Fancy – the leading luxury e-commerce website – is changing its crypto merchant account from Coinbase to BitPay. This move will enable it to start accepting Bitcoin Cash in addition to Bitcoin. Fancy decided to leave Coinbase after they changed its algorithm, so it no longer converts the Bitcoin into USD for the payments. Fancy has revealed that it prefers this method, as it doesn’t expose them to the volatility of cryptocurrency price swings.
Coinbase is Upgrading its Offering
Coinbase has been slated in the past by crypto fans, both merchants and consumers alike. Merchants wanted to accept Bitcoin and keep it as Bitcoin, rather than having it converted into USD. It revamped its merchant services back in May, which has left Fancy exposed to cryptocurrency volatility.
Pushing Back Against Volatility
Due to the fact that Fancy is a marketplace – similar to eBay in a sense – the price swings in Bitcoin could negatively affect its community of sellers. If the price of Bitcoin starts to drop, a vendor could receive less money than it had set for the price of an item. This is the main reason behind Fancy preferring a crypto payment gateway that doesn’t instantly convert Bitcoin to USD.
So, What Makes Fancy So Fancy?
Fancy first made a name for itself back in 2012 when it went live as a high-end competitor to eBay. It received instant critical praise thanks to its sleek UI. which is somewhat similar to Facebook. It has been accepting Bitcoin since 2013 when it first used Coinbase’s merchant account. Users can buy or sell high-end products through the platform, with Fancy drop shipping items to customers, similar to Amazon Marketplace. Editor’s picks on the site include a BBQ boat for $16,000, a steel ping pong table for $4,000, a children’s airplane bed for $18,816, and an LED coffee table for $1,600.
Bringing Fancy to the High Street
Fancy has processed over 1,000 BTC since it added the crypto as a payment option back in 2013, and is hoping to increase this number now it has switched over to BitPay. The company is planning to launch its first physical store in Manhattan, which will feature a cryptocurrency ATM for those who wish to spend Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in store. Whilst BitPay currently offers one of the best payment solutions for companies looking to accept cryptocurrencies, other firms in the space are hot on its heels.
