The recent fall of Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2018 has holders across the world gripped with emotions. With the value of Bitcoin dropping to levels of late 2017, there exists two major opportunities: buy while it’s low, or better yet, selling something of value in exchange for Bitcoins. By accepting Bitcoins on your website, whether it be donations or e-commerce, you’re putting yourself into a position where you may receive a higher reward if and when Bitcoin trends upwards again.

Looking beyond the short-term downfalls, Bitcoin has traditionally increased in value year after year. In order to take advantage of the dip in the market, it may be worth considering offering an alternate payment option on your existing merchant website. For those running charities, not-for-profit websites, or blogs, accepting donations in Bitcoin can bring further rewards down the road as the value increases.

Bitcoin has always been the most popular cryptocurrency choice for e-commerce sites. From buying gear on Overstock.com, to a bucket of fried chicken from KFC, accepting Bitcoin as a payment option is popular for many reasons.

• Bitcoin holds the largest market share (which means it has the largest audience to sell to)
  
• Accepting Bitcoin eliminates chargebacks and minimizes the chance for fraud
  
• Transaction fees from PayPal and other credit card companies are very high (around 2.9% + fees), while most Bitcoin payment processors are around 1%
  
• It opens up your product or service to a massive audience of Bitcoin holders who may otherwise not be able to purchase (due to limitations to your payment processor)
  

Bitcoin transactions have also returned back to their normal levels; under 10 cents per transaction in a few minutes. While another spike in the blockchain may cause a slowdown in confirmations and higher mining fees, technology such as Segwit and the Lightning Network ensure those issues won’t reappear again.

Within the sea of cryptocurrency payment processors, one of the only Bitcoin payment processors that hold true to the purpose of Bitcoin is Blockonomics.

Blockonomics transaction fees are 1% for unlimited transactions, with the first 10 transactions free of charge. They’re also one of the first to become Segwit compatible – making transaction fees significantly cheaper – along with their wallet watching service. While Bitcoin is accepted natively as their payment option of choice, customers of merchants can still choose to pay using any cryptocurrency offered by Shapeshift.

However, what makes Blockonomics unique over the dozens of other choices for Bitcoin payments is their slogan, “Be Your Own Bank”. E-commerce store owners that receive Bitcoin for purchases can have it sent to their own personal wallet. Most cryptocurrency payment processors hold your coins in their own, centralized wallet. Blockonomics stays true to the roots of Bitcoin by allowing merchants to be their own bank as one of the only decentralized Bitcoin payment processors.

Blockonomics offers free plugins for the top e-commerce platforms: WordPress/Woocommerce, Prestashop, Magento, and WHMCS. They also offer custom widgets to accept donations via Bitcoin.

If you’re thinking of taking full advantage of the dip, you may want to consider starting up your own website and selling a product or service; adding Bitcoin to your existing payment options on your merchant shop; or adding a donation widget to your blog or website. By accepting Bitcoins during the dip, you’ll be able bring in capital gains if and when Bitcoin begins trending upwards again.