Accepting crypto as a form of payment can help expand the business in a number of ways.

There are more than 31 million small and micro businesses (SMBs) in the US, many of which have less than two employees. These smaller businesses are made up of individuals bringing their vision to life, whether it’s selling crafts on Etsy and local artisan fairs, or offering personal wellness and workout classes online.

For people who run SMBs, it’s often a side hustle that you operate alongside a full-time job as a way to focus on creative passion and generate an additional stream of income.

Some SMB owners build plans around the goal of eventually turning a side hustle into a full-time job. One way to potentially bring your small business to the next level is with crypto. Increasingly more people are adopting crypto not just as an asset to hold, but as a currency for real-world use such as payments.

As a business owner, accepting crypto as a form of payment can help expand the business in a number of ways. First, from a marketing perspective, it can get more people curious about your business and spark the interest of potential customers who may not have typically gravitated towards your product. For example, a business that accepts a specific coin, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Dogecoin, may draw in people from those coin communities and get them to check out your product, which they may not have discovered otherwise. This could help capture a wider audience while building a strong community around your brand as loyalty and community are a big part of the crypto world. Additionally, because crypto is a borderless digital currency, business owners can accept payments from anyone from anywhere around the world without needing to convert currencies. This can help create a larger, global community for the business.

Not only can crypto help a business attract more customers, it also supports faster, less costly, and more efficient transactions. The crypto you receive for your business goes directly into your hands, as there are no intermediaries involved, such as a bank. It’s often a hassle dealing with a bank, having to pay transaction fees and wait days for funds to transfer. With crypto, you are in complete control of your funds. When customers make a purchase, the money goes directly into your crypto account or wallet.

Accepting crypto payments is simple to set up. As a business owner, you can set up a digital crypto wallet with a QR code that customers scan to transfer crypto into, or you can embed a crypto payment processor into your online store. For online transactions, there are payment processors that provide checkout services, payment buttons, and embeddable invoices that you can easily integrate into your online shop.

Accepting crypto as payment and holding it for your business diversifies your revenue streams. Then you can decide what you want to do with your digital assets. You can trade your crypto or hold it in accounts that allow you to earn annual rewards and grow your portfolio. Alternatively, you can convert the crypto to USD or other currency at any point to use the funds to fulfill your operating expenses.

As a business owner looking to scale up and make your business your full-time job, crypto could be a great option to support that growth. In fact, a recent survey of Voyager users revealed that many who own small businesses are already integrating crypto into their plans. Of the survey respondents who utilize crypto for their business, 61% accept crypto as a form of payment. For those who do not currently use crypto for their business, 62% plan to do so in the future.

Business owners are starting to seriously consider crypto and how to integrate it into their operations. As a small business owner who may be ready to upgrade to the next level and perhaps turn that side gig into a main gig, crypto could be the way to go.