Stablecoins could be the future of e-commerce digital payments

Over the past decade, payment and e-commerce companies have revolutionized the way people shop online. I do nearly all of my shopping online, along with 263 million won other Americans. For me, it’s the most convenient way to shop and organize the things I’m looking for without having to spend hours rummaging through product shelves.

While the online browsing experience works well in general, when it comes to checkout, there are plenty of opportunities for technology to further enhance the experience for both consumers and merchants by integrating blockchain and payments. digital asset accounting.

Dollar Digital Assets: Building Blocks for Programmable Money

blockchain is a digital, decentralized, immutable transaction record that uses smart contract technology to create seamless, secure, and automated transactions directly between buyers and sellers. This technology allows the use of electronic money, a digital asset and medium of exchange that uses cryptography for secure transactions. Several luxury brands, including gucci, ivory white and Balenciagaexperimented with digital assets as a form of payment.

However, digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum can be volatile in price, putting buyers at risk when using them for payment, as the value changes over time. It can be difficult to overcome the hype surrounding these companies adopting crypto payments. As it is mentioned, the transformative payment formula is in digital assets in dollars or stablecoins.

Dollar-denominated digital assets provide the foundation for programmable money, enabling a world where the transfer of value is like the internet, with free, global exchange of value. Trusted stablecoins are essentially a digital version of the dollar — fully backed by physical US dollars in a bank account, 1:1 redeemable for cash, and readily available. for use on blockchains. Dollar-denominated digital assets are in a unique position to drive the digital asset payments revolution, with perks that are always high-speed, low-cost, but with no volatility. price.

In the not-too-distant future, stablecoins could become the primary medium for both online and in-person transactions. According to a June 2022 report from Deloitte companynearly 75% of surveyed merchants plan to accept digital asset payments within the next two years, and 83% expect consumer interest in digital assets to increase in the next year .

Shop with stablecoins

The benefits are obvious to merchants and consumers alike. For merchants large and small, accepting stablecoins from customers cuts transaction costs, eliminates middlemen, and attracts new customers who only need funds in a digital wallet to make purchases. Settling merchant payments with stablecoins greatly improves the payment flow, making it faster and cheaper. Like email communication, digital asset dollar transactions are “always on,” so payments and payouts can happen on weekends and holidays without any delay.

For consumers, getting up to enter your credit or debit card number into a website or risking your privacy to save information would have been an inconvenience when shopping online in the past. With digital assets, users seamlessly connect their wallet to the browser and can pay instantly with available funds. The integration of digital asset payment options will make purchases a seamless extension of the online shopping experience. While I’m an online shopping enthusiast, I’m not the best, so what excites me most is the near-instant transaction speeds that will help reduce my return processing time. I.

While adoption of stablecoins has been rapid get a raise In the cryptocurrency ecosystem for capital markets and decentralized finance, we are still in the early stages of using dollar-denominated digital assets for everyday purchases. The hurdles that need to be overcome before we see widespread merchant adoption include the need for clear regulation, increased awareness of the benefits of using stablecoins for payments, and most importantly, experience more intuitive user experience.

As with all disruptive technologies, this will take time. Gradually, we will see more online storefronts integrating digital wallet options so customers can pay with stablecoins, bringing us to a point where the experience is so seamless that we will be don’t think it’s cryptocurrency but internet shopping.

Rachel Busch is the communications director at Circlea global financial technology company and operator of stablecoins USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EUROC).