Cryptocurrency?

Tom Foster

Any thoughts or input into Smugmug accepting cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin, Litecoin, etc.) for payments? Could potentially be a whole new market and would show that we are moving with the times, so to speak!

Ferguson

Out of curiosity, with such a volatile currency, how would you expect Smugmug to remit to the users?

E.g. if you sold something for 1 unit of new-currency, which at the time was worth $100, and at the end of the month it was worth $200, what would SM pay you? Wat if it was worth $50 instead?

Or would you expect to be paid in that same currency?

Please note I am not speaking for or against, as someone who recently found lots of my friends fascinated and investing, I wonder how the logistics would work here.

Tom Foster

Hi,
Sorry for the slow reply, been a bit busy recently! I think the best way of doing it is conversion at point of sale (to USD/GBP/etc.) There's a number of companies that exist just for this purpose (like a Bitcoin version of Paypal), such as Bitpay.

See, for instance how Scan incorporates such a service https://scan.co.uk/info/bitcoin. The merchant (as in both us directly and Smugmug) don't have to deal with the crypto-currency itself, just enable it as a payment option and the seller gets paid in currency of their choice based on whatever the exchange rate is at the time. This means that the Bitcoin/Litecoin etc. price may change but the price you receive in GBP/USD/etc. wouldn't.

I don't know if that makes things clearer or not? It is obviously a (relatively) new technology/concept still but as far as I can see increasing payment options can only be a good thing- especially when these days it can be easy as scanning a QR code!

Ferguson

Yes, thanks.