How to Buy Things Online With Cryptocurrency
In 2023, approximately 425 million people were reported to have used cryptocurrency for online shopping. By 2024, Triple-A reports that up to 562 million people will buy things online with cryptocurrency. Despite the growing popularity of crypto within e-commerce, not everyone can use blockchain tokens for electronic purchases.
In a previous post, we outlined a list of companies that accept Bitcoin for payment. As a sequel to that publication, we will show people how to buy things online with cryptocurrency. This way, they can even patronize other crypto-accepting merchants outside that directory.
How to Buy Things Online With Cryptocurrency
Before learning the process of buying things with cryptocurrency, it is essential to understand how e-commerce marketplaces integrate a blockchain payment gateway. This will help identify the next steps to take when checking out and paying for your purchase.
That said, here is how to buy things online with cryptocurrency:
- Identify the Right Merchant or Store: Before you buy anything online with Bitcoin or other blockchain tokens, thoroughly research the platform. Ensure that it is not a fraudulent site aiming to steal from people. Additionally, confirm that the e-commerce store’s payment method and preferred cryptocurrencies suit you.
- Purchase the Item You Want to Buy: Once ready, select the items you want to buy and proceed to pay for them.
- Fund Your Cryptocurrency Wallet: After confirming all the preliminaries, proceed to fund your wallet with the crypto you want to spend at the online store. When topping up your virtual account, account for possible transfer fees to avoid falling short of funds and needing to make double transactions. It’s smarter to add a little extra, especially if you’re not using a stablecoin.
- Check Out Using the Most Efficient Payment Method: Depending on the crypto payment gateway, you will transfer funds to a recipient account. This may involve a direct wallet transfer, a hosted website, or simply deducting the amount from your wallet on the platform. As mentioned earlier, this is one of the factors to consider before choosing a crypto-enabled e-commerce store.
Why You Should Buy Things Online With Cryptocurrency
There are several benefits of using cryptocurrencies for online payment. Some of them include:
- Borderless Payments: Global payment is one of the strongest points of cryptocurrency transfers, and this applies to e-commerce purchases. As long as the online store can deliver the product or services to your location and accepts crypto, you can patronize them.
- Enhanced Privacy: Built on blockchain technology, cryptocurrency transactions protect the identity of both the buyer and seller. This is essential, especially with cybercriminals targeting tangible personal information to exploit unsuspecting individuals.
- Fast Transactions: Cryptocurrency transactions are generally faster compared to traditional bank transfers. Blockchain token transfers are international transactions by default, and newer crypto payment solutions have improved speeds even further.
- Secure Funds Transfer: Decentralized networks ensure secure transactions by properly encrypting the funds transfer channel. Additionally, transactions are permanent and cannot be reversed for fraudulent purposes.
- Averagely Cheaper Fees: Besides Bitcoin and Ethereum, most cryptocurrencies are cheaper to send or spend. Furthermore, layer-2 solutions like SoftNote Bills make it more affordable to transfer expensive tokens like BTC and ETH.
How Tectum SoftNote Supports Using Crypto for E-commerce
As mentioned earlier, SoftNote Bills (an innovative crypto payment solution from Tectum) enable cheaper and instant transfer of expensive tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Customers do not have to spend more than $1 on fees, regardless of how much they are sending or spending.
SoftNote uses Tectum’s Bitcoin sidechain to process BTC transactions on the T12 network. The system confirms and writes the transaction on the BTC network after processing it. This process is faster as it does not require the long and extensive proof-of-work for authentication.
For Ethereum and several other altcoins, Tectum extracts their private keys and uses them to create serial numbers and passcodes that serve as private and public keys. Instead of the usual public and private keys, SoftNote uses serial numbers and passcodes to transfer these tokens on the T12 network.
We are not just creating this excellent product for isolated use. Tectum is willing to incorporate this payment solution into any online store. The team will offer technical support for SDK or API integration and provide prompt assistance as required. Interested business owners and merchants can contact us to get started.
