The OpenBazaar platform has been well-received by the overall cryptocurrency community. A decentralized marketplace solution with Bitcoin support is a major step toward mainstream adoption. However, Bitcoin is not a perfect currency whatsoever. In fact, there are some big issues with it when it comes to payments. This is why the OB team is working on integrating new cryptocurrencies over time. So far, it seems Bitcoin Cash and ZCash are both on the shortlist.
It is always good to see existing platforms integrate support for additional cryptocurrencies. There is a lot more to this industry than just Bitcoin, to say the very least. A lot of the altcoins in the top 10 are also worth paying attention to. This is why the OpenBazaar team announced they would integrate more cryptocurrencies over time. However, it remained unclear which currencies those would be. There have been some rumors regarding Monero and Litecoin integration, but that is about it. It now seems ZCash and Bitcoin Cash are coming to this platform as well. An interesting choice, to say the very least.
Altcoin Support is a Good Thing for OpenBazaar
One has to acknowledge Bitcoin Cash is slowly making a big name for itself. In fact, this popular altcoin has a pretty loyal following as of right now. That means there are plenty of people looking to spend BCH for whatever purposes possible. With the addition of OpenBazaar support, a lot of new opportunities will be unlocked. At the same time, it is still up to individual sellers to enable these altcoin payments as well. There’s no guarantee anyone will do so, albeit there’s no reason not to either.
How all of this will affect the OpenBazaar platform, remains to be seen. It is quite a remarkable project which has successfully garnered a lot of support. Anyone in the world can sell any legal item or service in exchange for Bitcoin. With no centralized infrastructure, stores cannot be taken down all that easily either. Adding more support for different cryptocurrencies will only result in more exposure for this platform. While it may not replace the darknet anytime soon, it is a worthy competitor to eBay and other auction sites.
While this is still a pull request on GitHub, there’s no reason the developers won’t integrate it. More cryptocurrency support will eventually lead to more users. OpenBazaar is a solution more people need to embrace willingly over the next few years. Although a great concept, it is still a niche project at this point in time. A lot of cryptocurrency communities feel left out due to the Bitcoin-only approach. BCH and ZEC are both valuable additions to this platform.