The announcement states:
“Since our springtime launch of Bitcoin Cash payment processing, BitPay merchants have been able to accept Bitcoin Cash payments from customers alongside Bitcoin payments. Now they can get their settlement payments in Bitcoin Cash, too. We’ve been hard at work to deliver this new settlement option and close the payments loop for merchants serving Bitcoin Cash customers.”
The news has been received with open hearts by the BitPay community on “https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/9bednz/news_bitpay_merchants_can_now_receive_settlement/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>Reddit. Some noted that the payment services provider indeed worked really hard to include the altcoin option in response to merchant demand.
Bitpay
Bitpay, a global leader in processing payments for merchants is based out of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The platform has built a name for itself by enabling merchants to accept blockchain payments from their customers and in turn offering them reliable bank settlements. Bitpay converts Bitcoin to a local currency immediately, avoiding the risk of price volatility. The conversion is in merchants own local currency such as USD, EUR, etc.
The demand for Bitcoin Cash network can be attributed to the network’s considerably lower transaction fee in comparison to the bitcoin network. According to BitInfoCharts.com, the average transaction fee for BCH on Thursday was 0.0157, while BTC cost 0.704.
In late 2017, the bitcoin fees jumped above 50% during the peak of the cryptocurrency fever. The event did not go unnoticed by Tony Gallipi, the CEO of Bitpay. He mentioned the same on his Twitter account in November 2017.
“How many #Bitcoin UTXOs are currently unspendable? I just received $45 and now it will cost me more than that to spend it.”
How many “https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Bitcoin UTXOs are currently unspendable? I just received $45 and now it will cost me more than that to spend it. “https://t.co/6BQ5BQsKwr”>pic.twitter.com/6BQ5BQsKwr— Tony Gallippi (@TonyGallippi) “https://twitter.com/TonyGallippi/status/931333006979096576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 17, 2017
The Bitcoin Cash option on Bitpay was first announced in March 2018. The option further offered that BCH tokens can be used to purchase gift cards in-app from Amazon and Mercado Livre, a leading Brazilian online marketplace. Since then, it was possible to use BCH with the BitPay Visa debit card with no fees.
However, the platform integrated BCH support for almost all of its partner merchants several weeks prior to that first announcement.
With a market capitalization value over $9 billion, Bitcoin Cash has been stuck below the $600 mark since losing the handle in early August. Despite the good news for the BCH ecosystem, the cryptocurrency remains priced below 0.08 BTC.
