You Can Now Buy Crypto with Your Credit Card Using BitPay

Popular Bitcoin payment processor BitPay has sealed a partnership with fiat-to-crypto payment processor Simplex, enabling users to purchase Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly within the BitPay app using a credit card. They can also transfer funds, make purchases and send money to friends from a single dashboard.

In providing BitPay with a fiat onramp to conduct and settle crypto transactions, Simplex has created a major on-ramp to the cryptoconomy. Over 30,000 merchants use BitPay, and the company processed over $1 billion in cryptocurrency transactions in 2018. Simplex has previously tied up similar agreements with Binance and Huobi, enabling users of those platforms to buy crypto with credit card directly on the exchange.

Big Day for BitPay

The Simplex deal significantly enhances BitPay’s capabilities. Existing and would-be users can tap into a single portal that converts fiat to crypto for crypto payments and crypto to fiat for BitPay card transactions. In connecting its payment rails with those of the fiat world, BitPay is enhancing key infrastructure that will facilitate broader accessibility and utility of digital assets.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based payment processor is not alone. The Simplex agreement is part of a broader industry trend towards constructing crypto onramps. Other examples include Plutus, a mobile application that dispenses loyalty tokens that are awarded on purchases. Plutus users can also convert fiat to crypto in-app, as can users of Skrill, Monarch and hybrid fiat and crypto-powered banking alternative Wirex.

Square’s Cash App, which is headed up by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, is another major on-ramp, helping users purchase, sell, store and deposit bitcoin, doubling as a bitcoin exchange and custodial wallet. The Cash App has become one of the main retail onramps in the U.S., accounting for $150 million of bitcoin purchases in Q3 of 2019 – or 8.6% of the total BTC mined during that period.

Binance, meanwhile, recently added tabs for payment processors WeChat and AliPay, expanding its range of fiat onramps in China particularly. While the Chinese government has been famously wary of bitcoin and cryptocurrency, President Xi Jinping’s recent endorsement of blockchain technology lead to a short-lived surge in bitcoin’s price.

Enhanced Fiat Options for Traders

It’s not just fiat onramps that are connecting the cryptoconomy with its fiat counterpart: new stablecoin projects have also lifted off, powered by hundreds of millions of dollars of venture capital. There are now over 200 stablecoins on the market, with these asset-backed cryptocurrencies providing an alternative bridge between the world of mainstream finance and crypto. Central banks are also developing their own digital currencies, though only China’s appears close to seeing the light of day.

The BitPay-Simplex partnership is primarily targeted at cryptocurrency exchange users initially. In a statement, BitPay CEO Stephen Pair said that “cryptocurrency exchanges can be intimidating for new users. The Simplex integration, however, makes the blockchain payment experience seamless.” BitPay’s reach and reputation coupled with Simplex’s payment processing capabilities will give traders the ability to convert fiat-to-crypto and vice-versa quickly and confidently.