Saxo Payments Head: Paying With Bitcoin Offers Several Advantages

Saxo Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term co-founder and CEO Anders la Cour has expressed positive views on Bitcoin, highlighting its usefulness for international payments.

In an article, he notes that the peer-to-peer (p2p) nature of bitcoin makes it like cash, but gets the best of both worlds in being fully traceable on a Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Read this Term, and therefore, not subject to counterfeiting.

Merchants stand to gain relative to credit cards, which consume part of each transaction with fees and are subject to fraudulent use. In addition, it does not incur currency exchange fees when crossing borders.

Saxo Payments is the payment solutions arm of Denmark-based Saxo Bank, a licensed investment bank primarily offering brokerage services. It caters to payment processors and merchants, stating to offer cross-border payments in seconds and at a low cost.

It currently does not accept bitcoin as a form of payment, nor does its parent's brokerage offer it as a trading product. The bank's founders, however, have reportedly expressed favor for the principles behind Bitcoin, though are also concerned with some of the risks it faces moving forward.

In an article last year, CEO Lars Seier-Christensen stated that there is no reason why a non-government run currency couldn’t do well. "There is no doubt that many central banks have made a mess of things with their own fiat money without linkage to reality, and it is entirely conceivable that the private sector could also in the area of currencies do a better job than public sector institutions. It does in pretty much every other area under the sun, so why not here?," he explained.

la Cour did not go as far as to champion bitcoin as the ultimate currency and predict the demise of fiat, focusing more on Bitcoin's virtues as a payment system.

He further highlighted a couple of lesser known digital currencies. Nautiluscoin is being trialed on the Greek island Agistri, and is hoped to help Greeks have access to money even when ATMs are closed. It currently ranks 45th in market capitalization, worth $366,000, and $1,000 worth has traded over the last 24 hours. There's also Unicoin, not to be confused with another altcoin with the same name (currently ranked 520th in market cap, worth a total of $154). Created by Unicef, it is described as "the first currency designed to do good." It can only be spent on educational supplies for disadvantaged children for Unicef’s Early Childhood Development programs.