Switzerland based online retail store, digitec and Galaxus announced on Tuesday that two of their online stores will now start accepting cryptos “starting from an order value of 200 francs with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash ABC, Bitcoin Cash SV, Ethereum, Ripple (XRP), Pay for Binance Coin, Litecoin, TRON, NEO or OmiseGO.”
As per Oliver Herren who is the co founder and CIO of Digitex Galaxus, “Cryptocurrencies are fascinating and could become a relevant means of payment in e-commerce – we want to support this development.” He also cheekily added in, “Of course I now count on all the Swiss crypto-millionaires to shop with us.”
Customers of the online stores could not be more delighted as the platform hosts a whopping 2.7 million items and products which can now be bought via cryptos like Bitcoin. In a subsequent interview, Herren was asked why one would want to engage in online transactions with Bitcoin. To this he replied,
“Because you have some and you want to use them? Or because you can not turn them into real money because your bank does not accept the money ? Just because you can do it? Or because you like to try new things?”
Herren was however, not shy to speak of any doubts that he had regarding the technology and was quick to state that, “The transactions are so far more expensive and slower than a normal payment. Decentralization means that improvements are only cumbersome. To do this, none of the technologies scale enough.”
Accepting that it might have to do with other factors, he also added that, “But maybe I have not invested enough time and therefore understand too little how the blockchain ecosystem works.
Listening to the CIO certainly doesn’t instill feelings of utter confidence in the decentralized currencies, as it seems the company itself is not to sure about the decision themselves. However, this move does speak volumes about crypto adoption worldwide with more and more companies racing towards integrating the technology within their business model, in one way or another.
The conversation around cryptocurrencies wasn’t all gloom and doom however as Herren added that this step was something the firm had been meaning to take for a while now,
“We wanted to do that for a long time, but the effort was too long for a long time. And now, together with Datatrans and Coinify, we were able to implement a simple solution. And thanks to the dedication of Team Specter , which has implemented this initiative with no hassle and effort, even though the initiative has not yet made it onto our roadmap.”
Read more at: https://blockpublisher.com/online-switzerland-retail-giant-starts-accepting-cryptocurrencies-but-are-they-committed-to-it/
