Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are still seen as speculative investments and hardly as actual currencies that could be used to facilitate transactions like the purchase of items online. The speculative element has seriously hampered the adoption of cryptocurrencies in mainstream finance, and many merchants are unwilling to accept crypto payments. Many logistical and operational difficulties come with using cryptos for making payments not to talk about the issue of volatility. However, a couple of firms have come together to take the first big steps in developing a functioning crypto-based online commerce ecosystem.
In a recent blog post that appeared on the CoinGate blog, on Tuesday, March 20, 2018, CoinGate announced that it was going into a strategic partnership with Prestashop. The partnership is expected to herald the way for tens of thousands of online merchants to begin accepting cryptocurrency payments. A partnership of this scale has the potential to have a massive effect on the burgeoning cryptocurrency market.
Details of the Partnership
According to Dmitrijus Borisenka, the CEO of CoinGate, the partnership signals a significant advancement in the bid to encourage mainstream cryptocurrency adoption. The CEO went on to great lengths to provide the rationale behind the endeavor, stating that it was important for the average citizens to have access to cryptocurrency. The CoinGate CEO spoke about how one of his company’s priorities to try and get crypto adoption beyond the level of early-adopters and long-time crypto enthusiasts.
The basic idea behind the partnership is that CoinGate is to be integrated into the backend of the PrestaShop platform. The integration is expected to provide a smooth and hassle-free user experience. The choice of PrestaShop for this collaboration is likely predicated by the reach of the platform especially among small and medium scale online stores for which crypto payments could become quite useful.
Merchants who wish to take advantage of the new platform will register an account with CoinGate. In only a matter of clicks, the merchants would have been able to set up their online stores to accept bitcoin and more than 50 other crypto species and all of this, within a single crypto payment solution thus ensuring ease of use. On the subject of volatility, Mr. Borisenka declared that CoinGate merchants are protected from the volatility inherent in the crypto market by locking in the exchange price of the crypto at the time of purchase. He also said that merchants also have the option of having their crypto payments converted to Euros in real time.
A Little Bit About Both Companies
CoinGate is a Lithuanian-based cryptocurrency firm that was established in 2014. The firm which operates out of the city of Vilnius provides a catalog of blockchain-based services designed to cater for both individual and corporate clients. Some of these blockchain service solutions include brokerage and rapid payment processing. The company has more than 1,500 merchants on its platform, contributing to over €10 million ($12.3 million) worth of transactions per month. The platform’s user base is estimated to be 50,000 users strong.
PrestaShop was established in the year 2007. The Paris-based PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform that has more than 270,000 registered online stores spread over 195 countries around the world.
