Cryptocurrencies have become prevalent in today’s digital age—as a form of investment, a payment method, or a means for storing personal funds—so many businesses have started to integrate them into their operations. It’s estimated that more than 2,300 companies in the U.S. accept payment in cryptocurrency, and many of these companies are small businesses. But while the average customer may know what crypto coins are, the baseline for how familiar they are about how crypto works is constantly evolving slowly.
If you’re a business owner who’s just started accepting cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment, some of your customers may have questions or concerns about it. To understand them better, and to be able to give them a payment experience that reflects well on your business, here’s a glimpse of the things that your customers may be wondering about when it comes to all things crypto-related:
1) How Crypto Works
Depending on your business’s demographic, don’t expect the majority of your customers to know how cryptocurrencies work. As such, their foremost thought about crypto will most likely be about how it works and how easy it is to pass coins from wallet to wallet. With the mountain of resources available online when it comes to cryptocurrencies, it can sometimes be overwhelming for your customers to get a simple answer to this question. They’ll likely appreciate getting a clear and substantial answer from you.
If your store will be adding cryptocurrencies as a payment method, then make sure that you and your staff are ready to provide easy-to-understand explanations about the digital currency to curious customers. You should also be well-equipped to answer questions from those who are already crypto users, but only just beginning to use crypto to buy things. For example, a customer may want to verify whether they can use the Monero (XMR) in their XMR wallet to pay for a purchase, as some businesses may transact only using certain coins.
2) How Safe and Secure Crypto Is to Use
Customers may also worry about how safe and secure crypto transactions are. After all, cyber criminals tend to target sectors that facilitate these financial transactions on a regular basis in the hopes of gaining access to victims’ personal funds.
Despite looming cyber threats, cryptocurrencies have become even more secure due to how blockchain technologies have evolved. The blockchain itself is an immutable ledger that records each crypto transaction made. Anything recorded on the blockchain cannot be modified, which further promotes transparency in each transaction.
Crypto wallets also ensure that users’ coins remain safe thanks to their public and private key system. The public key acts as the user’s account number, thus allowing other crypto users to send them funds. The private key is used by the user to gain access to their personal funds and authorize any transactions.
If you can break down these concepts and convey just how far crypto technologies have evolved in terms of safety and security, you may be able to allay some significant security concerns they may be harboring. On top of encouraging them to explore crypto payments, you can also establish your business brand as knowledgeable and forward-thinking to your customers.
3) How Volatile Crypto Is
One of crypto’s defining characteristics is its volatility; the value of coins can quickly rise or decline depending on various market factors. As most crypto-related news bits often highlight the highs and lows of crypto prices, your customers may already have an idea of crypto’s volatile nature.
Crypto enthusiasts among your customers may see this as a favorable thing, since it allows them to take advantage of the volatility for significant gains as long as they get their timing right. But the average customer may see crypto’s volatility as unfavorable because the uncertainty means they can never be sure if their crypto coins will still hold value in the future.
Whichever way your customers lean, it’s important to understand that both have valid points. As an entrepreneur offering crypto as a method of payment, your responsibility is to stay up to date with cryptocurrency news to better monitor market trends, improve your business’s cryptocurrency integration, and ensure good customer experiences regardless of how they ultimately choose to pay.
4) Crypto’s Investment Capabilities
While not every crypto user may be interested in investing, as some may just want to use their coins for personal transactions, questions about cryptocurrency’s investment potential may have crossed some customers’ minds. Seeing your business utilize crypto in its operations could also lead them to wonder if they, too, can find value or make money through cryptocurrency.
It may not be within the range of your business to teach them how to do this, but you can at least offer some insights on how your business uses cryptocurrency to help out with your daily operations and what resources you’ve used to better understand the crypto market. Doing so will improve general cryptocurrency literacy for those around you, which is something you’ll want if you continue to make crypto part of your operations.
5) Legal , Regulatory, and Tax Concerns about Crypto
There’s a common misconception that cryptocurrency is only used for illicit activities, which is why some of your customers who aren’t too familiar with digital currencies may think this to be the case. However, as with any other financial asset, the way cryptocurrencies are used depends entirely on the user’s intentions. In fact, the volatile nature of cryptocurrency may even deter criminals from using it at all.
There may indeed be bad actors, but the majority of crypto transactions—such as transferring funds or selling coins for profit—are completely legal and normal in nature. Meanwhile, as far as regulations go, this may vary depending on which country your business operates in. In the U.S., regulations are unsettled. The House passed a regulatory measure in May 2024 over the objections of the SEC, and the Senate has yet to consider the measure. The important thing here is to educate yourself and stay updated with the regulations in your country when it comes to crypto use—and to assure your customers that they are transacting with a reputable and law-abiding company that also has their best interests in mind.
You might also want to share the tax implications of customer payments in cryptocurrency. The IRS treats digital assets as property, not currency, so any transaction in cryptocurrency can produce gain or loss. The IRS has a Fact Sheet explaining how to report cryptocurrency transactions.
Conclusion
Your efforts to integrate cryptocurrency into your business’s operations can yield multiple benefits, such as lower transaction fees, reduced risk of chargebacks, and the ability to expand your reach to more customers, among others. But you should also make it your goal to be attuned with your customers’ thoughts on this new addition to the way you do business. If they can count on you to answer a broad range of questions about crypto, then you may not only encourage them to participate in the wider world of cryptocurrency—you may also be able to improve your business’s reputation and keep customers eager to support you.
You’ll find more information about cryptocurrency in this list of blogs.
