BitPay Now Lets Merchants Accept Ethereum's Cryptocurrency

Payment solution BitPay will soon support ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to an announcement from the company today. With BitPay, subscribing businesses will be able to accept payments in bitcoin, bitcoin cash and ether, along with a handful of stablecoins.

Launched in 2011, BitPay now settles both fiat and crypto payments in over 200 countries.

Speaking on the addition, ethereum co-founder and creator Vitalik Buterin said it was 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,” he continued.

Speaking with CoinDesk, the company said it often reviews potential cryptocurrencies for addition.

"BitPay regularly evaluates blockchains and cryptocurrencies to support the company’s goals of making it easy to send and receive payments for goods and services globally. We selected ethereum as it has broad support for real-world applications and is widely adopted."

Narrowing it down, BitPay CEO Stephen Pair said ethereum was the next logical choice due to its current market base. “As one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap and one used by thousands of companies, Ethereum is the next logical choice," he concluded.

Last week, the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) claimed BitPay was holding up bitcoin donations to the organization. A non-profit news organization, the HKFP has been covering the current civil unrest in the Chinese city. An official response from BitPay has yet to be released concerning the allegations.

UPDATE (XX, Month 00:00 UTC): In a tweet, BitPay confirmed difficulties processing HKFP funds.

BitPay CEO Stephen Pair via CoinDesk archives