While most of the news last week was focused on politics and COVID-19, one small but significant change was made to the way we buy and sell things online… and it’s all but guaranteed to become a huge tailwind for widespread crypto adoption. 

As of May 20, nearly 1 million online retailers can now accept over 1,800 cryptocurrencies as payment (and it’s as easy as clicking a few boxes).

After a successful 2019 beta trial, the ecommerce platform announced it would be partnering with CoinPayments, the world’s largest crypto payments processor, and that all Shopify vendors could immediately begin accepting cryptos as payment.

The process is as simple as creating a CoinPayments vendor account, and then enabling crypto payment options on the Shopify software platform.

Easy crypto payment for any online retailer is obviously a huge positive for the adoption of cryptos… But easy crypto payments for all Shopify vendors are a game changer. Here’s why…

Ecommerce platform Shopify was born from three friends’ desire for a better online store.

Originally looking to sell snowboard equipment online, Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake discovered that starting an online store in 2004 meant using a limited set of tools with little to no customization options—a major hurdle when trying to sell specialized items like snowboard gear. So they took a stab at creating their own online store…

Using an open source coding framework (i.e., very basic code that’s free for public use), Lütke created a customizable online shopping platform… and it ended up being so customizable and efficient, in 2006 the friends shelved their snowboard business and founded Shopify to focus solely on ecommerce tools.

Today, nearly 1 million online vendors use Shopify’s services, including big names like Hasbro, Heinz, and Tesla. As of 2019, just over 500,000 vendors were responsible for bringing in more than $40 billion in sales.

These vendors—as well as any new Shopify users—can now accept more than 1,800 cryptos as payment. That’s huge. 

Since its creation in 2006, Shopify has changed the way online retailers sell their products, but last week it raised the bar. 

Shopify’s partnership with CoinPayments opens the floodgates to an untapped customer base that’s more than ready to start using cryptos like cash, and it’s only a matter of time before other online retailers follow suit—or get left behind.

Until next time,