With an estimated 40 million blockchain wallets active, cryptocurrency users and usage have both grown significantly over the past five years. For reference, three years ago there were less than 8 million addresses, representing 500% growth in just three short years.
It should be of no surprise that this increase has sparked a significant demand to use cryptocurrencies, both as a method of transfer, but also as a method of exchange for common purchases. Historically, there have not been streamlined solutions that have offered the ease of use and accessibility needed for first-time merchants exploring crypto payments.
Thankfully, in the past two years innovation has caught up. Leading the pack is a company called PumaPay, which has just announced the release of its payment solution after spending the past two years developing a merchant-focused suite of products. At the core, these products enable businesses to accept crypto payments with the added benefits that blockchain technology provides.
Inside the Elements of PumaPay’s Payment Solution
PumaPay’s payment solution is revolutionary due to its closed-loop suite of products, meaning retailers now have a one-stop shop for crypto payments. To streamline the process, PumaPay has developed a Business Console where merchants can register, set up their billing preferences, and start accepting PMA, the company’s native token.
On the backend, the product suite is built on a protocol, named PullPayment Protocol, that is a smart contract architecture that inverses the mechanics of crypto transactions. Instead of allowing only the ‘push’ or ‘sending’ of funds, it allows businesses to pull funds from customers based on specific terms pre-approved by the customer.
Next, a Fiat Settlement Layer cancels the volatility risk for business and guarantees liquidity by locking the rate of the PMA token at the moment of transaction. This means if an unexpected change of price would occur at the moment after a transaction, both consumers and retailers would be safe.
Consumers can also utilize PumaPay’s mobile crypto wallet or Google Chrome extension to store cryptocurrencies to transact with. To give consumers full flexibility, PumaPay offers various advanced billing models including subscriptions, top-up and dynamic price billing models which are now available for the first time on the blockchain.
How the Blockchain Revolutionizes Payments
Think of blockchain technology as the foundational tool that helps make payments safe, secure, and transparent. PumaPay’s protocol is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain allowing the elimination of any middleman. The result is a situation where fees are drastically reduced and chargebacks are removed since each transaction on the blockchain is immutable.
For retailers, when a customer pays for a product or service, the settlement is immediate, only utilizing the time it takes for the transaction to be posted on the Ethereum blockchain. As opposed to Bitcoin’s blockchain, Ethereum uses a concept called gas to process transactions at a very quick speed. Typically, a transaction can be posted in a matter of minutes as opposed to multiple days in the standard digital payment industry.
Potential to Grow Your Business With Cryptopayments
The total cryptocurrency market cap as of September 2019 is over $266 billion. This equates to an enormous amount of spending power and potential for retailers and consumers moving into the future.
This is important as cryptocurrencies have provided opportunities for unbanked and underserved markets to shop online and become more active in e-commerce. For the banked, cryptocurrencies provide a new form of payment that is fast, secure, and partially anonymous. As more merchants begin to accept cryptocurrencies, we are likely to see more use from consumers that have requested such solutions in the past.
PumaPay is positioned to take full advantage of this potential given their product is live and was developed with ease of use and mass adoption in mind. With just three simple steps, your business can start accepting cryptocurrencies today.
