Basqet, an African blockchain payment startup, recently broadcasted the launching of a payment gateway that will allow enterprises to accept cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, as a form of payment. Additionally, Basqet said that in order to follow through with the payment gateway plan, it would first launch a public beta to measure the performance of the cryptocurrency payment gateway. The beta will go live with about 118 businesses, which have already signed up with Basqet to begin accepting cryptocurrency payments.
Basqet revealed that before the beta launch, it had carried out about $1.3 billion dollar transactions with several businesses. Basqet’s senior product manager, Bunmi Eleshin, said the aim of the payment gateway is to solve the missing link between people who own crypto and businesses that are willing to accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. The crypto payment gateway program is meant to allow businesses to trade without the effects of the price volatility of a cryptocurrency.
The crypto payment gateway launched by Basqet is similar to the ones launched by Stripe (United States), Paystack (Africa) and Flutterwave (Africa). The only significant difference between Basqet and the other blockchain startups is that Basqet now allows crypto to be used as a form of payment.
Basqet’s payment gateway aims to reduce regular transaction fees by 60 % or more with nil chargebacks. This will allow non-governmental organizations, freelancers, fintechs, and business owners to accept cryptocurrency in the form of donations, deposits, or payments in more than 120 countries.
Additionally, Basqet stated that the cryptos that the beta merchants would be accepting in transactions include the following:
- Bitcoin
- Litecoin
- Etherium
- USDT
The beta merchants partnering with Basqet will be required to accept crypto payment in any of the following ways:
- Basqet API
- Payment button
- Payment link
Although many businesses were initially skeptical about accepting cryptocurrencies as payment due to their price volatility, Basqet seeks to resolve the problem by allowing the businesses to accept the payments and have them settled in form of US dollars, various forms of crypto, and several other African currencies. This strategy will protect merchants and businesses from the negative impacts of the price volatility of the cryptos.
Therefore, if a merchant sells their product at $500, they will receive the equivalent value of the money in their currency of choice, despite the price volatility of the cryptocurrency.
Additionally, Basqet mentioned in the press release that businesses can easily sign up for the crypto payment gateway in less than 10 minutes. Businesses that do not have official websites can use the payment link to accept crypto payment from their customers. A business can send the crypto payment link to their customer via WhatsApp, Instagram, or messaging app to speed up the transaction process.
Ever since cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin hit the media, there have been many discussions about cryptos taking over the market and becoming the latest evolution of money. The move by Basqet to allow businesses in Africa to trade using crypto will definitely enhance the rate at which people adapt to crypto transactions globally. Today, many traders and investors will be able to use cryptos to pay for services, instead of just using them for speculation and forex trading.