Electronic payment options for Bitcoin are becoming more and more common every day. Now e-commerce platform provider Digital River has agreed to accept Bitcoin.
This makes it one of the first companies in this field to embrace cryptocurrencies. The reason for this is because these companies have historically had such a close relationship with banks. And while some banks have certainly demonstrated interest in the new technology, fiat and cryptocurrency might be hard to integrate because many in that industry simply do not believe that cryptocurrencies can compete with national fiat currencies.
Digital River Inc. was first attracted to Bitcoin because of the near-zero transaction fees attached and the fact that fees never change based on the amount sent or received. Sitting in his office in Minnetonka, Minnesota, the company’s Vice President and General Manager, Souheil Badran, remarked that they will be looking “to pass some of these savings to the customer.” In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Badran explained his stance on Bitcoin:
“We see it as something that is here to stay, even if people are seeing it as just a payment method in general. But for me it is a game-changer.”
Digital River has a 20 year history and has processed more than $30 billion in transactions over that period and boasts a customer base in over 200 countries. The company’s 2013 revenue was listed at $389.7 million.
So far the company’s statements have been positive yet cautious. One executive stated that Bitcoin was long past the “fad” stage and would remain a player for many years. Digital River says that it plans to leverage all of Bitcoin’s advantages.
The company, however, does take into account the negative historical incidents such as the Silk Road and Mt. Gox failures, but recognizes that dealing with kludgy infrastructure and unregulated currencies still has its risks.
Digital River plans to use CoinBase as its payment processor and interface with the cryptocurrency world.