The explosion of cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, has changed the way businesses and merchants view digital assets. Rather than focusing on the difficulties of starting to accept crypto payments, more merchants are emboldened by the ongoing crypto hype and are looking to incorporate a viable crypto gateway. While this is a given, the influx of crypto-friendly merchants put added pressure on crypto-enabled payment gateways to optimize their services and deliver features that are at par with traditional networks that are not able to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
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According to an opinion piece published on Forbes, the increase in online shopping has forced merchants to reassess their current payment solutions. At a time like this, the reasonable thing to do is to opt for high-performing payment infrastructures that can cope with the explosive demand for e-Commerce. This also applies to businesses that support cryptocurrencies.
Therefore, despite the popularity of cryptocurrency, businesses would prioritize functionality and ease of use over the celebratory status of being crypto-enabled. And so, it is up to crypto payment solutions to set standards that are compelling enough to attract mainstream businesses in their numbers.
With this in mind, I carried out the research on the crypto payment gateway sector to identify top-performing platforms and their unique business models designed to attract mainstream merchants. Here, I evaluated the pricing policy of each platform, their localization projects, and their usability. Subsequently, I used the data collected to come up with a ranked list of the top 10 crypto payment gateways. The list features crypto gateways that have impressed over the years by adapting to the ever-changing demands of the e-commerce industry.
The highest-ranked platform is Hashbon, a Czech Republic-based crypto payment gateway offering 0% commission, seamless processing, localization, and demo versions for merchants. This is followed by Coinpayments, another payment gateway known for its low processing fees and flexible features. The third on the list is Coingate, which has over 200,000 users. A notable trait identified to be common among the listed platforms is their low fees. Compared to conventional payments options, these crypto gateways have decided to keep the fees relatively low. Also, 5 of the ranked websites have made attempts to localize their offerings, even though they offer global services.
Overview Of The Top 3 Crypto Gateway Platforms
Hashbon
The Czech Republic-based B2B and B2C-focused platform has delivered working products for individuals and businesses interested in accepting and paying out cryptocurrencies. Hashbon has provided a multilingual platform and an avenue for new users to test its APIs and features.
Hashbon takes care of the KYC and AML requirements. In under 5 minutes, buyers/consumers can scale the identity verification process and become eligible to buy products or pay for services with cryptocurrencies. The 0% commission applies to all received transactions and all withdrawals processed via cryptocurrencies. Currently, Hashbon supports 30 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin and offers fast and convenient integration within a day.
Coinpayments
Like Hashbon, Coinpayments looks to simplify the processes involved in crypto-powered payments. According to the website, it is currently serving over 70,000 merchants with easy-to-use and real-time crypto settlement and payment infrastructures. Merchants can set up this gateway seamlessly on e-commerce plugins, like Shopify and Woocommerce, and incur as little as a 0.5% processing fee. Note that this is in addition to the network fees.
With over 1,000 coins and fiat supported, Coinpayments is one of the most robust crypto payment gateways available to merchants. In line with its versatility, the platform supports 12 languages other than English.
Coingate
As mentioned earlier, Coingate boasts over 200,000 users. Therefore, it is one of the popular choices when it comes to crypto payment. It is worth mentioning that Coingate’s success stems from its user-friendliness. The platform allows merchants to implement and monitor crypto payment options on their websites. There are over 40 supported coins and an added option to set up Bitcoin payment buttons on merchants’ websites.
Furthermore, Coingate charges a 1% merchant fee. Once paid, merchants do not need to pay extra fees for SEPA transfers and bitcoin payouts. While researching this website, I discovered that the platform allows users to test the featured services via its Demo Shop and Sandbox Environment.
Other notable observations
Note that not every crypto payment gateway on this list features direct fiat settlement options. For example, Coinbase.Commerce strictly supports crypto transactions. Therefore, merchants that opt for this option must transfer their coins to an external exchange that allows crypto-to-fiat trades. Also, just 3 platforms, Hashbon, Coingate, and Alfacoin, provide demo versions to new users. This indicates that they acknowledge that merchants have varying needs. Therefore, it is best to offer a safe environment to test features and plugins.
Final Thoughts
Other than the proficiency of crypto payment gateways, there is nothing stopping cryptocurrency from emerging as a mainstream option. Fortunately, the mentioned above companies are consciously doing enough to provide the necessary tools for simplifying and optimizing crypto payment processes. As long as this remains a vibrant trend, expect more businesses to adopt crypto payment gateways.
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