On March 1st, 2018, BitPay launched a BitPay Visa prepaid card, which supports Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Customers can use the Bitpay card with any merchant that accepts Visa payments in person and online, leading to a huge increase in the number of places where users can pay for things with Bitcoin.Like many prepaid and bank cards, customers can load their dollar balance using the mobile wallet app, purchase goods with their BitPay card, and view detailed information concerning their transactions with their smartphone. BitPay’s multiple blockchain options and prepaid card helps consumers spend their digital currencies with ease and convenience.
Customers can purchase the prepaid Visa card online for $9.95 USD (approximately $12.80 CAD) using Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash. BitPay will verify the customer's ID and ship the card to a home address. Once the customer activates the card, they can load it with dollars via a Bitcoin wallet.
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BitPay is taking an interesting step because they validate identity in relation to Bitcoin spending. If the trend of ID validation in Bitcoin continues, it may help reduce the anonymity anxiety of many lawmakers around including Bitcoin and other digital currencies in the mainstream financial system.Although Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash have different exchange rates, network fees, and confirmation times, BitPay provides a side by side comparison to help consumers compare before deciding which currency and payment method work best. With the prepaid card, consumers can spend their digital currencies anywhere with merchants that accept Visa cards and withdraw cash from any Visa compatible ATM.
BitPay launched in 2011 and is currently the largest Bitcoin payment processor in the world. The company raised over $32 million USD (approximately $41.2 million CAD) from Index Ventures, Founders Fund, and Sir Richard Branson. The organization is growing rapidly, with more than $1.9 billion USD ($2.4 billion CAD) in assets processed on the platform in August 2017.Supporting Bitcoin Cash as a method of payment marks a new milestone for BitPay, which added Bitcoin Cash to their wallet in September 2017 but until now have not supported it as a payment option. According to the blog post, BitPay plans to release more blockchain payment options in the future. The blog post also mentions that the organization will be looking closely at network hashing power, security, usefulness for payments, adoption, and market value when deciding on which blockchain payment to support next.Image credit: Bitpay logo
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