BitPay says it hasn’t disabled bitcoin payments; there were ‘temporary’ issues

Bitcoin • December 23, 2019, 8:15AM EST
Primakov / Shutterstock

Blockchain payments provider BitPay has clarified that the bitcoin payment option is up and running.

“There were temporary issues with BitPay’s blockchain payment processing system. Our tech team was alerted and promptly resolved the issue,” a BitPay spokesperson told The Block.

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Earlier today, some Twitter users said that BitPay is not accepting bitcoin payments. “It seems that Bitpay has suddenly disabled Bitcoin payments for all merchants. Checked a few stores - the same picture,” one user, with the handle @alex_kaul, wrote.

Another user, @wiz, shared a screenshot of the issue, saying: “Dump bitpay and install btcpayserver, it's embarrassing that a service called 'bitcoinaverage' can't even accept Bitcoin for payment.”

The issue has been taken care of, as the spokesperson said. BitPay currently supports over 30,000 merchants, including Microsoft and Avnet, for accepting payments in several cryptocurrencies and stablecoins from consumers.

Founded in 2011, BitPay processed over $1 billion in payments last year. The firm is backed by notable investors, having raised over $70 million in funding from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Nimble Ventures, and Virgin Group, among others.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.