Everything you need to know about Ethereum payments
Ethereum payments are one of the fastest-growing payment options. It is common to use this option as a way to pay for goods and services as well.
People who actively use Ethereum to pay are tied to sites that accept this cryptocurrency for payment.
If you want to attract new visitors to your website, increase your income level, increase audience loyalty, and, as a result, achieve higher conversions –allow your customers to pay with Ethereum.
Organizing Ethereum payments is not that complicated, and many recommendations will be useful for you when connecting other cryptocurrencies as well.
What is Ethereum
Ethereumis a universal platform based on which it is possible to create decentralized applications. One of the products of the platform is the cryptocurrency Ether, or Ethereum (Ether or ETH), known to many users.
If we talk about the key differences between Ethereum and Bitcoin, it is worth noting the fact that the very idea of the platform was not to create and bring to market a new cryptocurrency.
Only over time, market players appreciated the convenience of this tool in the transition from fiat currency to altcoins. In fact, Ethereum is an excellent tool for a safe investment, while Bitcoin’s main purpose is as a means of payment.
Leading market experts prefer to invest in Ethereum projects because this investment option is more profitable in the long run than the usual purchase of cryptocurrency.
How Ethereum works
Another key difference between Ether and Bitcoin is that in its blockchain, the coin is not mined, but received and can be used to pay for services within the network.
Ether was able to combine the advantages and functionality of not only Bitcoin but also cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin and Ripple. Users can use Ether not only to pay for goods and services but also to store assets and invest.
All transactions in ETH are objective because they are the result of the work of a computer program.
The program checks not only the terms of the transaction but also the mutual fulfillment of obligations by both parties (sender and recipient). It is impossible to bypass or cancel the procedure.
It is better to understand this process with an example that has nothing to do with digital currency. There are thousands of platforms designed to sell goods or services online.
However, a platform cannot function fully unless buyers and sellers are registered on it. For both parties, the platform becomes a guarantor in financial matters.
The client makes a payment on the site and the platform freezes the funds. The seller will receive payment only after he sends the goods, and the client confirms its receipt.
Thus, both parties gain access to the goods and funds only if they comply with the platform’s requirements. Transactions in ETH similarly take place.
Transactions on the platform are performed without external influence through a program that can determine the terms of the transaction. The result is also entered into the blockchain by the program at the time of the transaction.
Why Choose Ethereum
Users love Ethereum cryptocurrency payments for their security, reliability, and convenience. But these are not all the advantages of Ethereum. Among the weighty arguments in favor of choosing this platform are also:
- Direct transactions without the need to involve third parties;
- Versatility of the payment system (options are not limited to transactions or mining only);
- High speed of transactions (by this indicator it beats even the leaders of the segment);
- Low commissions;
- Storing all transaction information in the blockchain.
Payment connection methods in Ethereum
There are several ways to set up cryptocurrency payment acceptance:
Accepting payments to a personal Ethereum wallet
The simplest in terms of organization of the method of accepting payments and at the same time the most difficult in further implementation.
The whole organization of payment acceptance in Ethers is reduced to placing the information about the wallet details on the site. It is possible to choose a more convenient variant – to replace the address with a QR-code.
Difficulties begin when a large number of cryptocurrency payments begin to arrive, as tracking and accounting for them becomes an almost impossible task.
To get out of this situation, you can ask customers to provide addresses to link their transactions to purchases.
Acceptance of payments through POS terminal
The main disadvantage of this option is the small number of terminals.
The terminal allows you to speed up transactions significantly because the operation takes place without a computer.
This option is suitable for offline payment with cryptocurrency in stores, cafes, etc.
The gadget does not require a connection to external devices, it only requires high-speed Internet.
To make a payment, you need to enter the amount payable on the terminal itself and then the client in the smartphone selects the option of sending coins.
You can print a receipt on demand by connecting the terminal to a printer.
Connecting the payment gateway
Cryptocurrency payment gateway allows you to accept payments in Ethereum including. This option is convenient and suitable for online business tasks.
The disadvantage of this option is that there is an intermediary, which is the gateway. However, this is outweighed by the ease of connection and clarity of transactions.
Payment acceptance via Ethereum API
This option is similar to the connection of the payment gateway with one significant advantage: all functions of the payment gateway are available to you and in addition, there is a possibility of configuration with the convenient connection of the trading account.
Using WooCommerce
The WooCommerce plugin is an option available for sites built on WordPress.
Today it is one of the most popular solutions, allowing you to accept payments by cards, payment systems, and cryptocurrency including. The popularity of the solution is due to the ease of integration of the plugin.
Creating your own payment system
If you don’t trust third-party payment services, you always have the option of creating your own tool. This will take more time and require a larger financial investment.
But you will get a solution that does not require payment of fees, so the investment can pay off quickly enough.
Buy cryptocurrency ETHEREUM
Ethereum is both a functional decentralized environment and a cryptocurrency that has been able to revolutionize the IT industry. The creators of Ethereum at the start of the system bet on Bitcoin standards, so the crypto is somewhat similar to it.
It is worth noting that the peak of cryptocurrency popularity in the market came from 2016 to 2017, just when Ethereum entered the market, which led to the creation of projects and startups, as well as attracted large investments.
Ethereum instantly took a leading position and in its popularity is in second place after Bitcoin.
What Is Ethereum (ETH)?
Ethereum is a blockchain-based blockchain system with an unclosed initial code, in which there is a personal cryptocurrency Ether. ETH is intended as a platform for a large number of other cryptocurrencies, as well as to execute distributed smart contracts.
For the first time, the Ethereum concept was depicted in 2013. VitalikButerin. In the summer season of 2014, Buterin together with other co-founders guaranteed the subsidization of the plan in the process of public crowdsale on the Internet. The instruction of the plan managed to interest 18.3 million dollars in bitcoins, and the cost of Ethereum in the process of initial coin offering (ICO) collected 0.311 dollars in the presence of the realization of more than 60 million. Ether. In case you realize the value of Ethereum because of the current one, in case, the return on investment (ROI) will be more than 270% in annualized terms, which means almost a fourfold increase in investment any time together with the year 2014.
Ethereum Foundation formally threw the blockchain on July thirty, 2015 around the prototype together with the code name “Frontier”. Together with such times, several updates to the bond happened – “Constantinople” February 28, 2019, “Istanbul” December 8, 2019, “Glacier Muir” January 2, 2020, “Berlin” April fourteen, 2021, as well as quite a while ago, 5 majestic 2021, Winchester fork “London”.
Ethereum’s intended task is to be a worldwide platform for dispersed add-ons, allowing users from the general public to compose as well as include software provision that is resistant to censorship, downtime as well and scams.
English software developer Gavin Kluska is probably considered another important co-founder of ETH, as he created the main technical implementation of Ethereum in C++ programming style, proposed his programming style of Ethereum-Solidity, and was the initial main technological chief of the Ethereum Foundation. Up until the emergence of Ethereum, Kluska worked as an academic at Microsoft. After that, he started forming the Web3 Foundation.
Who Are the Founders of Ethereum?
In total, Ethereum has 8 co-founders – an original large number for the cryptocurrency plan. For the first time, they met on June 7, 2014, in the Swiss town of Zapryazhka.
The most popular with them is probably the Russian-Canadian expert VitalyButerin. Somebody is considered the creator of a unique technological display Ethereum in 2013 and also according to the present period functions to improve the platform. Up until the emergence of ETH, Buterin was one of the founders and also the creator of the news website Bitcoin Magazine.
Among other co-founders of Ethereum: – Anthony RekaIorio, who was involved in the maintenance of the plan in the early period of its formation. – Charles Hoskinson, played a major role in the formation of the Swiss-based Ethereum Foundation as well as its legal foundation. – Mihai Alicie, who was instrumental in the formation of the Ethereum Foundation. – Joseph Lubin, a Canadian businessman who, like RekaIorio, supported Ethereum in the early stages of its formation and later created an electric incubator for ETH-based startups called ConsenSys. – Amir Chetrit, who participated in the formation of Ethereum, but withdrew from it in the early stages of its formation.
How Is the Ethereum Network Secured?
Ethereum is guaranteed by the Ethash proof-of-stake method, which belongs to the Keccak hash function genus.
It is planned to transform the bond into a proof-of-stake method, interconnected together with the big update of Ethereum 2.0, which will start at the end of 2020.
Already after the launch of the Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain (stage 0) in the Ethereum 2.0 blockchain in December 2020, the Ethereum 2.0 blockchain will be able to execute bets. The amount in Ethereum – this is the introduction of ETH (to activate the program-validator needs thirty-two ETH) in Ethereum 2.0 by the line of sending it to the depositor agreement, which contributes to the security of the bond by the line of information storage, transaction processing and the addition of new constructions in the blockchain. At the time of writing the note halfway through September 2021, the value of Thirty-Two Ether in Ethereum is currently approximately $116,029. The aggregate that Ethereum validators are currently receiving is a 6% annualized return, which equates to approximately 1.91952 ETH, or $6,960 in Ethereum’s current value. This number will change as the bond is formed and the number of stakes (validators) increases.
The incentive due to staking in Ethereum is conditioned by a curved distribution (assistance as well as a moderate share of stalkers): in certain variants, the incentive due to staking in ETH 2.0 amounted to 20% for early takers, but in the future, it will decrease and as a result will amount from 7% down to 4.5% in time.
The least conditions to bet in Ethereum are formalized Thirty-two ETH. In case you decide to bet on Ethereum 2.0, this means that your part of Ethereum will be blocked in bonds for months, if not years, in the long run, until the development of Ethereum 2.0 is over.
How Many Ethereum (ETH) Coins Are There in Circulation?
In September 2021, there were about 117.5 million ETH coins in circulation, 72 million of which were issued in the genesis block, the first block on the Ethereumblockchain. Of these 72 million, 60 million were allocated to the initial participants of the 2014 crowd sale, who financed the project, and 12 million were transferred to the development fund.
The remaining amount was given out as a reward for the block to miners on the Ethereum network. The initial amount of remuneration in 2015 was 5 ETH per block, then it decreased to 3 ETH at the end of 2017 and to 2 ETH at the beginning of 2019. The average mining time of one Ethereum block is about 13-15 seconds.
In the Ethereum network update in August 2021, the Ethereum Improvement Protocol, EIP-1559, was implemented as part of the London hard fork. Instead of the first-price auction mechanism, in which the highest bidder wins, EIP-1559 introduces a “base fee” for including transactions in the next block. Users who want their transaction to be prioritized can pay miners a “tip” or “priority fee”. Since the base fee changes dynamically depending on transaction activity, this reduces the volatility of gas fees in Ethereum, although it does not reduce the price, which is known to be high during peak congestion in the network.
One of the main differences between the Bitcoin and Ethereum economies is that the latter is not deflationary, i.e. its total supply is not limited. Ethereum developers explain this by saying that they do not want to have a “fixed security budget” for the network. The ability to regulate the volume of ETH emissions through consensus allows the network to maintain the minimum amount of emissions necessary to ensure security.
However, with the introduction of EIP-1559, the basic payments used in transactions burn out, withdrawing ETH from circulation. This means that higher activity on the network will lead to an increase in the number of ETH being burned, and a decrease in supply should lead to an increase in the price of Ethereum, all other things being equal. This can lead to Ethereumdeflation; which ETH holders are very happy about – a potential increase in the price of Ethereum already today.
The difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin
Despite the similarities in blockchain, Ethereum differs from Bitcoin in advanced functionality, and its platform is used for pseudo-anonymous transactions.
Essentially, Ethereum is a full-fledged environment for working with a decentralized Dapps application using smart transactions.
Bitcoin is based on electronic payment transactions, and Ethereum specializes in smart contracts.
Ethereum Features
Compared to Bitcoin, Ethereum does not have serious flaws, and its payment potential is very popular due to the fast processing of information and transactions.
As a rule, users do not have problems buying a currency. The main drawback of the crypto is its platform dependence, if the best option enters the market, the cost of tokens will decrease.
But the economic situation in the country and the dollar exchange rate on the crypt does not affect.
Ethereum does not provide for emission, it depreciates the crypt, giving you thought about developing a new mechanism that burns tokens.
Consider all aspects of Ethereum.
Currency Benefits:
- It supports almost all programming languages and complex algorithms, and smart contracts are used in any field.
- The platform remains open for updates, upgrades and improvements.
- All innovations and updates are announced in advance.
- The platform remains open to new developments.
Ethereum Disadvantages:
- The currency remains centralized, regardless of an autonomous decentralized organization.
- The platform skips imperfect transactions.
- There is no clear documentation.
How to buy Ethereum
Since 2017, cryptocurrency has taken a leading position among other currencies, which gave it the opportunity to appear in exchangers and exchanges. There are several ways to get Ethereum:
- Buy currency on exchanges for fiat funds or cryptocurrency.
- In the exchanger.
- Cryptomat.
- Mine yourself.
The simplest and most affordable are the first two options. To complete a transaction on the exchange, you need to carefully study the exchange rate of Ethereum and register on the exchange.
Then replenish your trading account and place an order. After the transaction, the coins will be credited to the exchange account, from which they can be withdrawn to your cryptocurrency wallet.
When buying crypto in exchangers, you should take into account the transaction fee, as well as a less favorable rate than on the exchange. Despite their shortcomings, exchangers are very popular because of the simplicity and convenience.
Cryptomats are less popular, they do not support all types of currencies, so users have to make a double deal if there is no suitable currency and only then buy a crypt.
In order to mine Ethereum, investments are needed. Crypt is mined on farms working with GeForce and Radeon video cards, but after the platform switched to PoS, this method of obtaining currency became unprofitable.
Today, most mining users use the HASHFLARE service, signing a 12-month contract with it for the price of 0.8 US dollars.
For cloud mining, the platform uses equipment all over the world, but as practice shows, this method of obtaining crypto is long, so amateurs are engaged in it. But experienced users prefer to buy Ethereum on exchanges and exchangers.
The best option for obtaining Ethereum is the WELLCOINEX service, which allows you to purchase a crypto at a favorable rate with a minimum amount of commission.
At the same time, the platform ensures transaction security and transaction speed. After the exchange, crypto instantly arrives at the wallet specified by the user.
Note that to store Ethereum, the user must open the crypto wallet. For this, the Ledger Nano S program is ideal, hacking of which is impossible.
The uniqueness of this wallet is that it is similar in effect to a flash drive and does not connect to the Internet. After receiving the crypto, it can be sent to the Ledger Nano S by indicating the wallet number.
You can also use MyEtherWallet, the wallet does not need to be downloaded, it works online, but the private key needs to be stored on a computer device. As a rule, users can use a hardware, desktop, paper, mobile and web wallet to store cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum.
Is it worth investing in Ethereum?
Investing in Ethereum should be considered in the long run. The peak of its popularity is planned for 2019-2021. Today, one crypto can easily earn over $ 130, but in a couple of years its value can increase by more than three times.
Judging by the experts’ forecast, in 2020 the price of Ethereum will increase to 300-600 US dollars, despite a sharp drop in the currency in 2018 to $ 80 Quandy Louis, the founder of the crypto makes optimistic forecasts for the Ethereum account, based on the rapid development of EEA, in which large organizations are constantly entering.
Today it includes: “Santander”, “Sberbank”, “Intel”, “Morgan” and “Microsoft”. According to experts, the crypt can significantly increase by the end of 2020, reaching a value of 600-1000 US dollars.
Therefore, by investing in crypto today, users in the future can get stunning profits.