BitPay merchants can now accept a second cryptocurrency in addition to Bitcoin — its offshoot Bitcoin Cash.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Atlanta-based company made the announcement in a Wednesday blog post, marking the first time in the company’s history that it has processed altcoin payments.
BitPay — which has processed Bitcoin payments since its founding in 2011 — announced in December that it would begin supporting additional cryptocurrencies, beginning with Bitcoin Cash, which was created through an August 1 hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain.
“Bitcoin Cash will give BitPay merchants another great way to receive blockchain payments from customers around the world, without the risk of credit card fraud or chargebacks,” the company said in a statement. “And since Bitcoin Cash costs only pennies (or less) for customers to send, it’s great for BitPay merchants who want to accept blockchain micro-transactions for things like video games, food delivery, or app downloads.”
From now on, when users make payments through BitPay they will automatically have the option to pay with either Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash.
The company said it is also working to integrate Bitcoin Cash into its mass payouts product, which businesses can use to batch payments and save on transaction fees. It also intends to enable Bitcoin Cash settlements, will allow merchants to get paid in the cryptocurrency, no matter what BitPay payment option their customers use.
The development is a significant boon for Bitcoin Cash, which markets itself as a payments-friendly blockchain rather than just a store of value but faces competition from a variety of other altcoins as well as Bitcoin’s burgeoning Lightning Network.
BitPay, meanwhile, has been making moves as it seeks to cement its role as a leading cryptocurrency payment processor. As CCN reported, the firm announced earlier this month that it had partnered with Bithumb — one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges — to facilitate international remittance payments more efficiently than through conventional payment channels.
