Bitcoin aims to pay off in finance

The crypto world seems to have vowed to make Bitcoin a mainstream payment asset class and the past week has certainly seen some of the top global giants making a huge presence.

Square Inc raised the bets on Bitcoin by investing $170 million more and chief executive Jack Dorsey promised to “double down” on the payment firm’s commitment to the world’s biggest cryptocurrency.

“The Internet needs a native currency, and we believe Bitcoin is it,” the longtime Bitcoin enthusiast and chief executive of social media firm Twitter said.

Square bought 3,318 Bitcoins in the fourth quarter, adding to the mainstream acceptance of the digital currency that has been winning support from several big investors. “By us owning Bitcoin, our incentives are aligned with skin in the game,” Dorsey said on a post-earnings conference call with analysts.

Square has been involved with the currency for years and its Cash App, a payments service, has allowed users to trade it since 2018.

The app had three million active Bitcoin customers in 2020, with a million new users buying the currency for the first time in January, the company said.

Major Bitcoin corporate backer MicroStrategy bought another 19,452 Bitcoins, worth around $1.03 billion, swelling its holdings of the cryptocurrency and sending the company’s shares eight per cent higher.

The company, whose chief executive officer Michael Saylor is one of the most vocal proponents of Bitcoin, bought the cryptocurrency in cash at an average price of about $52,765 each. MicroStrategy, the world’s largest publicly-traded business intelligence company, spent last year steadily amassing Bitcoin after making its first investment in August. The company earlier this month engaged in an almost $1 billion convertible note offering with the proceeds used for buying Bitcoin.

BitPay, the world’s largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services, recently announced that US cardholders of BitPay Prepaid Mastercard can add their card to Apple Wallet and spend with Apple Pay, with other tech giants like Google Pay and Samsung Pay soon to follow the trend. With Apple Pay, BitPay cardholders can make secure purchases in stores, in apps, and online. In addition, customers waiting on delivery of their plastic card can add their virtual card to Apple Wallet via the BitPay Wallet app and can start spending immediately. Support for Google Pay and Samsung Pay is planned for later this quarter, the company stated in a recent Press announcement.

“We have thousands of BitPay Wallet app customers using the BitPay Card who are always looking for new places and ways to spend their crypto,” said BitPay CEO Stephen Pair. “Adding Apple Pay and soon Google and Samsung Pay makes it easy and convenient to use the BitPay Card in more places from day-to-day items to luxury purchases.”

BitPay continues to innovate its global blockchain solutions to make paying with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies faster, easier, and safer than ever before. The BitPay Wallet app is designed to enable customers to manage and spend Bitcoin, and also turn it into dollars and spend with the BitPay Card.

For power blockchain users, the BitPay Wallet app supports an array of options to buy and store crypto and make online payments. Users can instantly buy gift cards from hundreds of top retailers in-store and online. The BitPay Card enables customers to instantly convert cryptocurrency into fiat currency, which is then loaded onto the card and can be spent anywhere Mastercard debit is accepted around the world. Customers can also use the cards online for purchases and to withdraw cash from ATMs.

The BitPay Wallet app supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ether, as well as four dollar-pegged stable coins, USDC, GUSD, PAX and BUSD.

Bill Zielke, BitPay’s CMO, told Khaleej Times in an e-mail interview that BitPay has millions of BitPay Wallet app customers, many that use or rely on the BitPay Card to live life on crypto. Enabling these users to load the BitPay Card into Apple Wallet and spend using Apple Pay makes it easy and convenient to live life on crypto.

“The value of Bitcoin is increasing as seen by the momentum, growth, and interest occurring right now. BitPay believes that with continued adoption and increased regulatory involvement, the industry will reach an inflection point that will forever change consumer confidence, trust and pave the way for blockchain payments to disrupt the way consumers receive and spend funds,” added Zielke.

Crypto usage increased exponentially over the last few years because it disrupted traditional financial systems by making it as easy to send money as sending an e-mail. The ability to accept crypto expands a business’ sales opportunity into international markets where accepting credit cards is not practical while reducing high fees and increasing payment transparency and efficiency.

“Corporations who conduct business internationally, send billions overseas and to reach many places incurs high fees and delays of up to a week. This potential market is huge and combined with the market capitalisation for crypto approaching a trillion, the market opportunity for crypto is ideal,” concluded Zielke.

— With inputs from Reuters, — sandhya@khaleejtimes.com