Crypto’s so-called unsuitability as a form of payment – a charge leveled at the sector by its biggest critics – is increasingly being put to the test, as some of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges wade into the payments sector.
Per a press release shared with Our, the crypto exchange Bitfinex has announced that it is to launch a service named Bitfinex Pay, which it says will allow online merchants to process “contactless and borderless” crypto payments.
The company explained that it had developed a widget for the new service, claiming that it can be “integrated onto a website facilitating online payments.”
The widget will allow merchants’ customers to pay in bitcoin (BTC) (via the Lightning Network also), ethereum (ETH) and the stablecoin tether (USDT) using either the Ethereum or the Tron blockchain protocols.
Merchants will need to hold an exchange wallet on Bitfinex in order to receive payments via the widget.
Meanwhile, last month, fellow crypto exchange giant Binance unveiled a beta for its own Binance Pay service, claiming that it allows its customers “to pay and get paid in crypto from your friends and family worldwide.”
And the firm hinted at its move back in late 2020, a suggestion that its move could be indicative of a wider trend.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the head of Binance, stated,
