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Coinbase Now Allows Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP Holders to Pay for Goods Directly from Their Accounts

Tue, 08/11/2020 - 15:56
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Alex Dovbnya
BitPay customers can now directly spend Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP from their Coinbase accounts
Coinbase Now Allows Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP Holders to Pay for Goods Directly from Their Accounts
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In a recent press release shared with U.Today, merchant processor BitPay has announced an enhanced integration with America's leading cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase.

Coinbase users can spend Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, USD Coin and other major cryptocurrencies to pay for goods offered by BitPay-supported merchants, which include Microsoft, Twitch and the Dallas Mavericks. For now, transactions are limited to $1,000.

Making it easier to spend crypto

BitPay announced Coinbase integration within its wallet application back in July 2017. In a month, the app's users will be able to pay merchants directly, meaning that there will no longer be a need for the peer-to-peer (P2P) movement of crypto.

The feature opens up new opportunities for businesses to adopt crypto, according to BitPay’s product director Sean Rolland:

Integration between Coinbase and BitPay lets users pay directly from their Coinbase account, opening up new global businesses opportunities to accept and pay with crypto.

In 2019, BitPay processed more than $1 bln worth of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, is responsible for a whopping 92 percent of its total transactions.

BitPay
Image by bitpay.com/stats/

Back in June, it also rolled out a Mastercard prepaid card that is accepted by all businesses supported by the $330 bln global payments behemoth.

Related
Ripple’s XRP to Get Accepted by Amazon via BitPay Gift Cards

BitPay’s questionable reputation

BitPay, one of the oldest cryptocurrency companies founded in 2011, remains at the forefront of cryptocurrency merchant adoption.

Last year, however, the company took a lot of heat for blocking a Bitcoin payment sent to Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), a non-profit news website managed by independent journalists. This happened just months after Bitpay rejected a $100,000 donation sent to a charity combating fires in the Amazon rainforest.

The company also faces significant criticism due to its wallet incompatibility and a lack of support for the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s "layer 2" payment protocol.

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About the author

Alex Dovbnya (aka AlexMorris) is a cryptocurrency expert, trader and journalist with extensive experience of covering everything related to the burgeoning industry — from price analysis to Blockchain disruption. Alex authored more than 1,000 stories for U.Today, CryptoComes and other fintech media outlets. He’s particularly interested in regulatory trends around the globe that are shaping the future of digital assets, can be contacted at alex.dovbnya@u.today.