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Under the hood: Understanding a crypto payments engine

4 min readArticles

Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, and the new financial revolution have brought a novel idea to the forefront of our minds: It is now possible to transact seamlessly across the globe within a distributed, peer-to-peer network. 

However, this is easier said than done. It is, indeed, possible for individuals to transact borderlessly and without permission from any third-party using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which highlights the importance that many acknowledge in decentralised networks. Companies and merchants, although, have a specific set of needs that complicates the use of cryptocurrencies (in their pure state, at least) for everyday transactions:

  • They need to confirm purchases quickly to provide a good service to customers and remain safe when transacting.
  • Most of them don’t own the infrastructure/have the personnel capacity (both in knowledge and number of people) to deal with the nuances of crypto transactions in a volatile environment.
  • Cashflow remains a necessity. Therefore companies need to be able to convert the resulting crypto into fiat currencies, sometimes immediately. 
  • Having their public addresses listed in websites would open them to the scrutiny of any observer, an unsolicited trait for most businesses. 

So, how can merchants that are enthusiastic about crypto adoption, want to foster it, and see its potential utilise it in a way that makes business sense?

Enter Jason Butcher, CEO at CoinPayments, to explain the need for crypto payment processing systems. 

You can also see the whole interview with Jason on our YouTube channel!

Jason Butcher (who is also our advisor at D-Core!) is extremely straightforward when it comes to explaining the importance of these systems. CoinPayments started in 2013 with the mission to become the first and only player in the market to allow merchants to accept altcoin payments. The company has since evolved to deal with over $100 Million in monthly transactions, accept 1955 altcoins, and span over 180+ countries. Over the years, they have grown a company built on a strong foundation set at the following principles:

  • CoinPayments owns all the necessary infrastructure to make it as easy as possible for merchants to accept almost any cryptocurrency in the world.
  • Merchants can accept payments using these currencies right on their websites, for a low (sometimes as low as 0,5%) commission. 
  • CoinPayments is fully compliant across all the jurisdictions it participates on, making it attractive and secure to use. 
  • The company also has a commitment to make liquidity as available as possible for these companies, allowing them to transform cryptocurrencies into cash in their bank account as quickly as desired. 

In this interview, Jason tells us everything about the actuality of crypto payments, the challenges of crypto adoption, and how it looks like to run a giant from the inside. Some amazing takeaways from our 30-minute chat are:

  • Jason has seen dramatic growth in the adoption of cryptocurrencies in developing economies, such as the ones in African and Latin American countries.
  • He considers stablecoins to be a trend that will differ from its intended trajectory in the future. As he sees it, they might end up being used as a quick way to purchase in a variety of jurisdictions with different national currencies, as opposed to the go-to way to pay for all things.  

In our previous interview with Nick Jones, from ZumoPay, we learned about the viewpoint of the CEO of a new competitor in the crypto payment space. Talking to Jason completes our perspective on this industry that will be fundamental for adoption for as long as there are cryptocurrencies in circulation. We encourage you to watch the full interview to learn about the importance of systems like CoinPayments for the adoption of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. At D-Core, we genuinely believe that every step that leads towards a future where digital assets, particularly those based on decentralised systems, are widely used, is a step that needs to be taken. We can only wish the best for everyone involved in making this happen.

We hope to see you soon, and, if you like the interview, remember to like the video and subscribe to our channel!

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