Bitcoin Integration Gets Easier

Although bitcoin remains an uncertain investment for the general public, retailers are starting to embrace the cryptocurrency slowly in hopes of keeping their businesses at the forefront of technological advancement. However, for many the initial setup of adding a bitcoin wallet and using the currency in store has been a barrier to entry. Stripe, a bitcoin-based startup is changing all that and making it easier for retailers to accept the digital currency.

Stripe allows any retailer with a US bank account to accept bitcoin payments using their existing API or through an online checkout. Stripe has been testing the acceptance of bitcoin since March 2014, and since then the company said merchants have been able to accept the digital currency from more than 60 countries.

Bitcoin ATMs

Stripe isn’t the only company to integrate bitcoin using existing infrastructure; Robocoin, the company responsible for the first bitcoin ATM, is also hoping to spread the adoption of the currency by making it more readily available. The company has created a new software pack that will allow any ATM to conduct transactions in bitcoin. Machines that have installed the software will be able to accept, dispense and transfer bitcoins all managed and identified using a wallet system.

Is The Cart Ahead Of The Horse?

With so many bitcoin startups looking to make acceptance and integration of the currency easier for the general public, many are wondering if they may have jumped the gun. Bitcoin itself is still struggling to regain trust as many see it as a rogue, unreliable currency used primarily by criminals. Despite that, enthusiasts say that bitcoin adoption will take time, and the more it becomes ingrained in every-day transactions, the more difficult it will be to ignore.