Do you shop on Amazon? Would it be easier to pay with crypto than it would be to pay with fiat? If so, you should check out a new startup called “Moon.”
Moon: The New Way to Pay
Moon is a company that began through the hands of three individuals. The venture allows you to use cryptocurrency to pay for items on Amazon through the Lightning Network, a highly praised if somewhat controversial platform that is alleged to boost the transactions speeds of the bitcoin blockchain.
Bitcoin is the oldest and most established cryptocurrency out there. At roughly ten years old, it sometimes lacks the up-to-date technology of many of its altcoin predecessors, such as Ethereum and EOS. Thus, while it’s among the most popular of today’s cryptocurrencies and has the biggest market cap, it also lacks speed. Many times, transactions require a few days to get the ball rolling, while other cryptocurrencies may only need a few hours or a few minutes.
Thus, the Lightning Network was built to make bitcoin faster. Through Moon, you can pay for your Amazon items with bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. Moon is available through an app download that’s available for the Google Chrome browser, along with Brave and Opera.
Paying with crypto has always been the big goal amongst most coin creators. However, this isn’t always possible given that they remain consistently volatile. Price swings are arguably the biggest enemy a cryptocurrency is facing, and so long as they continue, using them as methods of payment will be a missed goal.
If you purchase $50 worth of merchandise with BTC, for example, and tomorrow the price of the currency goes down, you’ll still walk away with the items you bought, but the company you purchased them from will wind up losing money. It’s not always fair to the retailer or the party on the receiving end, and thus crypto hasn’t always served the purpose it was designed for.
In addition, several platforms like Bakkt have emerged that are designed to assist retailers who are interested in accepting crypto in exchange for goods and services, but again, these platforms have not always caught on quickly given Bakkt’s slow and lackluster debut at the end of September.
How It Works
Moon is relatively easy to operate. Once you log in to your Amazon page, the application seems to recognize where you are. It then inserts the company’s payment widget when you’re ready to checkout, thereby giving you the option of paying with crypto funds. You can utilize a bitcoin wallet built atop the Lightning Network, or you can utilize a standard Coinbase account, which may take a little longer to be verified but is still valid, nonetheless.
Moon is available to U.S. and Canada-based customers.
