If you want to step into the world of cryptocurrencies and start accepting digital currency like Bitcoin for your products and services, this article is just for you.
In this blog post, I’ll be reviewing CoinGate, a crypto payment processing gateway for WooCommerce stores. I will review its features and functionalities and see how it holds up for WordPress websites.
Quick Overview: CoinGate
CoinGate is a digital currency payment processor that can help you accept payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and 70+ other popular cryptocurrencies. It also lets you or other individuals trade bitcoins in the digital currency ecosystem.
CoinGate comes with a WooCommerce extension plugin that integrates with your website and helps you accept Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.
Regarding pricing, you don’t have to pay a monthly or yearly subscription as you pay on the go with the 1% commission pricing system. You only need to pay a 1% commission for all plugins, web PoS, APIs, and billing transactions linked to your account.
If you are interested in getting this plugin right away, you can get it here and sign up to set up automated crypto payments on your WooCommerce store.
Get CoinGate
Why Should You Start Accepting Crypto Payments on Your Website?
First of all, adding an extra option to pay for products on your website leads to more people purchasing your products and services. Moreover, it clears the hurdle of international payments and helps you expand your customer base internationally.
Also, since bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency is decentralized, you don’t have to rely on an institution like a bank to process your payments. Instead, your transactions are secure and anonymous and are verified by a blockchain ledger.
Some banks and payment gateways can have high transaction fees, which can be discouraging for the customers if they are the ones paying it in the end. Your customers will be more inclined to place orders with lower processing fees.
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Other benefits, such as anonymity and fraud prevention, come with cryptocurrency payments. Considering all this, adding cryptocurrencies as a payment method is a no-brainer.
Features of CoinGate
Before we can explore the platform’s interface, let’s take a look at the prominent features of CoinGate.
Multiple Currencies Accepted
Not just Bitcoin and Ethereum, you can accept payments in 70+ cryptocurrencies with an option to convert them to fiat. There is a minimum $50 withdrawal limit, but you can convert and withdraw your receipts anytime if you meet the payout requirements.
Cold Storage
While cryptocurrencies are more secure with blockchain tracking, there still have been instances of hacking and illegal access attempts of holding accounts. CoinGate stores all of your cryptocurrencies in secure cold storage wallets to prevent this. Your money is stored in secure cold storage where no hacker can reach and steal your money.
Strong Business Network
In the world of Crypto, having strategic business relations and partnerships can give substantial leverage, which is highly valued at CoinGate. They have strategic ties with Bitcoins, Changelly, Elliptic, Simplex, and Dao pay.
Multiple Countries Supported
With over 100 companies and 50+ local currencies for merchants, you get support for almost every major geographical location. You get to check if a particular country is supported by visiting their dedicated page.
Detailed Resources
Accepting cryptocurrency payments can be a challenge for some as it is still a new concept for many, and integrating it into your payment gateway can be a little intimidating.
To tackle this, CoinGate has a diverse resource page that can give you information from getting started, quick help, and can even help you check live exchange rates for all currencies.
Dashboard & Navigation
The CoinGate dashboard has a neat and clean interface with all navigation options towards the left and information regarding that tab towards the center. You can buy and sell cryptocurrencies from the platform and can track the orders placed by paying with cryptocurrencies.
You can set up your default payout settings from the Account Settings > Payout Settings, so there’s no interruption in releasing regular payouts.
Multiple Integration Options
Not just the WordPress plugin, you get four different ways to accept and process cryptocurrency payments for your business.
- API
- Payment button
- POS solution
- WordPress plugin
It’s not necessary for WordPress websites to use the plugin method, but it does make things easier. If you are not a techie and have no experience working with APIs and Tokens, I recommend using the WordPress plugin.
Customer Support and Resources
CoinGate has extensive documentation that can help you identify and resolve problems that you might come across. In addition, if you need to reach out to the customer support team, you can use their email support to resolve your query.
Accepting Crypto Payments with CoinGate
To start accepting cryptocurrencies on your WooCommerce store, you need to create an account with CoinGate and get it verified. Creating a new account is quick, but it can take around 14 days to get it verified. Since the verification process is manual, it can take more than 14 days.
CoinGate WordPress Plugin
While there are other more powerful options to accept payments, such as APIs, Payment button, and POS solution, you can install and integrate the WordPress plugin to set it up quickly. If you are not a techie, I recommend installing the plugin rather than fiddling with APIs.
Get CoinGate Plugin for WooCommerce
Installing the plugin is pretty straightforward, and you can get it running in a few minutes. Go to your WP Admin dashboard > Plugins > Add New and search CoinGate and install the plugin.
After activating the plugin, you can set up API credentials provided by your payment gateway provider.
To set up the CoinGate plugin, go to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments and enable the CoinGate payment mode.
Paste your API Auth Token in the respective field and select your payout currency.
You can also add a custom description for your CoinGate checkout to give your customers a more customized experience.
While the plugin worked fine on my test environment, it still is only compatible with up to WordPress version 5.8.4. To make sure the plugin version works well with all WP versions, the plugin must be tested with the latest version on WordPress, so there are no surprises.
If you are skeptical about the plugin’s compatibility with the newer versions, you can directly integrate the payment system using the APIs and Payment buttons.
Once the API token and the payment processor are set up, you can test your website’s checkout. If you’d rather test it on a demo website, you can access this demo website for CoinGate.
Here, the customer can select from the top listed currencies, and if they want to pay with a particular currency, they can choose it from the ‘More Currencies’ list.
After selecting the desired crypto wallet, the customer simply needs to send the indicated amount to the mentioned address and mark the order as paid. Once the payment is verified on the bitcoin network, your transaction will be marked as successful.
Pricing
Coming to the pricing, you only pay 1% commission fees for the use of the payment gateway, and you don’t have to pay anything upfront to get started. However, if you buy currencies using a credit or debit card, you need to pay an 8% fee on the transaction.
There is a minimum withdrawal limit for some transfer accounts, and for some, there is a withdrawal fee as well. The withdrawal fees can vary anywhere between 0% to 2% depending on the target account and the amount. Details regarding this are available on the Pricing page.
Verdict: CoinGate for Accepting Crypto Payments
If you are looking forward to accepting and processing cryptocurrencies on your website or your WooCommerce store, CoinGate is a reliable solution with a robust infrastructure to process your payments.
Although accepting bitcoins and other currencies against your products and services can be a bit intimidating at first, it can open lots of possibilities for your business. And if done in the right way, it can be a good step for your business.
Considering the additional benefits, CoinGate comes with a pretty lucrative 1% commission model. Although there is a withdrawal limit of $50, you can convert your holdings to fiat whenever you want.
If you are not sure, you can give CoinGate’s demo a test run to see how it will look in action.
To start accepting crypto payments on your WooCommerce store, sign up on CoinGate and get your account verified now.
Get CoinGate
Do you think accepting crypto payments such as Bitcoin and LiteCoin is a reliable way to scale and expand your business? Let us know in the comments section below!
Keep reading the article at Learn WordPress with WPLift. The article was originally written by Team WPLift on 2022-04-12 03:00:00.
The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.