Pay for a new bag in bitcoin? Some businesses in Singapore now accept cryptocurrency payments
SINGAPORE: Even before it had the usual cashless payment options, homeware e-retailer &glazed was already allowing customers to pay for their purchases using cryptocurrency.Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin were among those accepted at its checkout page since the start of the year, before other familiar options such as PayNow were added.Co-founder Lionel Lim made the less-typical decision, partly due to his interest in the burgeoning space.
He invests in cryptocurrencies, and also holds a full-time job at a crypto exchange based in Singapore.Besides, having as many payment methods as possible would be the way to go for an online store, he said.“We want to make it as seamless as possible – to the extent that whatever you want to pay with, we got it,” he told CNA.So far, it seems very few are willing to part with their digital currencies.
The take-up rate has been “very low”, with cryptocurrency payments making up just 1 per cent of total orders, according to Mr Lim.Bitcoin was used in all of these transactions.
With the order size averaging at S$33, shoppers would have paid with a mere fraction of the cryptocurrency which, after the bloodbath last week, is trading at about US$30,000 (S$41,600) as of Wednesday (May 18).Mr Lim said he has been keeping the takings in the firm’s digital wallet on Coinbase Commerce, the payment platform it is using to accept cryptocurrency, and is in no hurry to cash out.“We can see how there will be concerns for big businesses because for them, even having just 1 per cent of sales in Bitcoin might mean cashflow issues.
