Tendenci AMS Working with Cryptocurrencies

Why Your AMS Needs to Work With Cryptocurrency

Your AMS needs to work-with cryptocurrency because the blockchain, which is just a part of the technology behind cryptocurrency, will soon be used in everything from tracking where your car was manufactured to guaranteeing the association's board elections.

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What is a Cryptocurrency?

We have still not been able to track down a short and simple explanation of blockchain or cryptocurrencies in a way that is relatable to the general public. There's both an economic and technological context for blockchain. To read more about where it came from, we recommend this Medium post, "Cryptocurrency 101" by Ben Yu.

How Can Your Nonprofit or Association Accept Cryptocurrency?

For years, non-profits and associations have been accepting Bitcoin. The earliest adopters we've heard of date back to 2013. Many now have Coinbase Wallets. This allows users to have a public address to which digital money can be sent, which usually, looks something like: '0x1Ufe4Q909...'

To set up a Coinbase Wallet, you can register for an account on their website. Once you have registered, you can connect your organization's accounts. To create a public address, click 'Tools' to create one. Donors can then send money to this address. It's recommended that you do not leave money in an exchange and either sell it or send it to a more secure wallet.

You can also set up an ENS address to accept Ether payments using the ENS registrar. This redirects to your '0x1Ufe4Q909...' with an address like: 'yournonprofit.eth,' making it easier for donors to send money.

To read more about setting up a custom ENS, check out this post, "Purchasing Cryptocurrency? Get a Fashionable Public Key" by Leanne Luce.

Note: This post is not meant to be taken as advice and it's your responsibility to look into the tax laws!

Common Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Ether

The two most commonly used cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin and Ether. Ether has been increasing in popularity because of the ability to use Ethereum Smart Contracts. These contracts work as agreements between two or more parties. If 'this event happens' then 'send x amount of Ether.'

To learn more about the differences between Bitcoin and Ether, check out this post, "Ethereum vs. Bitcoin: What's the Difference?" by Ameer Rosic.

Tendenci's Cryptocurrency Roadmap

Tendenci is dedicated to providing our clients with the platform they need to increase their organization's revenue and donations. Because of this, we believe it's important to create a frictionless experience when it comes to using cryptocurrency as payment in the Tendenci platform.

Integrating with Stripe for Cryptocurrency

UPDATE: https://stripe.com/blog/ending-bitcoin-support

Stripe that has already shown a commitment to using cryptocurrency payments. Their system accepts cryptocurrency and they have been investing in the community since before 2014, most notably by funding an exchange called Stellar.

At Tendenci, we are working as quickly as possible to complete this integration, making it possible for our clients to accept Bitcoin payments seamlessly.

We are also looking for solutions to accept Ether payments and other tokens.

Learn more about building your crypto business with Stripe for Web3

Stay connected. Bookmark our works-with page for updates.