BitPay is bringing Ethereum payments mainstream ๐จ This article is 5 years old...
BitPay is bringing Ethereum payments mainstream
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Updated: Mar. 24, 2020 at 6:55 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
BitPay, the largest crypto payments provider, which facilitates over $1 billion in Bitcoin transactions annually, will add support for Ethereum.
Companies which use BitPay for payment processing can now accept Ethereum for purchases.ย Moreover, BitPay will provide users with the ability to store Ether in a BitPay wallet and provide access to Ether on BitPay prepaid Visa cards.
Stephen Pair, the CEO of BitPay stated:
โBitPay is consistently at the forefront of using cryptocurrency to solve real-world problems and offer our global customers the best options to accept and pay with multiple blockchain assets. As one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap and one used by thousands of companies, Ethereum is the next logical choice.โ
Previously, BitPay was processing payments with Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. BitPay also offers stablecoin settlement with USD Coin, Gemini Dollar, and Paxos Standard token with support for 12 currencies and direct bank deposits to 37 countries.
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder and creator of Ethereum, also commented on the development:
ย “It is exciting to see BitPay leading the way in integrating Ethereum into global payment systems. This truly opens up a new world of possibilities for the Ethereum ecosystem, and together we can continue to be a leading innovator for real-world use cases for cryptocurrencies.”
BitPayโs existing merchants, such as Microsoft, Newegg, Dish Networks, FanDuel and Avnet, will be able to turn on support for Ethereum seamlessly, with no additional integration will be required. In the coming weeks, BitPay plans to go live with Ethereum support for its other services, including BitPay merchants and BitPay wallet holders.
In Bitcoin alone, BitPay processes approximately $1 billion in transaction value. Less than a month ago, the Bitcoin wallet and blockchain explorer provider Blockchain, Inc. announced a partnership with the payment processor.
Although the partnership is not all good news. BitPay has been criticized for suspending customer payments and arbitrarily freezing transactions. Having a centralized payment processor fundamentally undermines part of the value proposition of cryptocurrency.
Nonetheless, With another meaningful way to pay with Ethereum, BitPayโs integration will help ETH achieve its goal as widely-accepted programmable money.
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In this article
Ethereum
$3,104.27
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Bitcoin
$63,385.98
Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
BitPay provides bitcoin and bitcoin cash payment processing services for merchants, and is one of the largest bitcoin payment processors.
Vitalik Buterin stands as the pioneering force behind Ethereum, a transformative community-driven platform that fuels the cryptocurrency ether (ETH) and underpins a myriad of decentralized applications.
