What are the challenges people who accept bitcoin face in their businesses face

[Nangiconference]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this but I think I have to let the community know of this as I was shocked to see a local shop in community accepting bitcoin and upon closer look and questions, I got to find out that the owner of the shop just recently started accepting bitcoin and I had to also ask how profitable has bitcoin been to his business and he pointed out two things which.
1. That alot of people don't willingly want to pay make payment with bitcoin as a result of the high transaction fee
2. Security as alot of customers also shy away from making payment in bitcoin as they don't want to be identified as people who own bitcoin.
https://ibb.co/h76Fr9r

I've read some post about businesses accepting bitcoin and I want to know if they also face those challenges mentioned above and how do they face and solve these challenges as I think this initiative in my local community will also help to raise awareness about bitcoin and since I'm still new in the space, I would love to spread the news of bitcoin but I think it will be at the right time when I get the required knowledge.

[1715196713]

1715196713

[btc78]

First of all, it is truly both shocking and amazing to see more and more people trying to utilize bitcoin

The picture you posted seemed to be a small local store where people buy a few products from so most likely the cost would not be too much even I personally do not think it is worth to pay bitcoin for if i buy a $1 worth of candy and i pay for bitcoin just imagine how much i would lose due to high transaction fees

Yes those problems are also met by other entrepreneurs right now there really is no other way around bitcoin’s high fees what your local community store can do however is to instead offer other altcoins to pay with they have a lesser congested mempool so transaction fees would not be that high

[Die_empty]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this but I think I have to let the community know of this as I was shocked to see a local shop in community accepting bitcoin and upon closer look and questions, I got to find out that the owner of the shop just recently started accepting bitcoin and I had to also ask how profitable has bitcoin been to his business and he pointed out two things which.
1. That alot of people don't willingly want to pay make payment with bitcoin as a result of the high transaction fee
2. Security as alot of customers also shy away from making payment in bitcoin as they don't want to be identified as people who own bitcoin.
https://ibb.co/h76Fr9r

I am always glad when I see businesses adopt Bitcoin as an alternative means of payment. But from the cost of transaction paying in Bitcoin for items that cost a few dollars is not encouraging. The picture you attached that showed the business you claim accepts Bitcoin made me doubt your story. How will a business that sells sachet drinks that cost less than $0.11 adopt be Bitcoin payment option? It will be a total waste of time and funds because fiat will be the best option for such a business.   

I've read some post about businesses accepting bitcoin and I want to know if they also face those challenges mentioned above and how do they face and solve these challenges as I think this initiative in my local community will also help to raise awareness about bitcoin and since I'm still new in the space, I would love to spread the news of bitcoin but I think it will be at the right time when I get the required knowledge.

Some of these business that accepts Bitcoin use Lightning Network. While others are temporarily accepting other altcoins that have lower transaction fees until the Bitcoin transaction fee is reduced. 

[Patikno]

As far as I know, there are 2 main problems facing businesses that accept bitcoin as their payment.

1. Transaction fees
From the screenshot you provided, I estimate that the price of 1 item there is under $0.5 - $1, meanwhile based on current mempool data, to get a high priority transaction, it costs around $2.37. This means that people who want to make transactions will experience losses there so they will give up their intention to pay using Bitcoin.

Solution: Using a centralized/off-chain service that does not require moving bitcoin on-chain.

2. Laws in a country
This problem depends on the jurisdiction where you live, but especially in the country I live in, we are not allowed to use any crypto including bitcoin in transactions. This law has a significant impact on business actors, because they cannot differentiate and offer other payment method to make things easier for their clients/customers.

[uneng]

There are many challenges people face when accepting Bitcoin as payment on their businesses:

• High transactions fees;
• Low Bitcoin adoption by customers;
• Prohibitive regulations by local government;
• Preconceptions by the population uneducated on Bitcoin and crypto matters;
• Uncertainties and instability about future potential regulations in countries where there isn't a legislation towards Bitcoin yet;
• Volatility of Bitcoin currency, demanding from businesses' owners to constantly exchange their coins into fiat, in order to keep their money's value on short run and avoid high fluctuations.

When adopting Bitcoin as payment method for your business, you have to be conscious it's only going to affect a small portion of your customers, while the vast majority is just going to ignore it. From the profitability point of view it doesn't make much difference for the seller yet. Maybe in the following years it might start changing for the better, but as far as I know there are no expectations regard it.

[Dunamisx]

snip

first of all, welcome to the forum, regarding life itself, there are ups and downs full of challenges in which we have to run and make use of the efforts we have and ensure that it only bring in the best in us out, bitcoin is not difficult to use or understand, but being for the first time, many would have found it difficult in making it their mainstream means for making payment whereas there's nothing too much or that difficult than we could cope or adjust with if we learn how to use it, many businesses and organizations were already accepting the use of bitcoin and ours shouldn't be an exception.

[Z-tight]

High tx fees is a problem right now for people who want to spend BTC, but it is not a 'permanent' problem, we used to make tx's with a fee rate of 1 sat/vByte, and i think we would be able to do it again when the ordinal spammers go away, but for now the high tx fees is surely a problem for people who spend BTC.

I don't think there is there is too many problems in accepting BTC for the merchant, it is the buyer that covers the cost of tx fees, all the merchant does is make the payment option available and see customers who are willing to use the option, if they also don't want to hold BTC because of how volatile BTC is, they can use a payment processor to accept BTC and convert it to fiat or any other currency they want it in.

[electronicash]

shying away from paying BTC due to security. users taught about not divulging their identity are taking it very seriously. can't blame them because of the instances like they are putting their lives at risk. come to think of it, we are not hearing crimes related to robbing BTC in Bitcoin Beach so it must be safe to spend BTC in those areas.

if you are a businessman and you want to accumulate BTC, I think you could give discounts to BTC payers so that they will not mind the transaction fee.

[Zaguru12]

1. That alot of people don't willingly want to pay make payment with bitcoin as a result of the high transaction fee

This one of the biggest problems associated with accepting bitcoin as a means of payment, that’s why I don’t recommend it for a micro transactions Because the fees are most at times higher than the amount of the commodity. Another problem associated to transactions is the confirmation time, sometimes a single block confirmation can take more than the average 10 minutes not with standing the number of confirmations that the merchant will consider acceptable. Most at times 6 confirmations which can span beyond 60 minutes.

2. Security as alot of customers also shy away from making payment in bitcoin as they don't want to be identified as people who own bitcoin.

Yes this is what paying with physically with bitcoin actually causes, personally I prefer cross border transactions where both the buyer and seller do not even know each other physically. The issue of privacy is protected here except you link that address to a KYC exchange.

Solution: Using a centralized/off-chain service that does not require moving bitcoin on-chain.

The problem with this is that you need to be using same exchange with that merchant and also you must have funds on the exchange. I believe you know the risk associated with storing your coins on exchanges. Also off chain transactions like lightning network for a one time transaction is not advisable because you will need to create a channel with the merchant which actually requires fees

[Rruchi man]

1. That alot of people don't willingly want to pay make payment with bitcoin as a result of the high transaction fee

Aside the unwillingness to make payments in Bitcoin due to high transaction fee which I personally consider not totally true because transaction fees are not always high, there's also the unwillingness to make payments because of people's perspective and views towards Bitcoin. Many owners and hodlers of Bitcoin see Bitcoin as investments and not to be used for daily transactions especially in local shops so they are all unmotivated to use their Bitcoin for transactions when they have fiat for it.

[Lorence.xD]

Probably it is with Bitcoin's market price volatility and overall usage. A business simply needs to revolve the gross on expenses to run the business itself; salary of employees, maintenance, inventory of goods (if you are in retail), and the likes. Imagine accepting Bitcoin payment for the whole week and the market price by that time is high. What to expect? High transaction fees. Then on the following week, the price suddenly declined, and on the same instance, the retail shop is in need of raw products or products to be sold, would you be selling your holdings immediately? That would be resulting to permanent loss. Would you wait? It will be a problem running the business while waiting. This is the possible challenge I view assuming that all transactions will be in BTC. Overall sustainability of the business will be a problem in such conditions. The only instance I would be seeing Bitcoin adoption as a mode of payment for businesses if if it is  stand alone and a service provider that does not require that much of revolving funds to run it. For example, a law firm run by a single attorney. He/She could endure holing as his sacrifice to earn profit once the market recover after a decline. Am I making valid points here?

I saw small proprietorships in my country which tried to do the same thing and unfortunately they eventually closed although not sure of the particular cause but thinking of possibilities then it might have been a factor. So if you are planning to also do the same thing then make sure to do your own research about it. Things won't be easily actualized given that adoption of something which is not common to all of your target market or audiences. Always manage the risk.

[coolcoinz]

1. Transaction fees
From the screenshot you provided, I estimate that the price of 1 item there is under $0.5 - $1, meanwhile based on current mempool data, to get a high priority transaction, it costs around $2.37. This means that people who want to make transactions will experience losses there so they will give up their intention to pay using Bitcoin.

Solution: Using a centralized/off-chain service that does not require moving bitcoin on-chain.

First of all, saying that high transaction fees deter people from using it is a bit of an overstatement because I believe that if you, like in this case, try to sell items that cost $1 for bitcoin, you're a dreamer. Math says this can never work, but that doesn't mean you can't sell thins for bitcoin. The value of an item must be much higher than the fee for it to even have the slightest chance of success.

As for the solution, there are even better ways of fixing this. You can sell in bulk, like Chinese manufacturers, or do hat many online stores do and allow clients to load funds onto their account. They can send 1k USD to the store at once and be able to use it for purchases throughout the year.

Bitcoin is a great tool for auctions, where you need proof of funds. In traditional auctions you usually have to send some money before you're allowed to participate. With bitcoin you can sign a message and achieve a similar result.

[YOSHIE]

quote author=Nangiconference link=topic=5483539.msg63585378#msg63585378 date=1706632016]
What are the challenges people who accept bitcoin face in their businesses face
[/quote]We know that Bitcoin currently has high value and also high costs. In my opinion, there are many challenges and reasons faced by businesses that accept Bitcoin and for Bitcoin users themselves, except for large-scale businesses and nominal goods with large prices, for example: cars and so on.

Businesses with Bitcoin payments are hampered if they are limited to small and medium businesses, it can cost more to send than the purchase price, of course you know what I mean.

In my area there is a restaurant business that accepts payment in Bitcoin, but it has only been running for 5 months for various reasons, one of which is that one dining table of 5 people only spent $80, but the costs incurred are not commensurate with the food paid for, which is why currently the restaurant no longer accepts Bitcoin, that is a small challenge and there are many other challenges it faces.

[iBaba]

I've read some post about businesses accepting bitcoin and I want to know if they also face those challenges mentioned above and how do they face and solve these challenges as I think this initiative in my local community will also help to raise awareness about bitcoin and since I'm still new in the space, I would love to spread the news of bitcoin but I think it will be at the right time when I get the required knowledge.

Well, the fact that the invention of Bitcoin is almost 15 years ago, doesn't clear the fact that people all over the world, are still finding this technology a new thing and are gradually being informed and trying to adopt the technology of cryptocurrencies. So, as a business owner, you are likely to face two problems, one which I will discuss in this segment and the other which I will give to the next person here.

For this, you are going to face issues with your direct customers and clients who are patronizing your products or services in terms of making payments. Not a lot of customers are ready to make payments to you using your wallet address, especially when you are still a small business and dealing with petty trades out there.

Setting up a business in a developing country, like Nigeria, will amount to almost 0 participation in customers that are willing to pay to your wallet address rather 99% of them would prefer to make payments via Bank accounts, traditional banks or online banks than to use the new invent of wallet address or cryptocurrencies.

As far as I know, there are 2 main problems facing businesses that accept bitcoin as their payment.

1. Transaction fees
From the screenshot you provided, I estimate that the price of 1 item there is under $0.5 - $1, meanwhile based on current mempool data, to get a high priority transaction, it costs around $2.37. This means that people who want to make transactions will experience losses there so they will give up their intention to pay using Bitcoin.

Solution: Using a centralized/off-chain service that does not require moving bitcoin on-chain.

2. Laws in a country
This problem depends on the jurisdiction where you live, but especially in the country I live in, we are not allowed to use any crypto including bitcoin in transactions. This law has a significant impact on business actors, because they cannot differentiate and offer other payment method to make things easier for their clients/customers.

The second aspect is what I will discuss here, which is the transaction fee like you rightly mentioned above and the laws of the country.

For a country like Nigeria that just lifted the ban on cryptocurrencies, although have not allowed the full implementation of that policy, which implies that banks are not allowed to make transactions using cryptocurrencies, it becomes a lot sketchy for a business to make use of those modes of payment in a day-to-day business arena.

The transaction fee which has been increasing almos by the day is another plague in the adoption of Bitcoin  transactions for small businesses. Let's say, for instance, if you are making $100 sales a day and you're forced to remove transaction fee that is up to more-or-less $3 to $5 in a single transaction, what do you then realize at the end of your business day.

Why can't you make use of the normal mode of payment and redeem those transaction fees that you lose during the process of using Bitcoin.

[KennyR]

Another reason I discovered less acceptance of cryptocurrencies in my country is the lack of support for businesses from the government. We don't have any official information from the government about whether cryptocurrency usage is legal or not. In such a situation, when we make a sign of cryptocurrency acceptance to attract customers, the same could be problematic for the businessman. For this reason, we weren't able to see many places accepting bitcoin in my country.

[The Cryptovator]

Both reasons are a prevention of accepting Bitcoin lately. Bitcoin was created to make hassle-free global P2P money transfers without centralised involvement and with lower fees. Beyond the goal, Bitcoin has become an investment scheme lately. Due to high transaction fees, it has become very challenging to accept Bitcoin payments. Merchants would move to altcoin payments due to transaction fees. Developers should find a solution to this serious issue.

[Assface16678]

Well, both reasons are one of those reasons why many businesses can't easily apply the crypto payment, and those two reasons are just a few of those reasons why adopting bitcoin or crypto currency payment will be a challenge to a business. Some of those businesses are not knowledgeable about crypto currency. Even if they want to offer this service, they don't know how to handle the process or what the best approach and strategy is when it comes to accepting crypto. The other is that some crypto investors or holders will choose not to use their assets as payment. Imagine always paying using bitcoin; then you will not have enough holdings, and honestly, for me, I'd rather not use my assets as payment because they are for my investments. In short, there are much more challenges to face when it comes to adopting crypto currency in a business, and it is risky if not handled and managed correctly.

[hatshepsut93]

I'd say volatility is the biggest issue for merchants. The worst case scenario is you accept some Bitcoin, hold it and it crashes and now you have to sell it at a loss to keep your business going. And this is bound to happen at some point, because Bitcoin has many crashes per year, which can be 5% or 10% or even 20-50%. You could say that they are cancelled by the price surges in the long run, but still some unlucky timing can cause immense damage to business.

[alastantiger]

As far as I know, there are 2 main problems facing businesses that accept bitcoin as their payment.

1. Transaction fees
From the screenshot you provided, I estimate that the price of 1 item there is under $0.5 - $1, meanwhile based on current mempool data, to get a high priority transaction, it costs around $2.37. This means that people who want to make transactions will experience losses there so they will give up their intention to pay using Bitcoin.

Solution: Using a centralized/off-chain service that does not require moving bitcoin on-chain.

This is the solution staring right at us. I think that not every business person should accept bitcoin for the sake of accepting bitcoin for payment because other businesses are doing it and they want to stay competitive or look progress. There are steps to take. One of the steps is to invest in knowledge and training. If the business owner in the story invested in knowledge and training, he would have anticipated the problem and challenges of accepting bitcoin as payment from a business standpoint and a customer stand point. He would have then be able to effectively tackle if. 

Using a centralized/off-chain service that does not require moving bitcoin on-chain like you have said is the best solution. Zero hassles. The customer's mind would be at ease. Let me throw in more light for anyone who may not understand it, the business own simply needs to use a third part payment system that would help process payments received in bitcoin. These transactions that will be carried out are off-chain. They are not registered on the blockchain, therefore the customer will not be charged any transaction fee and there would be no delay even if there is a congestion on the bitcoin network.

[snowpega]

Dear accepting or sending Bitcoin payment at business level have fo face many challenges like high transaction fee. On the other hand if the value of bitcoin goes up or down as it is volatile digital currency so the agreement of both sender and receiver is important before creating transaction. Because we know when we pay or receive payment in physical currency we don't have to face these kind of problems that we have to face in case of bitcoin.