In a promising move towards mainstream adoption, Coingate and Prestashop are teaming up to pave the way for 80,000 merchants in Europe to accept cryptocurrencies. The arrangement will permit consumers to pay for goods and services at any of the e-stores that use Prestashop’s e-commerce software solutions, using Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, Dash, as well as 50 other altcoins the payment provider accepts.
Coingate and Prestashop
Lithuania-based Coingate is a cryptocurrency payment gateway that allows various businesses to accept Bitcoin and altcoins for payment. Users of the service can buy cryptocurrencies from Coingate’s website using bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and even mobile phone credit. Users can also sell their coins to Coingate in exchange for Euros. On top of the big five, notable alternative currencies available on the platform include Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Dogecoin, Reddcoin, and more.
Prestashop is an open-source e-commerce solution based in Paris that is currently utilized in 270,000 stores worldwide and available in 60 different languages. Of these 270,000 stores, 80,000 will be able to integrate Coingate solutions for cryptocurrency use.
Mainstream Adoption
The goal, according to Coingate CEO Dmitrijus Borisenka, is to encourage the adoption of cryptocurrencies amongst a more mainstream clientele. The hope is that once the partnership and services are up and running, the availability of the cryptocurrency payment option in the stores will encourage non-traditional users to get involved in the cryptosphere. Borisenka explains as follows:
“Encouraging adoption among people beyond the tech-savvy early-adopters is one of the biggest priorities for us. Prestashop has an ideal base of small to medium stores that may well utilize cryptocurrencies not only as an innovative and increasingly popular payment method, which is much cheaper than traditional card payments, but also the promotional benefits that the Bitcoin tag carries.”
“There is an entire new market of people who own all kinds of cryptocurrencies and are looking for ways to spend them,” Borisenka continued, “but the gap between customers and merchants in this sphere is still huge. It is therefore crucial to educate and encourage businesses to adopt a forward-thinking attitude and to overcome the prevailing misconceptions that surround cryptocurrencies.”
After setting up an account with Coingate, the team promise merchants a payment process capable of installation in “a few clicks.” An added feature is that in settlement, regardless of what coin the consumer pays in, payments come to merchants in a single currency of their choosing — fiat or otherwise. Settlements are made in Euros real-time the next day, which speaks to the issue of volatility inherent in dealing with cryptocurrencies at present.
“It is absolutely safe to accept cryptocurrencies as a way of payment. We protect our merchants from exchange rate volatility risk by locking the price of Bitcoin at the moment of the purchase. Merchants who opt to receive Euro payouts from us, essentially, do not have to touch cryptocurrencies at all – we handle every stage of the process,” Borisenka explains.
Both companies are experienced in both the global payment and cryptocurrency sectors. Coingate has 1,500 accounts around the globe, 50,000 users, and monthly revenue of more than $12 million; Prestashop has been around since 2007 and has evolved into an open-source platform used by more than 270,000 merchants in nearly 200 countries.