Cryptocurrency used to only be an academic concept. But this changed when arguably the first crypto, Bitcoin, was introduced in 2009 — this particular cryptocurrency remains the most popular option. The future of cryptocurrency in business is rising. Since then, new currencies have appeared, such as the relatively new and more affordable EOS.
The explosion of crypto has also led to a number of milestones in 2021. For instance, Bitcoin hit $1 trillion in market value for the first time thanks to major institutional investors and financial companies like Tesla started supporting it.
With how big crypto is becoming, it’s no surprise that it’s being integrated into businesses. Below are some benefits crypto can bring to companies and businesses:
Better customer loyalty rewards programs
Traditional programs can be quite complex. After all, when you sign up for loyalty programs, you expect better rewards-earning capabilities, clear terms, and ease of redemption. However, people are more often than not confused about the processes of earning rewards and have a hard time redeeming them.
In answer to this, crypto is slowly being adopted for loyalty programs, according to Yahoo Finance. This is because crypto is a potential store of value that may increase over time.
Consumers are familiar with the “earn-burn” rewards model where they accumulate rewards and redeem them for goods and services. With understanding crypto market cap slowly being adopted by various companies as a mode of payment, people who earn crypto instead of points will be able to spend it as easily as traditional currency.
Mastercard has recently partnered with Bakkt, a digital asset marketplace, which can allow consumers to earn and spend rewards in crypto. This also means they can easily convert crypto holdings to pay for purchases.
Convenient employee paychecks
Getting paid with crypto may still feel like a future trend, however, it’s already growing in popularity. For instance, Deel, a payroll and compliance company based in California, has made crypto salaries an option. This is to attract a global workforce — after all, crypto allows for instant transactions with minimal to no fees.
This also means you won’t need to spend time converting dollars into international currencies. Politicians like Miami mayor Francis Suarez and football stars like Odell Beckham Jr. have also opted to take their paychecks in crypto.
Finance site AskMoney.com discusses how crypto paychecks are being handled. A crypto paycheck is based on a dollar amount rather than a specific number of cryptocurrency. This prevents a company from neither underpaying nor overpaying an employee, as the value of crypto shifts often.
For instance, a monthly salary of $5,000 will have earned a person 0.08 BTC (Bitcoin) in November 2021, while in February of this year they will have received 0.12 BTC for the same amount. By being flexible companies are able to accurately pay their employees in cryptocurrency.
More transparent crowdfunding
Crowdfunding allows your company to raise money for products and services that people are willing to invest in. However, traditional crowdfunding is pretty inefficient since a lot of companies aren’t able to reach their goal, and some never receive any funding at all. Aside from this, there may be fees from third-party platforms. But TheBalance.com explains that crypto crowdfunding allows for a safer and more transparent process.
OpenLedger is a platform that facilitates crypto crowdfunding. Here, a company can release initial coin offerings (ICO), which is a company’s own cryptocurrency that acts like company stock. Here, people can buy, sell, and trade ICOs. Stratis is one such company that was able to raise $100,000 with crypto crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding with a dedicated digital wallet allows the company and the donors to see the total amount donated. Another great thing about crypto is that it avoids fees from third-party platforms. Cryptocurrency is becoming more integrated into businesses thanks to how convenient and improved they can make a company’s and customer’s experience.
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