Shift4 and Mesh combining to ease crypto adoption among merchants

Cryptocurrencies haven’t exactly been adopted en masse as a form of payment method just yet.

In 2016 and earlier, there was a much smaller community that was more committed to promoting the benefits of the digital peer-to-peer systems of payment, but after 2017, investment is the name of the game. Investors dominate the crypto headlines, betting on the volatility of the price of trending coins.

Now, however, we look to potentially be edging closer to cryptocurrencies becoming viable currencies. Not only are there several new ways to use crypto, but in the retail space, a new integration will allow for seamless crypto payments. Shift4 joins Mesh to offer a new feature that lets merchants accept crypto payments from anywhere in the world with just one click, while conversions are done automatically to eliminate any risk.

It’s a move that could unlock cryptocurrencies to be used as popular payment methods should it gain traction with the estimated 200,000 merchants. Should this occur, many merchants could join the growing list of options and reap the benefits of catering to cryptocurrency transactions.

An increasingly usable form of money

With more people buying into the many, many forms of crypto, from Bitcoin to the latest meme coin, naturally, more platforms have been forged to suit the desires of any adopter seeking to make use of their coins beyond market speculation. This has been most prominent in online casino gaming, where players play with the possibility that they'll come away with more crypto than they start with.

Perhaps it’s because the activity more closely aligns to investing than paying outright for entertainment products, but either way, crypto users can now play at crypto-integrated titles like PeerGame slots. Players can enjoy popular games such as Avalon: The Lost Kingdom and Slotomon Go. In more traditional merchant circles, you can see PayPal, Microsoft, Wikipedia, and Shopify all accepting crypto now.

Potential obstacles for merchants

For now, cryptocurrencies remain a niche way to pay. This is despite the many benefits of using cryptocurrency for users. Privacy, transparency, and greater security all headline why customers would want to use crypto as a form of payment, as are the low transaction fees and the ability to pay at stores worldwide, as Investopedia details. For merchants, there are also many benefits.

Not only does integrating crypto payments make for a new way to connect to customers, but the low transaction fees are very appealing. The truly global scale that blockchains can accomplish makes reaching paying customers around the globe all the easier – particularly for digital products – and with transaction fees being low, there’s an additional incentive to chase those far-flung customers.

Ease of use holds many back from paying with cryptocurrencies, as does the lack of options to do so. The new merchant options being released by Shift4 and Mesh should alleviate this issue for many merchants. Still, there will always be the question of volatility for customers and merchants.

So, while accepting crypto as a merchant will be made easier by this new release, merchants on thinner margins may not want to take the risk just yet.