- The moon network plugin enables customers to pay amazon via Bitcoin
- The plugin uses the Lightning network to immediately execute transactions
- Amazon merchants receive payment in fiat
Moon, a payment processing start up based in New York now enables users to purchase anything on Amazon using Bitcoin, via the lightning network.
Pay in crypto, accept fiat
Even though Bitcoin is being widely accepted, there’s still a long way to go for the currency as a whole to completely achieve mass adoption. Users have to pay in fiat currencies where they could’ve easily found a cheaper and better alternative via crypto. This could be because of the lack of trust that the major companies try to stay away from it since it has not been regulated properly. Amazon could a fine example of such. The e-commerce giant is strict with it’s no crypto policy despite the rising demand of users who would prefer to use cryptocurrency rather than fiat.
Moon, however, decided to take matter into their own hands and developed a plugin that allows consumers to pay on amazon with the help of the lightning network. This is by far one of the greatest and innovative application of the lightning network in a real world scenario. The integration has been enabled through a browser extension on the chrome web browser set to launch on 24th April 2019.
So has Amazon started accepting crypto?
No, the company still adheres by its no crypto policy and this is where the Moon network plugin comes into play. The “integration” is achieved via the extension that Moon has developed which connects the user’s Lightning network wallet to a Lightning network channel provided by the start-up, and this in return performs a crypto-visa transaction on behalf of the customer. The seller on Amazon receives the payment in fiat thus this doesn’t violate Amazon’s no –crypto policies as well. Ken Kruger, CEO of Moon explains:
“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 favourite lightning wallet.”
The team further explains that the e-commerce giant plays no part in this whole process and moon takes care of the whole process in the background.
“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.”
The speed of the lightning network makes the whole process almost immediate and hence this is completely convenient for everyone. The extension is currently under review and the company expects that various other shopping giants will start using their services.
This is not the only instance of Bitcoin adoption in the online world. As previously reported by Blockchain Reporter, other giants like Netflix and Airbnb have started accepting cryptocurrencies via Bitrefill, a company that lets you use various services like prepaid mobile phone recharge and buying gift cards with Bitcoin.
Bitcoin helps reduce transaction costs and is both beneficial and convenient for both the consumer and merchants. This is just a drop in the ocean and we hope to see various other organisations and institutions accepting cryptocurrencies in return for their services in the future.
