It has been a wild last week in headlines for Visa and Mastercard. Just 2 days ago Visa and Mastercard suspended operations in Russia over the Ukraine invasion. This is heartbreaking to see to me personally because I see thousands of protestors against the war are arrested, and the ones not arrested no longer have access to their credit cards from these major providers.
Fast forward to today, and we have another headline Visa, Mastercard Prepare to Raise Credit-Card Fees. At a time when inflation and CPI are rampant, we also get another sweet line item tax to the jaw. While these fees go to the banks who issued the cards, and these costs are invisible to consumers, the consumers are the ones who end up paying the cost. These increased costs get passed to the consumer in the form of higher prices of goods and services.
Fees pump, prices rising, but for how long?
I am asking everyone the same question. I am not sure the answer, I do not believe anyone has the correct answer, but I do know one thing that is becoming more clear is that every financial metric, corporate decision, government mandate witnessed is a clear advertisement for the value of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
Accept Bitcoin and lightning payments
Businesses can currently accept Bitcoin payments. While it may seem challenging at first, there are some simple ways this can be done. One of the easiest ways is using BTCPay Server.
Here are a few write-ups we have done cover this specifically:
- How to accept Bitcoin and Lightning Network Payments
- How to accept Bitcoin at a small business
- How to accept Bitcoin payments on Shopify
While most businesses are still not doing this, I believe we will find business owners taking more creative solutions to protect their bottom line. And not simply on a fees perspective but also from a hard money perspective. The survival of individuals and businesses alike requires rational decision-making.
How do we move to a Bitcoin Standard?
The norm in our world is not a bitcoin standard, yet. The norm in our world is not keeping event 5% of your earned capital in bitcoin, yet. I do believe we are moving closer to that day. But it starts with education. Take this example.
If one person spent an entire year teaching another about bitcoin. We now have 2 people. Those 2 spend an entire year teaching a nurturing a new person about bitcoin. We have 4. If you do this in total 32 times, you reach 4,294,967,296 total people.
If Bitcoin is really a bottom-up movement, we must live it out. If we operate with intention, teach others, educate our communities, and create the bottom-up demand, we will accelerate faster and closer to a Bitcoin standard. It starts with the sovereign individual.
I am excited, optimistic, and encouraged.
If you have any questions or comments either email us at support@voltage.cloud, use our live on-site chat, or join us in Discord. ⚡
