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Recently NetShop has announced the company’s decision to accept Bitcoin payments for all the hosting services, domains and SSL certificates. We are glad to present an exclusive interview with Lorenzo Sordini, CFO of NetShop Internet Services Ltd, examining NetShop’s approach towards the cryptocurrency, engagement of Bitcoin in the hosting industry and the benefits of this change that will be brought to the customers of NetShop.
Q: NetShop has decided to accept Bitcoin payments for the services provided. Why is that?
Some would think this decision is part of a new marketing approach – it’s not. The hosting industry is very dynamic and sometimes even aggressive, especially for providers like NetShop that host iGaming companies and financial institutions. Bitcoin payments help our company to enjoy a higher level of protection and prevent fraudulent transactions which are unwelcome by our BackOffice and Billing departments. Moreover, getting paid in Bitcoin is much faster than any other payment methods. There is no risk of having client funds locked in the intermediary institutions. This is a big advantage for both our company and the clients since we can have the order activated and services provided almost instantly.
Q: How will your clients benefit from that?
Bitcoin, although a new form of payment, is very secure. Our main concern, as a hosting provider, is to keep our clients’ data safe and ensure that any transactions conducted within the myNetShop portal are 100% secure for both our company and the end-customer. I completely agree with Stuart Eichert (Silicon Valley engineer) who emphasized one big benefit of Bitcoin. He said that “customers using Bitcoin leave no data behind that can be used to steal their identity or print fake credit cards”. Accepting Bitcoin is also a huge advantage for a lot of our existing customers in Asia who have trouble sending money to European companies. Now they will have zero transaction fees and be sure that the payments are instantly received by the merchant.
Q: How would you respond to seemingly contradictory opinions that Bitcoin is often associated with fraud due to its anonymity. How will you ensure that your payment system is safe and secure?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, fraud prevention and security are the two reasons that made us consider accepting Bitcoin payments. Bitcoin currency allows transactions to be conducted without having customers to divulge personally identifiable information. However, we operate through a U.S. Bitcoin Exchange (BitPay.com) which requires personal information in order to establish their clients’ Bitcoin wallets. Working in accordance with international regulations is vital to us. We accept no other attitude towards our operations than being 100% transparent and trusted.
Q: How do you see the future of Bitcoin in the hosting industry?
As said, the hosting industry is very dynamic and as the technology progresses, hosting providers should be able to cope, and more importantly, be ahead of the fast developments in technology. I believe that, at least during 2017, customers will be the ones who push their hosting companies to include Bitcoin as an accepted payment method. Going forward, in the next two years, we will see a massive progress towards the adoption of Bitcoin payments. I believe it will peak in 2020 when providing Bitcoin wallets will be a common practice.
Q: There are still not that many hosting companies accepting Bitcoin. Is taking a proactive approach towards industry needs a core value to NetShop? How important is being innovative and agile to you?
There are about 30 big hosting companies accepting Bitcoin at this point. Compared to the number of the legitimate hosting providers it’s a very small portion. The industry is still at the early stage of seeing Bitcoin payments as a default payment method and I’m glad that NetShop steps up as an innovator once again. We are driving the change and we are one of the front runners. That’s something that started this company and we have no other plans than to continue such approach. We listen to the industry needs, we care about our clients and we are always one step ahead to make sure that their business is handled as fast, comfortable and safe as possible. Our goal is to facilitate tools and services to our customers without any delays or constraints. NetShop is brave, proactive and flexible. And these qualities always worked for the best for us and for our customers. Don’t forget that NetShop ISP is the very first provider in Cyprus to offer Linux cPanel hosting, Cloud services and Dedicated Servers at prices equivalent to Europe’s hosting giants. We have always been in front.
