Apple Pay Now Supports Bitcoin

There have been many rumours around Apple Pay beginning to support cryptocurrency payments in the near future for quite some time now, as the payment provider looks to get on board the crypto train. Many of the other major players in this space, including the likes of PayPal, Mastercard and Visa, to name just a few, have already either announced their intention to support crypto payments, or already allow crypto transactions on their platforms, so it was imperative for Apple to join in, given that cryptocurrencies look like being the next big wave in the world of finance and technology. Thus, it is encouraging to see that Apple Pay has begun supporting BitPay, the largest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment service provider in the world.

According to reports, Apple Pay users can now add the BitPay prepaid Mastercard to their Apple Wallets, which means that they will be able to make transactions and pay with their crypto holdings via Apple Pay. This will also allow those users who are still waiting for their physical cards to be delivered, to add their virtual cards to the wallet and continue their spending through Apple Pay. Apart from Bitcoin, BitPay supports a number of other cryptocurrencies such as Ether and Bitcoin Cash, while four dollar-pegged stablecoins (USDC, BUSD, PAX and GUSD) are also supported.

This move by Apple Pay is just the latest step in a number of similar announcements, all of which are geared towards bringing crypto transactions to more and more people. Apple Pay has a huge user base, as does PayPal, and so with these two payment giants getting on the crypto bandwagon, we can expect the number of crypto users to increase massively over the next few months, especially if the price of Bitcoin keeps rising. Of course, these developments are not the only reason why users are flocking to crypto - there are a number of businesses and sectors, especially online, which have already begun to adopt blockchain and crypto to improve their operations. Online casinos, for example, offer players the chance to place bets in cryptocurrency, on games like ETH baccarat and other casino table games. These casino operators are also using blockchain to improve the safety, reliability and speed of their websites, while the chance to place bets through cryptocurrencies has massively increased the popularity of these online casinos. This shows how crypto and blockchain can transform the fortunes of businesses globally, and that is proving to be the case for the payments industry as well.

In terms of BitPay and Apple Pay, only those users having the latest version of the BitPay app can avail of the above features so far. They will also need to have the latest iOS and Apple Wallet app version as well, but these are all expected to possibly roll out to users on older versions in some time as well. It is important to note that BitPay is working with other mobile payment platforms, such as Samsung Pay and Google Pay, to add support for crypto payments as well, with announcements expected in a few months with regard to those two payment providers.

Crypto payments are becoming more and more widespread and common with every passing day, and a number of big companies are joining this trend as well. Tesla, for example, recently announced that it had bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, setting off the latest rally in Bitcoin’s price, while rapper Jay-Z and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey came together to donate 500 Bitcoin towards setting up a fund which is looking to expand crypto usage in developing economies. In this backdrop, the inclusion of Bitcoin and other crypto payment options on the likes of Apple Pay and PayPal is sure to provide a big boost to the number of people globally who will begin to use crypto as a payment method in the coming weeks and months.