Now Pay With Crypto!

The Yacht Break is now accepting crypto payments

The Yacht Break is accepting crypto payments

In this article we will explain why we have added the ability to pay for your sailing holiday with cryptocurrency. We will explain what cryptocurrency is, why it might be a great idea for you to pay with crypto, and how you can pay with crypto for your next holiday. If you are thinking about joining the growing crypto community, hopefully we can help to clear up your questions so you can make the decision about if paying with crypto is a good choice for you.

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrencies have been around for many years now. Put simply, a cryptocurrency is a form of digital money that is different from the normal currency issued by governments. You can transfer traditional, non-cryptocurrency (or fiat money) like US dollars, euros and sterling digitally, but that’s not quite the same as how cryptocurrencies work. Cryptocurrencies are a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to secure financial transactions, control the creation of additional units, and verify the transfer of assets.

Bitcoin and more

You are likely to have heard of Bitcoin, which was the first decentralized cryptocurrency and by far the most well known, but there are many others. Some of the big names include Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Ripple. You can now use any of these cryptocurrencies to pay for your sailing holiday with The Yacht Break.

Why pay with crypto?

Quick and easy

Cryptocurrency payments are quick and painless. The age of settlement taking days and having to plan ahead to get the funds transferred in time are eliminated!

Once you have set up a wallet and loaded it with funds you can make a payment. The Yacht Break has integrated BitPay into the check-out process to make it easy for you to pay your invoice. You will have 15 minutes from the time the link is generated to make the payment at the locked-in rate. This gives you time to make sure you have adequate funds in your wallet. Then all it takes is to scan the QR code or click the link and your payment is sent to us. We will confirm payment once we have received notice from BitPay.

Low fees

Traditional banks are forever charging fees. There are ATM fees, merchant fees, debit and credit card fees, inactivity fees, maintenance fees, foreign transaction fees, overdraft fees and so on. The cost of international bank wire transfers, both from the administration and the exchange rate, is particularly frustrating. Not only do they cost a lot of money, but they also are not instant and they are not easy. You are asked to input a lot of details to get the money to the right person. Often you have to go to a physical branch to carry out the transaction. And then the money doesn’t arrive at the other end for 3 business days!

Cryptocurrencies cut out the middleman and significantly reduce all these fees. Blockchain fees only reflect the energy spent to record a certain transaction, and that tends to be a minimal cost compared to regular banking fees.

Enhanced data protection

The headlines are full of datahackers holding institutions to ransom. Sensitive customer information getting into the wrong hands. Systems being taken down while developers try to to grips with the security breaches.

Cryptocurrency payments offer an alternative that includes limited data from users. Paying with digital cash allows you to stay away from identity theft. While a third-party gateway may require your name, your remaining information is kept private.

E-commerce friendly

Have you come across problems when trying to pay for things on your credit card? Card payments that won’t go through and are stopped by your card issuer ‘because of risk’ are frustrating and embarassing, both for the consumer and the merchant. This is a well known problem for US clients who want to use their credit cards to pay for things in Europe.

Once you have set up your crypto wallet, you are in full control of who you pay. There are a growing number of retailers that accept cryptocurrencies both online and instore. The travel industry has been at the forefront of this trend as customers seek quick, easy and safe options. A global solution to remove the cost of exchanging currencies and putting the customer in charge of their finances. The Yacht Break is proud to be the first company to enable customers to spend their cryptocurrency on a sailing holiday. These days you can also buy flights and book hotels using your cryptocurrency as well.

Growing adoption

As at the end of Q3 19, the number of wallets exceeded 42 million. This is a multi-billion market that is providing an alternative to the traditional financial system. It is no longer the sole territory of crypto fanatics, it is becoming a mainstream popular choice that makes more sense in our global world.

Companies are tapping into this desire for their customers to use cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services. BitPay has a selected list of some of the companies that accept cryptocurrencies – these days you can even buy your coffee with Bitcoin! Check out this pretty comprehensive list of merchants, you can also see a map by country of the hotspots for crypto enthusiasts.

Be your own bank and take back control

We all know that banks have problems. Banks can fail and assets get frozen, people can panic and withdraw funds exacerbating the issues. The list of US banks that have failed since 2008 is eyewatering and everyone will remember Lehman Brothers. Investors lost a lot of money with the Icelandic banking collapse. Then there was the run on Northern Rock in the UK and the wave of government support for the banking system throughout Europe. More recently, there are concerns about the banking system in China. This seemingly eternal financial crisis is a global issue.

Cryptocurrencies are borderless and therefore not exposed to these issues. With cryptocurrencies, you own the wallet and act as your own bank. You control it and the money (digital assets) stored in it.

How do I pay with crypto?

Take a look at this step-by-step guide to paying with cryptocurrency.

Which top-up method can I use?

So how can you load funds into your wallet? Search the internet for crypto exchanges in your country. Different exchanges have different rules. Look for one that allows you to make deposits using your preferred method. Some of the ways that you can fund your wallet include:

Debit card
PayPal
Wire transfer
Online banking
Credit card

Why would I pay with crypto currency rather than a credit card?

The difference between paying with crypto and on a credit card is the difference between push and pull. With a crypto payment, you push the money to who you want to give it to. With a credit card, the merchant has to pull that payment through a multilayer system (the merchant, the acquirer, the issuer and the individual cardholder). This pull approach can lead to problems, such as your account being frozen as a result of a fraud alert.

For shoppers, the advantages of paying with bitcoin include greater simplicity in placing the transaction, user anonymity, no interruptions from intermediaries, and very low transaction fees.

Using credit cards carries the risk of incurring late fees, interest charges, foreign transaction fees, and potentially adverse effects on your credit score. That said, credit cards offer important beneficial features, such as the ability to borrow money, protection against fraud, reward points, and vastly wider acceptance among merchants.

It is all about choice, pay with crypto if it suits you!

By providing the opportunity for our customers to pay with cryptocurrencies, we are giving you a wider choice. It is all about options and you can choose to pay with a method that you are comfortable with. If you are happy with credit card, and you have a 3D-Secure card that works with our system then you can still use that if you prefer. However, if you are frustrated by failed transactions, you can now consider using your cryptocurrency as an alternative.