- Bitcoin Cash (BCH) now accepted by BitPay
- BitPay also announces partnership with Bithumb
Peer-to-peer cross-border payments startup BitPay has announced that it and its merchants can now accept a second digital currency in addition to Bitcoin: its subsidiary, Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
The Atlanta-headquartered cryptocurrency upstart announced the new development in a company blog post last week, marking the first time in the firm’s seven-year history (it was founded in 2011) that it has extended its scope to processing payments in another digital coin.
The BitPay blog stated: “It's now easy for BitPay merchants to do business with a growing, passionate community of Bitcoin Cash users and accept a currency with a market cap of more than $15 billion.”
In December, BitPay announced that it had plans to support additional Bitcoin currencies (“altcoins”) starting with Bitcoin Cash, which the company created via a hard fork of Bitcoin’s blockchain on 1 August 2017.
In a press release, the company said: “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.
“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, users wishing to make money transfers using BitPay will automatically be presented with the option to make payments with either Bitcoin or BCH. Merchants will be able to accept payments via the BitPay platform for both blockchains and will get direct bank deposits the very next business day for a mere 1% transaction fee.
The fintech pioneer is currently working to integrate BCH with its mass payouts products, allowing businesses to transfer payments in batches to pare back on transaction fees. In addition, it plans to facilitate BCH settlements, allowing merchants to get paid in the altcoin, irrespective of what BitPay option customers select.
The move marks a significant advantage for BCH, which is regarded as a payments-friendly blockchain instead of merely a store of value. However, it’s facing competition from rival altcoins in addition to Bitcoin’s very own Lightning Network.
The new BCH payments option comes just days after BitPay announced a new partnership with South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, with a view to extending the reach of its international money transfers capabilities. The focus will be on the South Korea-to-US remittance market.
BitPay’s Chief Commercial Officer Sonny Singh told CNBC that the remittance market between South Korea and the West was worth $200bn, with Bithumb being one of the world’s biggest exchanges. The new partnership, he explained, will allow people in South Korea to pay a million-dollar invoice in the USA by using Bithumb to purchase Bitcoin and settle the invoice, “and BitPay will process that invoice and settle in US dollars the next business day”.
Bithumb is currently deploying a raft of ATMs throughout South Korea to make it far easier for people based there to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, a rollout that will also ease the process of sending cross-border payments with cryptocurrencies.
