Paying With Bitcoin on Amazon Is Not Entirely What Most People Think

Bitcoin enthusiasts who prefer to spend their Bitcoins rather than hodl them can now spend their coins on the leading e-commerce platform, Amazon, using Bitcoin’s lightning network, according to a press release by CoinDesk on April 22.

This development is made possible by the crypto payment processing startup, Moon, which has enabled Bitcoin lightning network payments from any lightning-enabled wallet through Moon’s browser extension.

In the image below to the right, you can see the option to pay with Bitcoin via the Moon browser extension:

Paying With Bitcoin (BTC) on Amazon Is Not What You Think

While paying with Bitcoin on Amazon is an exciting development, it’s not exactly what most people think. Amazon is not actually accepting Bitcoin (BTC), but rather Moon is using a traditional financial institution as a third party to convert the Bitcoin to fiat on the backend so that Amazon merchants receive fiat currency.

Therefore, it’s not the level of crypto adoption that many diehard Bitcoin enthusiasts were hoping for, but it is a start.

In an effort to put disgruntled crypto enthusiasts at ease, Moon CEO Ken Kruger told CoinDesk:

“By 2020 the lightning-enabled feature should work on almost any e-commerce site, regardless of whether that platform accepts bitcoin directly.”

Moon’s Crypto Payments Browser Extension

According to Kruger, the entire Bitcoin lightning network payment process is seamless and easy. Explaining the payment process, Moon CEO said:

“[The extension] will pop up a QR code and it will have the lightning invoice, which you could also copy and paste if you can’t use the QR code for some reason, and you’ll be able to pay with your favorite lightning wallet.”

Adding to this, Kruger said that Moon manages payment channels so that users simply use their interface for sending payments.

“There’s no direct merchant integration. We’re integrating with the Visa and Mastercard networks and we get a cut of the interchange fees that merchants pay every time they receive a credit card transaction.”

Moon was only founded in New York last year, and managed to build their company from a small $100,000 investment from the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator.

Now in 2019, Kruger says their company is looking to raise a Series A funding round in 2019 and collaborate with companies increase crypto adoption and get people to use the lightning network.

Regarding Moon’s future endeavors, Kruger said:

“There’s a lot of opportunities to help solve some of those usability problems and getting people onto the lightning network, increasing adoption in that way. We’re going to engage with other folks in the lightning community to see what people are doing, what they’re working on and if there are any significant gaps. We’d love to step in and help whenever possible.”

Do you think the adoption of Moon’s browser extension for Bitcoin payments through the lightning network is part of a grand plan to integrate with Amazon and other online retailers directly? Let us know in the comment section below.