockchain is better than other database technologies. Transactions are now more expensive and slower than a normal payment method. Decentralization brings only major improvements. None of the blockchains are scaled enough. But maybe I have not invested enough time and so I understand too little about how the chain of blocks ecosystem works. "
Adoption of the slow merchant
Herren's statement followed a 14-month downward correction phase in the cryptocurrency market, in which all badets lost a total of 1/3 of their value. While this did not deter investors altogether, as they continue to see the potential institutional adoption of crypto as a gateway to profits, the new lows have inevitably diverted the merchant community from adopting cryptos like payment.
For example, in June 2018, the Expedia Travel Portal discreetly removed Bitcoin from its payment option. In March of the same year, Reddit, a popular forum on social networks, stopped accepting cryptocurrency for its membership packages. The payment platform Stripe did the same in January 2018, calling bitcoin a revolutionary application for ransomware and not for payments.
You can blame the story itself. In its early days, Bitcoin became known as a cheaper alternative to expensive payment processors. By the time Bitcoin technology was six years old, skeptics had begun to blame him for not being able to handle a higher number of transactions, such as a Visa card or a MasterCard. And now, the online trend projects bitcoin as a stock of valuable badets – such as digital gold – that could spawn a brand new badet-derivatives market, offering everything from futures to funds traded in Europe. stock Exchange.
Crypto or not Crypto?
The Digitec Galaxus announcement has somewhat revived the feeling of "bitcoin-as-a-payment". However, it is highly doubtful that traders, who hold mostly crypto for speculative purposes, resort to the new payment option of the online store.
After all, when was the last time you saw an executive executive be so direct towards Bitcoin, although added as a payment option on their online stores. What do you think of this integration? Tell us in the comment box below.
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