How to Accept and Manage Crypto Payments for Your Business
Does your business want to get started with crypto? Learn why it’s the smart choice. Then, read our step-by-step guide to sending and receiving crypto payments.
(Updated in June 2023)
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With a growing number of large businesses starting to accept crypto, should your business start using crypto? As crypto cements itself as an asset class that is widely held and owned, you may begin to encounter clients who ask “can I pay in crypto?”.
We’ll start by explaining the crypto benefits for business – there are many reasons that it’s becoming so popular. Next up, we’ll share a step-by-step guide that explains how to get your business started with crypto.
By the end of this article, you’ll know how to combine crypto and your traditional business workflow processes.
Why accept crypto payments?
There are good reasons organizations should consider accepting payments in crypto, or make payments for their operating expenses in crypto.
1. Speed & Cost
Faster transaction speeds : Crypto payment rails often have faster settlement speeds than even some neobanks and fintech payment processors, allowing for quicker and more efficient transactions.
Blockchain networks, especially Layer 2s typically have lower transaction fees than neobanks and fintech payment
processors, leading to cost savings on high transaction volumes.
2. Global reach
Crypto payment rails are not limited by geographical boundaries, allowing businesses to easily conduct transactions with customers and partners in other countries.
Using a global, internet-native payments system also enables your organization to hire talent, and operate without borders. This allows your organization to grow faster, and enter markets faster.
By accepting crypto for your business, you gain much more than access to this fast-growing global market. As so many new crypto projects experienced radical growth – the 10 biggest gained more than 1700% in 2021 – the customer segment that uses crypto is often extremely wealthy. Forward-thinking businesses are positioning themselves to tap this market. We can see how quickly this market is growing if we look at the total value of cryptocurrency payments processed through the Request Finance app. Since September 2020, over $150 million of cryptocurrency payments have been paid.
3. Embedded DeFi
Crypto also enables your organization to offer far more innovative embedded DeFi services at a scale and cost unmatched by Web2 fintechs.
From staking and lending, escrow smart contracts, programmatic loyalty rewards, and even Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) smart
contract platforms like Teller Finance, and BNPL Pay.
4. No censorship
Lastly, but certainly not least, crypto payments are censorship-resistant. As highlighted in the earlier chapter on fiat banking, having your funds frozen or worse, confiscated is a real risk many businesses have discovered.
Traditional payment processors can also charge merchants higher fees, impose stricter limits on transactions, or even deny service fi they deem merchants to be at high risk or objectionable.
So why accept crypto payments is no longer a question, but a statement.
A guide to using crypto in your business
We’ll take you step-by-step through everything you need to begin sending and accepting cryptocurrency invoices.
Step 1: The wallet
You can think of your wallet as a bank account – it’s where your funds are kept. Your bank has an account number people can pay, your wallet has an address that achieves the same function.
If you’re just getting started with crypto we recommend making an account on one of the big exchanges – Coinbase or Binance. It’s much more convenient (we’ll explain more in step 3).
Once you’ve registered with your preferred service, all that’s left is finding your deposit address. In Binance the process is as follows:
1. Click Wallet
2. Choose Fiat and Spot
3. Search for the coin you want a wallet address for
4. Click Deposit
5. Confirm the details and your unique wallet address will be generated
Step 2: The invoice
Traditional invoicing solutions aren’t designed for crypto. That’s where Request Finance comes in. It’s designed to make requesting and receiving crypto payments as simple as possible.
It comes with everything you’d expect of an invoicing solution: cross-currency support, reminder emails, and built-in compliance for tax. Add the wallet address you generated earlier, and you can send professional-looking invoices in just 8 seconds.
Paying invoices in crypto is simplified with Request Finance too. One-click payment means there’s a lower risk of human error – such as mistakes when copy-and-pasting wallet addresses. Everything is recorded in your transaction history to make things easy for your accountant.
Unlike traditional banking, there’s almost no wait time for this. It’s known as real-time settlement. As soon as the invoice is paid, the funds are transferred and the invoice is automatically marked as complete.
Both parties benefit because there’s no human verification required. Whenever a payment is made it’s added to the blockchain. Request Finance will automatically read the blockchain and confirm the payment. No human needs to manually acknowledge the payment – it’s a trustless system.
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Step 3: Converting between cash & crypto
At this point, you can send and receive crypto. Let’s look at how you can convert that crypto into fiat cash – known as the off-ramp.
Keeping the off-ramp simple is why we suggest using a wallet address from the exchange. It removes a step as you don’t need to move your crypto into the exchange. All you need to do is trade your crypto for the fiat currency you desire.
The exchanges make this trading process simple. After you’ve done this, your exchange account will have the balance in your preferred fiat currency. To complete the withdrawal:
1. Click Wallet
2. Choose Fiat and Spot
3. Search for your preferred fiat currency
4. Click Withdraw
5. Confirm the details and your withdrawal is processed
6. Going from fiat currency to crypto is the same process in reverse.
Step 4: Treasury management
If you’re just dipping your toes into crypto, you don’t need to read this section. This is only for businesses looking to store a large portion of their holdings in crypto. In the earlier sections, we recommended using a wallet address on an exchange
If you’re wanting to store a large portion of your assets as digital currency, security becomes a much bigger concern. It’s recommended that you store your holdings in a cold wallet – it’s offline and requires physical access. Take a look at our article ‘Comparing the best crypto wallets for Businesses’ to learn more.
Final thoughts
The cryptocurrency industry is undergoing massive growth. Forward-thinking businesses are positioning themselves to take advantage of this emerging market. Those that truly embrace digital currencies are benefiting from the better yields crypto offers when compared with banks.
In this article, we’ve looked at the several crypto benefits for business: from fast transactions to real-time settlement and tracking of invoices. You’ve also learned how to get a wallet address and make use of cryptocurrency invoices.
Becoming a crypto-accepting business can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Request Finance is purpose-built to make digital payments easy to send and receive.
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