What’s the biggest barrier stopping you (or your business) from accepting crypto?
1) The simple question every merchant should ask
“What’s the biggest barrier stopping you (or your business) from accepting crypto?” That single question reveals whether your team needs education, a technical plugin, or a change to financial controls. Over ten years advising merchants and fintechs, I’ve seen the same five concerns come up again and again — and each has a practical fix. The real work is choosing which one to solve first.
2) The five real barriers — ranked and explained
Below I rank the barriers by how often they stop businesses from launching crypto acceptance, and explain the practical reason each matters.
1. Price volatility — the top practical blocker
Merchants want predictable receipts. A payment that can lose 5–10% of value between the moment of sale and settlement makes margin calculation and cashflow planning messy. That perceived risk alone is enough for many managers to push crypto acceptance off the roadmap. Research and merchant whitepapers consistently show volatility as a principal concern for payments teams.
2. Tax, accounting and record-keeping complexity
In many jurisdictions crypto is treated as property — every receipt, disposal or conversion creates a tax event that must be recorded with a local fiat value at the time of the event. In New Zealand, for example, Inland Revenue requires businesses to keep detailed transaction records (date, units, NZD value, wallet addresses, etc.) — that’s extra bookkeeping unless you automate it. Poor record-keeping is the fastest route to an expensive audit.
3. Integration and operational friction
Point-of-sale systems, e-commerce checkouts, refunds and reconciliation processes are tuned to card rails. Adding a new payment rail that needs bespoke plugins, manual reconciliations or staff retraining creates an operational project that many small businesses don’t want to run. Surveys show integration complexity is a major implementation concern for merchants.
4. Regulatory/AML and reputational concerns
Payment teams worry that accepting crypto could attract higher compliance burdens or reputational risk if illicit funds are involved. That’s a real worry for regulated industries; the practical solution is to use a vetted payments partner that provides KYC/AML screening and transaction monitoring.
5. Low perceived customer demand
If only a handful of customers will use crypto, the ROI can look shaky. This is a perfectly valid business judgement — but where demand exists (tech-savvy customers, international buyers), accepting crypto can reduce fees and open new markets.
3) How to remove each barrier — practical fixes that work today
Below are tangible fixes you can implement with existing technology and partners.
Fix volatility: instant conversion or stablecoin settlement
The single fastest mitigation is to convert incoming crypto to fiat instantly at the point of sale, or accept stablecoins that are pegged to fiat and settle in local currency. Many payment processors and crypto gateways offer automatic conversion so the merchant receives NZD (or your local currency) immediately — you get the benefits of crypto payments without the price exposure.
Fix tax & bookkeeping: exportable, time-stamped transaction records
Choose a partner that provides transaction-level exports with time-stamped fiat values (CSV/Xero-friendly). Inland Revenue’s guidance expects detailed records; automation ensures you can show cost bases and disposal proceeds if required. That removes the “audit fear” from your finance team.
Fix integration friction: plugins, APIs and tokenised cards
Start with providers that offer:
Shopify/WooCommerce plugins or POS integrations,
Simple server-side APIs for invoices, and
Tokenised prepaid cards that customers add to Apple/Google Wallet so merchants see standard Mastercard transactions. These decrease friction by making the transaction appear identical to a regular card payment.
Fix AML & reputational risk: use regulated PSPs with compliance tooling
Select payment processors that run KYC/AML screening and provide dashboards showing the provenance of funds. That shifts compliance work to a specialist and reduces legal risk for your business. Many gateways now include built-in monitoring.
Fix demand uncertainty: pilot, measure, scale
Offer crypto for a limited set of products or for online-only orders, measure uptake for 30–90 days, and then decide. If demand is low, you’ve learned with low cost. If it’s strong, you scale the integration. Quick pilots reduce implementation risk and make the ROI argument easier.
4) A step-by-step rollout plan for businesses (4 weeks to pilot)
Week 0 — Decide policy & objectives
Answer: do we want to hold crypto on balance sheet or settle to fiat immediately? (Most businesses choose immediate settlement.)
Confirm with your accountant/tax adviser the reporting steps.
Week 1 — Pick a payments partner
Look for instant-conversion, exportable transaction history and POS/e-commerce plugins. Ask for a sandbox. Many providers also support stablecoin-to-fiat rails.
Week 2 — Integrate & test
Add the plugin or API in sandbox mode, run test transactions, verify refunds and reconciliation export.
Week 3 — Soft launch
Enable crypto for a small product set or an online checkout and promote to relevant customer segments.
Week 4 — Measure & iterate
Monitor uptake, dispute rates and accounting workflows; adjust conversion settings or limits.
This approach confines risk, gives finance teams time to adapt, and keeps operations straightforward.
5) Helpful tools, partners and bookkeeping tips
Choose processors that support instant-fiat settlement or stablecoin rails. (Look for clear statements about settlement currency and time.)
Require exportable, time-stamped transaction data that maps crypto amount → fiat value at sale for tax purposes. IRD guidance shows exactly what fields you must retain.
Use tokenised virtual cards (customers add to Apple/Google Wallet) when possible — merchants then process payments like normal Mastercard transactions and avoid on-premise blockchain complexity.
Train staff on refunds & disputes so they treat a crypto-funded Mastercard return the same as any card refund.
Set limits and KYC thresholds to reduce AML overhead for low-value transactions.
6) Quick checklist — what to do today
Decide settle-to-fiat vs hold crypto.
Talk to your accountant about reporting requirements. (In NZ, follow IRD record-keeping rules.)
Pick a processor with instant-conversion or stablecoin settlement.
Run a short pilot (30 days).
Review reconciliation and tax export processes, then scale.
Author & review box
Author: Senior payments consultant with 10 years’ experience helping retail and online merchants adopt new payment rails, tokenised cards and reconciliation workflows. I focus on practical rollouts that protect margins and keep finance teams calm.
Reviewed by: Pay It Now product team. For product-specific questions or merchant onboarding help, contact:
Pay It Now
Unit 3/38b Birmingham Drive, Middleton, Christchurch 8024
New Zealand
Phone:: +64 3 925 8870
Website: payitnow.io
Email: Sales Inquiries: [email protected]
General Inquiries: [email protected]
FAQ
Q — What’s the biggest barrier stopping you (or your business) from accepting crypto?
A — For most businesses it’s volatility and bookkeeping complexity. Solve those two problems (instant settlement + exportable records) and the other hurdles become manageable.
Q — Are there real business advantages to accepting crypto?
A — Yes: lower chargeback risk, faster cross-border settlement in many cases, and access to new customer segments — provided you neutralise volatility and compliance costs. Industry studies and payment-provider reports highlight these benefits.
Q — How does tax work if a customer pays in crypto?
A — Tax authorities like New Zealand’s IRD treat crypto as an asset/property. You must record the NZD value at the time of each transaction and retain supporting records (dates, wallet addresses, exchange records). Use a partner that supplies these exports to make compliance straightforward.
Q — If I accept crypto, do I have to change my POS?
A — Not if you use tokenised prepaid/virtual cards or instant-conversion gateways: payments appear as standard Mastercard (or card network) transactions so your POS and reconciliation remain the same.
Q — What’s the recommended first step?
A — Run a small pilot with instant-fiat settlement enabled, and make sure your finance team can export the transaction-level reports they need for tax and reconciliation. That gives you real data without large exposure.
Closing — a practical nudge
If you’re still asking “What’s the biggest barrier stopping you (or your business) from accepting crypto?”, take a pragmatic approach: fix volatility and bookkeeping first, then pilot with a payments partner that provides plugins, instant settlement and exportable records. That path turns curiosity into a low-risk product feature that can boost cross-border sales and
