Merchants and service providers all over the world are flocking to cryptocurrency. Despite major network issues and high transaction fees, Bitcoin is still a quite popular payment method. In fact, major gold brokers are now introducing Bitcoin payments on their online platforms. APMEX is the latest to do so, and it’s chosen BitPay as its payment processor.
APMEX Finally Integrates Bitcoin
If there is one assumption people have made far too often, it is how Bitcoin and gold are somewhat related. We often talk about the value of Bitcoin in terms of how many ounces of gold one can buy with it. This equation has quickly evolved in favor of Bitcoin throughout 2017, and it seems gold will not be making a comeback anytime soon. However, that doesn’t mean that people who deal in physical gold and related items aren’t keeping an eye on Bitcoin. After all, any business needs to innovate if it wants to survive.
This also means companies will need to switch up their payment options in the coming months. Consumers have different demands compared to a few years ago, and catering to these new preferences won’t necessarily be easy. Although Bitcoin is a very niche market – especially when it comes to spending BTC – it is still an option worth looking into. Especially now that the value of Bitcoin is rising, it is only normal that we will see more and more people pay attention to the world’s leading cryptocurrency.
In the case of APMEX, the decision to accept Bitcoin payments is a big step forward. It is not the first precious metals dealer to embrace Bitcoin, nor will it be the last. It makes a lot of sense for a company looking to become an industry leader in online gold sales to add support for Bitcoin. In doing so, it acknowledges that Bitcoin has become more popular and widely accepted as a payment option. The latter point is somewhat controversial, though, as we have also seen a fair few merchants ditch Bitcoin support.
The choice to process Bitcoin payments through BitPay is also an interesting one. This company has not shied away from stating how it will integrate support for additional cryptocurrencies in the future. Although no one knows for sure which currencies those will be, there are a lot of exciting opportunities waiting to be explored. Bitcoin Cash, for example, is a very likely candidate at this stage.
As one would expect, APMEX is providing an incentive to pay in Bitcoin. More specifically, it’s offering a 4% discount on all APMEX orders paid in Bitcoin, although this will only be available for a limited time. Whether or not that will be enough of an incentive to spend one’s BTC remains to be seen. The current backlog combined with high transaction fees make this currency pretty much useless for payments. No one likes to pay US$20 or more to spend Bitcoin, as doing so shouldn’t be necessary.
It will be interesting to see how things play out in this regard. On the one hand, it’s good to see Bitcoin get wider recognition as a payment option. However, this news shouldn’t distract from the problems which are plaguing the network right now. There are a lot of issues associated with Bitcoin in its current form, and they will take a lot of time and effort to get solved. It remains to be seen how long APMEX will offer Bitcoin as a payment option, as it may not be a big success in the long run.
