BItpay is releasing the first version of Copay that protects bitcoin transactions to the highest order by requiring multiple signatures/approvals before funds are moved.
In July 2014, Bitpay, a global bitcoin payment service provider headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, set out to build a bitcoin wallet secure enough for the company’s funds. Today, after a year of beta testing and use, the company is releasing the first version of Copay.
The new service allows users to control their money without a middleman. One can always have access to its bitcoin and no bank required due to simple, secure, future-proof backups. Enterprise and power users can take full control of their finances by deploying their own version of the Copay apps and Bitcore Wallet Service.
The Copay app securely stores multiple, distinct bitcoin wallets, which allows both business and privacy-conscious users to keep funds carefully separated, without inconvenient address management.
The service provides a convenient flow for sending funds from shared wallets, requiring approval of multiple people, which makes it perfect for company and group wallets. Besides, Copay personal wallets make routine payments simple.
The Copay app is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Chrome extension, Mac OS X,Windows, Linux, and universal Node-powered CLI. One can download it from the Google, Windows, and Apple app stores or from Copay.io. All users can use BitPay’s official applications and service, no additional setup required.
Furthermore, Copay includes native support for the Bitcoin Testnet, perfect for testing new bitcoin applications across multiple platforms. Multisig (P2SH) and multiple wallet support makes it simple for developers to test and demo bitcoin applications without raking around between other mobile applications.
Meanwhile, Elliptic, a full-service bitcoin custodian for investment funds, banks and exchanges, is collaborating with Gem, Bitcoin security platform provider, to ensure the storage of customers’ third private key for Gem’s multi-signature wallet API.
A multi-signature wallet has three of the private keys. Customers are responsible for two of the keys, the third one is held by the wallet provider. Through the new partnership, Gem, Elliptic and the customer will each hold one of the keys.
In case the customer’s key is lost, Gem and Elliptic will use their private keys to send funds to a new account. Thus, Elliptic’s insurance and distributing private keys across two trusted parties will provide a higher level of security for clients.
Splitting off the third private key appears to be a simple but clever move. In addition to that, the insurance is always a bonus. The customers holding a Bitcoin wallet will get an extra degree of protection, which is always needed as far as Bitcoin wallet hacking is not a rare thing as we wish it was.
Zhanna has a background working for an American multinational food and beverage company as well as at a number of translation agencies serving similar top multinational corporations. She enjoys discovering new cultures as well as learning new languages. She is also a lover of all things fabric and floral ,especially if they are design-related. Zhanna is a graduate of Belarusian State Economic University with a major in Intercultural Business Communications.
