Shopify’s 120K Merchants Can Now Accept Payments in Litecoin and Dogecoin

Having currencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin that are native to a mobile Internet will be a boon for online retailers.
Having currencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin that are native to a mobile Internet will be a boon for online retailers.

In a release sent out on Wednesday, cryptocurrency payments processor GoCoin announced it had partnered with ecommerce platform Shopify, whose 120 thousand-plus merchants will now be able to sell to customers in Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin.

“We’re always looking for new technologies that will help our merchants run their businesses and increase sales,” Shopify’s Louis Kearns, Product Director for Integrations, said in the release. “The partnership with GoCoin provides anyone on our platform with the option to accept multiple cryptocurrencies.”

Shopify has allowed Bitcoin payments for nearly a year, but GoCoin’s integration gives merchants flexibility with different cryptocurrency payment option.

Shopify

GoCoin’s statement cited a figure from the US Census Bureau that showed ecommerce sales “have increased 15.7% since the second quarter of 2013.” Shopify’s own research suggests that mobile ecommerce is where much of the growth is coming from, with mobile now accounting for 50.3% of ecommerce traffic, and Shopify is making a point to position itself as a mobile-first platform.

Having currencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin that are native to a mobile Internet will be a boon for online retailers, GoCoin CEO Steve Beauregard said in the company’s statement. He stated:

“GoCoin helps online merchants avoid shopping cart abandonment by quickly and easily offering the latest digital currencies as payment options.”

Shaping Up For a BigHolidayRetail Season

Remember, Bitcoin transactions spiked last November, especially around Black Friday, which traditionally kicks off the American retail sector’s big holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Online retailers around the world have begun to position themselves as cryptocurrency-friendly in the run-up to this holiday season.

Holiday Shoping

Earlier this month, Cointelegraph reported thatJapan’s Rakuten, which operates that market’s largest ecommerce platform, had participated in a US$14.5 million funding round in payments processor Bitnet, whose payments software Rakuten will use exclusively.

And, of course, PayPal merchants can now accept Bitcoin payments, as we reported in September.

Shopify’s announcement ups the ante by appealing to Shibes and Litecoin spenders, as well.

GoCoin’s Big October

Last week, BitFury Capital announced an undisclosed “strategic investment” in GoCoin, citing the potential of payment processing as a driver within the Bitcoin economy. The BitFury Group — which builds and manages data centers for Bitcoin mining, and produces servers and mining hardware, among other activities — in turn said it would use GoCoin as its default payment processor.

“The last few weeks for GoCoin have been phenomenal,” said Eric Benz, GoCoin Business Development Advisor and cryptocurrency evangelist. “The development and growth of our company is reflected with the companies and people we continue to partner with. Having a team like BitFury behind us proves our model and what we aim to achieve. The most recent announcement with Shopify is testament to the product we have built and the demand generated as a result. Being able to offer an agnostic crypto solution is by far what separates us from the competition.”

Beauregard echoed Benz's excitement:

"The PayPal, Bitfury and now Shopify deals all required an extensive amount of dedication and focus from the GoCoin team as well as patience going through the diligence process. These are perhaps the most meaningful deals to date to show our team's ability to deliver growth for GoCoin and the sector alike."


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