The e-commerce industry is predominant among internet businesses and it continues to expand with the gaining popularity of online websites.

The concept of selling goods and services online has become quite demanding with the advancement of technology over the years.  With the emergence of blockchain network, a rapid shift has been seen in the financial infrastructure of the e-commerce industry.

Blockchain network offers a variety of facilities to the e-commerce industry which comprises of real-time transactions, elimination of middlemen, tamper-proof data storage, transparency by maintaining privacy and low transaction cost. Blockchain network can help the merchants with supply chain management, payment and logistics, permanent storage of records and protection of consumer data.

How to accept cryptocurrencies at your business?

In order to accept cryptocurrency payments at your business, an account and wallet have to be created. The business has to create an interface to receive payments via cryptocurrencies. New addresses are generated to acquire crypto-coins from clients.

There is another much easier way through which e-commerce merchants can use Blockchain Network to facilitate the financial transactions in their organizations. They can integrate cryptocurrency payment processor to deal with payments done in cryptocurrencies. One of the few popular providers of cryptocurrency payment processors is Billbitcoins.

Billbitcoins by California-based blockchain company HashCash Consultants offers the e-commerce merchants easy payment through cryptocurrency by creating “Pay Now” button integrated with top shopping carts such as Woocommerce, Magento and Shopify. Billbitcoins integrate with these shopping carts and e-commerce platform providers to integrate easy cryptocurrency check out buttons. Once the customer selects the option of paying via Bitcoin, Ethereum, HCX, other ERC 20 tokens, or any other cryptocurrencies, they will be taken to a hosted invoicing page where they can transfer cryptocurrencies to the merchant to make payment for the product or service they are purchasing.

The e-commerce merchants go through a sign-up process on the Billbitcoins website to receive the payments made by their customers.

The merchant can access his wallet in Billbitcoins and even choose to either get paid in fiat currency or in cryptos.

If the merchant chooses to get paid in fiat currency, BillBitcoins converts the crypto into fiat by automatically selling the cryptocurrency at an exchange which is offering the best rates.

At the back end, BillBitcoins is integrated with major exchanges such as Paybito, Kraken, Coinbase and Binance. The fiat currency is then transferred to the merchant’s bank account.

Reasons to accept cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment

Few of the most popular advantages of accepting crypto-payments in the e-commerce industry are as follows:

Transparency in the Payment Process

Transactions made via cryptocurrencies will facilitate traceability, faster processing speed, advanced security and radical visibility. Elimination of third party interference can be attained by implementing crypto payments. The Blockchain Network can be used for permanent safekeeping of the financial records.

Cost-effectiveness

One of the benefits of using Blockchain Network and accepting cryptocurrency payments is that it offers zero transaction fees to merchants. Blockchain technology is proved to be a much superior digital payment system as it completely eliminates third-party payment processors. Thus, merchants implementing Blockchain network does not require to give any money for security purpose so as to guarantee the success of any transaction.

Integration of Blockchain Network in the Management Structure

While cryptocurrencies offer a hassle-free mode of accepting payments, Blockchain network can be implemented in a much larger way in any organization. Merchants can integrate Blockchain technology in various parts of the management system. One such example is implementing the Blockchain technology in the management system of a warehouse so as to avoid the supply of fake products.

There is no doubt that cryptocurrency is shifting the whole face of the financial infrastructure of the world. Many people are investing in various virtual currencies.

So do you know where to invest? Or how can you keep track of the market’s ebbs and flows? Or, where should you keep your cryptocurrency?

All answers lie in your Smartphone where you can install applications in order to keep your finger on the pulse of the cryptocurrency market.

Here are some of the best cryptocurrency apps which one might find useful.

Coinbase

This is actually one of the very first ports for many when it comes to Ethereum, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This application is found in both Android and iOS where they can buy or sell digital currencies and also track their prices. It also works as a wallet and it will help you to find merchants who do accept payment with cryptocurrencies.

CryptoTrax

Do your wallets needed to be sorted out? This application actually does not bother about the total coin you have but it actually thinks about what you should do with what you have. After transactions are given into the portfolio of CryptoTrax it starts to track the overall value of your possessions. If you are worried about any kind of collapse or want to invest in any kind of new coin, this app also gives you price alerts.

Paybito

This application by Hashcash is available in web version and mobile app version. It offers a cryptocurrency trading platform for several crypto-coins and ERC 20 tokens. PayBito acts as a decentralized exchange which facilitates SegWit enabled faster transactions at a low cost. Paybito offers security system at par with the global banks and largest financial institutions.

Enjin Wallet

This application is provided by the company that actually created the very first cryptocurrency for gaming purposes that is the Enjin Coin.  This wallet not only supports Enjin Coins but also various other cryptocurrencies. It is available in Android and security is the main purpose of this application. If in any case, you have lost your phone then you can easily restore your own wallet on any other device by writing twelve words on a paper and then by scanning it using the application.

BTC.com

This application is known for its attractive transfer fees, good security and simple design. This makes it easy for beginners and also for old customers to transfer bitcoin via QR code. People who use this application can also purchase bitcoin from their wallet directly. The application also has a master seed backup.

BitWorth

This is a non-wallet application that provides users ease of use and clear interface choices. The setup of this application is also very easy and this app lets you track the price of your investments. This app lacks one feature that is the price alert but since this is a very light weighted application it fulfils basic purposes.

Xapo Wallet

This application is both on Android and iOS which works as a wallet with strong security. It has 3 layers of security which are very impressive. This application also responds to each and every customer review on Play Store which shows that the company cares about the customer. The application is very smooth and thus very easy to use. It comes with the usual features that everyone needs.

These are few of the well-accepted apps which investors and merchants can use while trading different cryptocurrencies and ERC 20 tokens.

A great deal of speculation has been made by different experts about Bitcoin and its future. While many of them say that it will continue to depreciate in value, others say that it will break all its record and will enjoy a high value.  Here is the recap of how different experts are acknowledging price predictions of bitcoin.

Nicholas Colas

Co-founder of DataTrek Research, Nicolas Colas, thinks Bitcoin to be bubble based and has a lot of interest in it. He urges different investors to be careful as the interest towards bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are declining. Due to this reason, the possibility of emerging new money is killed before it can enter the market.  He also noted that the underlying technology of bitcoin is growing rampantly.

Ran Neu-Ner

Ran Neu-Ner says that investing in Bitcoin is safe as interest towards this field is not decreasing. In 2017 there were more than 27,000 startups of blockchain which was surpassed in the first 2 quarters of this year. On June 2018 he said that the market of bitcoins will go down and this is a great time to buy bitcoins as the value of this cryptocurrency is decreased recently.

Raj Chowdhury

Raj Chowdhury, MD at HashCash Consultants, a California-based blockchain technology company, stated that there will be two competing factors that will determine the price of bitcoins. On one hand, the popularity of cryptocurrency among institutional investors will bring cryptos further into the mainstream. At Hashcash we are noticing that financial enterprises are creating complex instruments with cryptocurrencies such as index funds, securitization of crypto-based assets, a variety of utility coin offerings.

On the other hand, we are noticing an avalanche of new cryptos competing with Bitcoins that are flooding the marketing. So traders will have more investment options other than bitcoins.

For example, cryptocurrency HCX is being used as a mechanism to settle cross-border payments is head-on with Bitcoins. Overall, crypto is going to see a bull market. It appears that Bitcoins prices are going to stabilize at around USD 12,000 by the end of this year.

Mohamed El-Erian

Mohamed El-Erian, the chief economic advisor of Allianz who touched the needs of people believes truly in Bitcoin. He said that prices are declining now whereas, in 2017, a large number of investors jumped with great confidence into this cryptographic world.  He truly believes that in the future the world of digital currency is very strong and the government will be largely involved in it.

Arthur Hayes

The CEO and Co-founder of Bitmex, Arthur Hayes, said that there is a possibility that we have come to a point which is stable now. This is because due to the drop in price, the volatility is seen less.

Brian Kelly

The CEO and founder of BKCM LLC, Brian Kelly said that bitcoin is not only a single option where people can think of a long-term investment. He added that Ethereum has performed better than Bitcoin in the present digital era.

Tom Lee

Earlier this year, Tom Lee predicted that by the end of 2018, the price of Bitcoin will be $25,000. He added that Bitcoin is still a great option to invest in. The reason behind this presumption is three-fold:

•         the cost of mining
•         difficulty is rising
•         by applying previous averages,

Hence, the value of bitcoin comes roughly around $22,000.

These are the recent price predictions on Bitcoin by the cryptocurrency industry experts.

Today it is estimated that there over 1,500 different crypto coins are available all over the internet and globally it has a net worth of $550 billion. Though this particular figure is highly volatile and there are some concerns over the growth of digital currencies, it is very clear that blockchain has to transform into different kind of industries.

Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2009, the world of cryptocurrency has faced a number of dramas like huge price increases which is followed by a very sharp drop. It’s almost 10 years gone and a number of people have managed to turn a profit out of it.

Below is the list of 6 crypto millionaires in the world

Michael Novogratz
He is a well known American investor and hedge fund manager. Novogratz was also the CIO of Fortress Investment Group and a Goldman Sachs partner. He began investing in crypto coins from the year 2013 and has accumulated his wealth mainly with Ethereum. Throughout the years he has been outspoken in describing the situation of Bitcoin and has squeezed profit as much as he can with cryptocurrencies!

Raj Chowdhury
He is a blockchain pioneer and the Managing Director of HashCash Consultants. The products of this company allow different enterprises to move their assets and settle their payment in real-time using blockchain. Under the leadership of Raj Chowdhury, the company has been associated with more than 60 banks and exchanges and that too in 26 different countries. He is also an entrepreneur, investor and an active member of the philanthropic community. He is also the co-founder of Lotus International which generated mapping data for GPS navigation. He has earned his wealth from various investments all around the world and also from his company.

Brock Pierce
As a teenager, Pierce became a pioneer entrepreneur and he aided to create the Digital Entertainment Network in 1998. He also created IGE (Internet Gaming Entertainment) in the 2000s. But for the last few years, he has become one of the most authoritative persons in the world of cryptocurrency.

Anthony DI Lorio
Many people consider this 43-year-old man as a visionary. He is one of the founding fathers of Ethereum. He is also the CEO of two companies, KyrptoKit which develops web extensions and makes payment through Bitcoin; and Jaxx which is a digital wallet for storing several cryptocurrencies in the same place. He has also earned his fortune by investing in Vechain, Zcash, and Qtum.

Matthew Roszak
He is one of the first investors who invested in ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) with cryptos like Maidsaif, Factor, and Mastercoin. He is also the president and co-founder of BloQ. This company offers business solutions based on the blockchain. Roszak is also the founding capital of Tally Capital which is a private equity firm that focuses on technology that supports bitcoins.

Brain Armstrong
He is the current CEO and co-founder of Coinbase. It is one of the largest companies in virtual coin ecosystem and it operates since 2012 as a US digital currency exchange platform. This platform lets everyone to sell or buy Bitcoin and litecoin by bank transfer, debit card or credit card. According to a specialized media, Coinbase has earned revenues over $1 billion in the last year.

The above mentioned personalities have made quite a name for themselves in the world of cryptocurrency. With the expansion of the blockchain network, the whole world gradually is coming under the influence of blockchain and adapting to the new ways of running the different operations smoothly.

The multi-signature cryptocurrency trading platform the rolled out SegWit uses bank-level security features to protect users from hacks.

The platform conducts KYC and AML checks before users can load their wallets for purchase from the app. PayBito web application allows advanced trading features for its users.

For residents of the United States and India, the app supports USD and INR purchases if users have bank accounts in those countries. Global users can trade other crypto assets using Bitcoins as the base currency after going through KYC/AML checks required by their respective jurisdictions.

PayBito’s Head of Products, Ishan Roy said in a statement,

“It is interesting to observe how awareness of Cryptocurrency has spread to every corner of the globe. A large section of our customer registrations is happening from African subcontinent, from East European countries and South America.”

“PayBito is on track for adding a new crypto asset every two weeks,” added Roy.

Additionally, PayBito is offered as a White Label cryptocurrency product to companies interested in using the software to run their own exchange.

“Enterprises big and small today are looking for off-the-shelf cryptocurrency exchange software and they find PayBito to be a great fit for their needs. We enable them to run their own exchange without having to go through the development cycle of building one. You may never know, the exchange you are using to trade your crypto assets might just be a white label version of PayBito running at the background,” said Raj Chowdhury, MD of HashCash.

About PayBito

PayBito is a leading cryptocurrency asset trading platform operating globally. The platform is designed and managed by a team with rich experience in Banking security systems, Cryptocurrency trading and Blockchain technology. Available in iOS and Android stores, PayBito offers some of the best rates and top-notch security on the planet.

About HashCash Consultants

HashCash Consultants started as a Blockchain Consulting Company in California in 2015. Today, HashCash products enable enterprises to move assets and settle payments across borders in real-time using Blockchain Technology. Banks, Corporate Houses, Domestic Payment Networks, FinTech Companies, and Currency Exchanges use the HC Network for Retail Remittances, Corporate Payments, Trade Finance, and Payment Processing. HashCash has 100+ enterprises using its products in 26 countries.

In 2018, it would not be surprising that blockchain will be drastically used across finance, banking, security, trading, governance, real estate, healthcare and logistics. While a number of countries are not taking blockchain in consideration, others are adopting it in a good speed. So, it is very clear that in future the innovation of blockchain hubs is where governments will play an important role. So here are 5 countries where blockchain is adopting or growing.

Dubai

In Dubai, the government is supporting the innovation so that blockchain can be implemented in different sectors. This country is planning to set 20 blockchain based enterprises by 2018 and also it is aiming to become the blockchain capital in the whole world. These initiatives include improving services like education, healthcare, transport, road and energy.

Switzerland

This is another country which has the perfect regulatory and political support which will help blockchain based startups to evolve. A lakeside town, called as Zug, is now known as Crypto Valley.  This place attracts a huge number of foreign investments and also the home of various blockchain based startups such as iProtus, Bancor, Melonport, ShapeShift and Status.

United Kingdom

The BaaS (blockchain-as-a-service) in UK has already being used in order to keep track of disburse student loan grants and welfare paychecks. The government is continuously supporting various blockchain based technologies by funding on projects. One of areas where UK wants to use blockchain tools is health technology.

Singapore

This country is also not behind and has been developing as a hub for blockchain innovation. Some plans are already announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in order to tokenise the currency of the country on Ethereum Network. Funds over US $225 million has been allocated by the government on integrating blockchain technology in various financial and government services.

Cyprus

This country is trying to recognize the huge advantages while there is a healthy interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain in the minds of people. This is why Cyprus is trying to embrace the blockchain technology. UNIC (University of Nicosia) is leading the way by offering proper education in the field of digital currencies and blockchain technology. The university also has 2 post-doctorate positions in smart token corporate governance and distributed ledger technology. Also the geographical location of this country is advantageous and it is a key in adoption and innovation of this revolutionary technology.

Conclusion 

There will be different bumps along the way of adopting and growing blockchain technology because as governments need to deal with the reality of decentralization and empowering population but they should always concentrate on the big picture.

Money Transfer Service or Remittance has been always dominated by various companies such as MoneyGram and Western Union. But apart from them, fintech startups and new players are putting up a tough competition by offering other forms of money transfer services.

With the introduction of blockchain and digital currencies, companies are not holding back from adopting different cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethers, HCXand XRP for remittance services and overseas corporate payments. Organizations are using blockchain based product such as HC Corporate Payment which offers cross-border corporate payment services.

With this kind of service, companies are trying to solve problems ranging from limited money distribution, limited deals with money, limited brand options, to high transfer cost.

Though the market for cryptocurrency is still emerging, it promises a huge potential when it reaches mass migrant populations in the future.

Here are 10 companies offering crypto-payments to their employees

1. Abra: This Company was founded in 2014 and it provides person to person money transfer with the help of an application. This particular application facilitates its users to store digital cash, which can be valued in any currency by using a debit card or through an “Abra Teller”, directly on their mobile device. It is not mandatory for the user to have any kind of bank account in order to use this service. Funds can be send by any user to anyone instantly via Smartphone. Cash can also be withdrawn by the recipient from the application via a teller. The company uses bitcoin as back-end infrastructure but all funds are denominated in US fiat currency. In Series A financing, Abra has recently raised over $12 million. Investors in the rounds include First Round Capital, RRE Ventures, and Arbor Ventures.

2. Align Commerce: This is a PSP (Payment Service Provider) that facilitates payment and business platforms to receive and send payments using the blockchain as a new mode of settlement.

3. Bitspark: This is a company based in Hong Kong that provides an end to end blockchain powered Money Transfer Service.

4. Coins.ph: This bitcoin exchange company, founded in 2014, offers a kind of bitcoin wallet application that facilitates users to sell and buy bitcoins. It also works in case of mobile remittance service by transferring bitcoins into Philippines pesos.

5. Rebit: This is the service of Satoshi Citadel Industry. It aims to provide a better payment facility at a lower rate. It accepts bitcoin from the sender and then it delivers to the recipient as pesos.

6. CoinPip: Money can be sent quickly and safely using blockchain technology. This company charges a flat fee of 2 percent only.

7. Hellobit: This company provides a bitcoin-based money transfer service and aims to reduce the fees that is charged to the customers.

8. TransferB: This is a startup company that uses the payment network of bitcoin in order to send faster payments at a cheaper rate.

9. BitPesa: This business provides an effective way to collect and send payments to and from Africa. The employer can send money to their suppliers, distributors and employees.

10. Romit: This company has remittance software that uses blockchain to facilitate money transfer between Mexico and Argentina at low cost.

Companies who do not have their own blockchain platform for facilitating payments can hire blockchain firms who offer this particular service. HC Remit by HashCash is used by several financial institutions and corporate houses to offer cross-border remittance service using HC NET blockchain network.