Subscriptions have been successfully paid with bank cards and other payment systems for decades. However, as the popularity of crypto payments grows, and more people become aware of the obvious benefits of bitcoin, more people are wondering how they might pay for a subscription using cryptocurrency. In today’s article, we’ll look at the benefits and drawbacks of crypto subscriptions, as well as the options available on the market and how you can get started with crypto subscriptions right now.
With the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies, several businesses have begun to consider accepting cryptocurrency payments.
There are a lot of challenges in putting the idea of crypto subscriptions into practice.
Small, regular payments, rather than huge, one-time purchases, have become one of the most popular consumer trends in the last decade. It’s difficult to imagine a market that hasn’t been penetrated by the subscription model by 2022, and the market has grown at a rate of more than 100% per year for the past five years. It is unknown who established subscriptions, but the first mentions of them date back more than 300 years – in the 17th century, publishers of books and periodicals in England utilized this model. However, with the widespread use of the Internet in the 2010s, the true “boom” occurred. Subscriptions are no longer confined to TV shows and periodicals by the end of the decade; they now cover practically all aspects of life. The market has altered in just a few years, and many significant firms have adopted this payment approach.
Parallel to this, we can see the rise of cryptocurrency payments, which now outnumber bank payments in a number of areas. Wikipedia, Microsoft, Overstock, and many other large firms accept cryptocurrency as payment. And the number of merchants accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment is rapidly increasing.
How quickly will the next stage be ready for us, given the rapid increase that subscription economics and crypto payments are experiencing? The crypto subscription, to be precise. And what solutions does the market already have? These and other topics will be discussed in greater depth in the article.
When did crypto subscription payments emerge?
Groundhog
Groundhog was one of the original ventures, with the developers promising customers a consistent stream of money. Just tinkering with a few lines of code or installing a plugin was enough (available for WooCommerce). In addition, stablecoins and automatic crypto-to-fiat conversion become available. This endeavor, however, did not meet with great success or popularity.
Sablier
Sablier was another revolutionary project that took a completely different method, namely “streaming payments.” The bottom line was that the subscription was paid for in advance for a set amount of time, and the funds were retained in the protocol while the recipient received continual streaming payments. The subscriber has the option to cancel the subscription and withdraw the remaining cash at any time. Unfortunately, there was little demand for this service.
Advantages of crypto subscription payments
Community-oriented
To date, you are unlikely to come across a more engaged and cohesive community than the Bitcoin community. There are millions of people who belong to such communities. The official Twitter account for the same Bitcoin, for example, has over 4 million followers. These individuals are actively promoting their preferred cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, and they will be ecstatic if they can pay for a subscription with bitcoin.
Fees are low.
We’re all aware of the exorbitant costs that banks charge for international money transactions. This occurs because when a user sends a payment, it does not travel directly to the recipient’s wallet, but instead passes through a number of intermediaries (each of whom charges a fee). In the case of bitcoin, if the number of middlemen does not approach zero, it reduces dramatically.
Transactions that happen in a flash
Another drawback of bank payments is their slowness. Who wants to wait a day, or even many days, to receive payment? Everything happens in the blink of an eye with cryptocurrencies.
Safety
Because consumers do not have to submit their personal information while sending a payment, there is no risk of data theft. Furthermore, because crypto transactions are irreversible, there is no chance of chargeback fraud.
Availability
In addition to the benefits listed above, we must not overlook the fact that cryptocurrency is a currency without boundaries. A user from Africa, for example, can send the required amount to a user from America without having to pay conversion fees.
Challenges of cryptocurrency subscription payments
Sovereignty
We’re all familiar with the process of setting up a bank card subscription. You simply put it up and forget about it (until you notice that your account has been debited for a subscription to Adobe Photoshop that you haven’t used in a century). In the event of cryptocurrencies, funds will not be deducted from your wallet automatically. Even if there are currently solutions in the shape of programmable bills for recipients, consumers must still send a payment manually every time.
Volatility
Due to its volatile nature, cryptocurrency is not suited for paying for subscriptions. During the day, or even an hour, the price of a single Bitcoin can change dramatically. It is worth mentioning, however, that stablecoins totally eliminate this problem.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, no successful and convenient crypto subscription model has yet been presented to users. As a result, this sphere remains vacant and awaits the arrival of its hero. It is self-evident that subscriptions will not go away, but given how deeply cryptocurrency is embedded in our lives, a crypto-subscription alliance is on the horizon.
Of course, the idea of crypto subscriptions is still in its early stages of execution. But, thankfully, progress is being made, and payment companies are working to make this a reality. Today, utilizing invoices that can be configured in a few clicks, you may take cryptocurrency as payment for a subscription. We sincerely hope that in the not-too-distant future, a truly worthwhile solution to this problem will emerge, one that is beneficial not only to businesses but also to consumers.
