JM Bullion, one of the largest dealers of precious metals worldwide, has taken the industry-first decision to begin accepting Bitcoin for bullion purchases, after finishing a short test period.
JM Bullion partners with BitPay
In a statement released on BitPay’s blog, the payment processor announced that JM Bullion will start accepting purchases of gold, silver, platinum, and copper bullion via Bitcoin:
“We're excited to announce that precious metals dealer JM Bullion is now accepting bitcoin with the BitPay platform.”
BitPay says that Bitcoin purchases will have many advantages over traditional forms of payment, namely tackling the fees involved with credit cards, and the slugginess with which bank transfers and paper checks process:
“Since bitcoin is a push payment method that works like cash for the Internet, JM Bullion and its customers that use bitcoin can protect themselves from the costs of credit card chargeback fraud. Those costs factor into the several percentage point processing fees charged by traditional payment providers, and they can add up to significant margins for high-value purchases like gold and silver. By sidestepping these fees, JM Bullion's bitcoin customers will be getting the same 4% discount offered to customers paying with bank transfers or paper checks – without the hassle of transacting offline. Bitcoin customers will also have higher payment limits than credit card users, as well as lower payment minimums than bank transfers.”
BitPay’s post concluded by suggesting the reasoning behind JM Bullion’s decision to begin accepting Bitcoin:
“It makes sense that precious metals have been popular purchases for bitcoin users – particularly those in the United States – and have typically seen higher than average order values. We're excited to work with JM Bullion as it reaches this strong market for bitcoin.”
Real-world utility
Oleg Khovayko, lead developer at Emercoin says:
“Good news! They’re starting to exchange real gold for virtual gold!... With this payment option, they will attract more customers and increase trade volume.”
Cointelegraph also spoke to Nathan Wosnack, CEO of Ubitquity LLC, who offered some very insightful thoughts on the integration:
“I believe any organization accepting Bitcoin for their products and services to be a step in the right direction. The fact that a company, JM Bullion, that sells a product that represents a secure, trustworthy store of value/medium of exchange (and a hedge against inflation) much like Bitcoin makes a lot of sense to me. What Bitcoin needs more than anything is "brick and mortar" adoption and more real-world utility as we see with JM Bullion.”
Lastly, Cointelegraph spoke to Simon Dixon, CEO of BnkToTheFuture.com and Fund Manager at Bitcoin Capital. He said:
“Accepting Bitcoin for gold payments is very welcome and will make more traditional gold investors aware of Bitcoin. Where it gets very interesting though is two-way gold to Bitcoin trading, so investors can spend their gold with Bitcoin and store their Bitcoin in gold. Services like Vaulter are doing very well in these markets. I would like to see a bit more innovation than simply accepting Bitcoin, converting to fiat, and buying gold if that is their plan”
One of the largest dealers in its industry, JM Bullion is also one of the most trusted providers of gold and silver in the United States. The company chose to accept bitcoin to provide greater choice to purchasers checking out online. JM Bullion's integration allows bitcoin customers to pay using any bitcoin wallet and complete their orders in seconds, without leaving the site.