Bitpay is the US No. 7 payment system in Russia from Masterforex-V

BitPay is the largest Bitcoin payment service provider. This allows merchant companies to accept BTC as payment while charging them low fees for processing transactions and converting it to fiat, unlike most other companies.

More and more customers want to pay their bills using BTC. Many companies are open to this, but don't want the volatility risk associated with directly using BTC itself.

Sellers and companies really risk losing profits if, when paying for a product or service with Bitcoin, they do not immediately convert it into Fiat, since it is trivial that even in just 1 hour it can either rise or fall by a couple of percent!

Enter BitPay: the intermediary between customer and business. Could this be a bridge between BTC and the rest of the world? We will find out in this article.

Bitpay via Masterforex-V monitoring

Bitcoin - cards. Top 5 Bitcoin cards.

With the popularization of cryptocurrencies, more and more different technologies for storage, various transfers and payment for any things are appearing in the world of blockchain. It all started with cryptocurrency wallets, which could only store Bitcoin and Ether. Then came varieties such as cold wallets, online wallets, mobile wallets and even crypto-banks. However, progress does not stand still, and in order to increase the volume of use of cryptocurrency and the convenience of payments around the world, special cryptocurrency debit cards were invented.

Debit cards linked to cryptocurrency wallets provide their owners with the ability to spend cryptocurrency in the same way as funds from regular debit or credit cards. Of course, many people around the world have already switched to more modern payment technologies (for example, scanning a QR code), however, the majority prefer classic cards, since for them this product is the safest and most understandable tool for paying for their needs. In addition, the majority of cryptocurrency card issuers offer both plastic cards and mobile applications.

Owning a cryptocurrency debit card opens up many opportunities for its owners, for example, instant transfers of funds with almost no commission, or the ability to pay with cryptocurrency in countries where it is accepted without any exchange rate conversion, etc. Crypto debit cards simplify the process of using digital assets. After all, no one wants to jump through hoops selling their bitcoins on an exchange to pay for lunch or coffee. If you want to use your tokens for everyday purchases, get yourself a debit card and start spending satoshis. However, such financial instruments have a number of features and differences from ordinary debit cards. For example, the ability to store fiat money (dollars, euros, pounds), in addition to the cryptocurrency itself, which makes it possible to combine payments and instantly exchange cryptocurrency for other currencies directly within the system. Also, this type of card is issued not only by banks, but also by other financial organizations that offer the possibility of anonymously issuing such a card.

In this article we will look at 5 debit cards that allow you to pay with cryptocurrency. Consider their advantages and disadvantages, we will determine whether card data is needed at all and how they are used.

Card from BitPay

Bitpay is a well-known company in the Bitcoin system that provides payment services to businesses and individuals. The company offers to get a prepaid Visa card connected through your Bitpay account. The BitPay card is available to US residents. You must have an address (no post office boxes), government ID, and social security number. BitPay is a crypto debit card that allows users to use their Bitcoin reserves to make payments at any retail location that accepts regular credit and debit cards.

The BitPay card costs $9.95 and must be paid in Bitcoin or Ethereum. It is powered by the Visa network, allowing it to be used at any Point of Sale (PoS) that accepts Visa debit cards. It also allows cardholders to withdraw cash from any Visa-compatible ATM. Thus, the BitPay card makes it easier to convert and use Bitcoins into dollars, thereby bridging the gap between the real world and the cryptocurrency world. BitPay stopped providing services to European BitPay card users in October 2022 after Visa revoked the licensing of the bank responsible for processing card transactions.

Founded in 2011, BitPay is now the world's largest Bitcoin payment processor, serving users and merchants on six continents. BitPay is one of the leading crypto debit cards, helping users and merchants spend and accept Bitcoin safely and securely on a global scale. BitPay works like a writable debit card rather than a credit card. BitPay offers businesses to accept Bitcoin using BitPay and receive direct bank deposits in the currency of their choice for a flat 1% fee. BitPay currently supports payments in eight currencies and direct bank deposit in 38 countries, and Bitcoin payments are supported in 240 countries.

BitPay is more than just a crypto debit card. It offers integrations, open source plugins, point of sale, billing and accounting, and donation solutions. He also writes and maintains code libraries. BitPay boasts annual payment volumes of approximately $2 billion, while the open-source open wallet platform has received growing consumer acceptance; at the end of 2022, monthly user payments reached $3 billion.

Binance card

The Binance Card does everything a regular payment card does and more. It works like a regular debit card issued by your bank - in this case, your Binance.com account. You simply load your card with funds through the Binance Card App in the form of Bitcoin or BNB and you are ready to go. Binance claims that it is as simple as transferring BNB from one wallet to another. Your card will use this balance for payments and automatically deduct all charges from your balance every time you make any purchase. The Binance Card is accepted by over 46 million offline and online merchants in 200 regions and territories, making cryptocurrency purchases much easier.

The cost of the card is $15 - this amount will need to be transferred to the card account. However, Binance does not plan to charge any annual or monthly commissions.

Essentially, the Binance Card will be completely linked to your Binance account, which is very convenient. This way, you can easily control your balance and manage expenses by tracking them directly through the exchange’s trading terminal.

Providing the opportunity to earn money not only from trading, but also from paying with cryptocurrencies is a logical goal for Binance. But the cryptocurrency debit card market is still in its infancy. However, Binance Card has several competitors in this space, many of which have already provided ready-made products.

Wirex

In Russia, the popularity of cryptocurrencies is not as high as in most of the most developed European and Asian countries, as well as the United States. However, some services have an interface in Russian and actively promote their services in the Russian Federation.

Among all the most famous cards in the world, Wirex is a widely known and trusted card for all users. Clients receive a free virtual VISA brand card. This is a map available in both digital and traditional form. To apply for this card instantly, you do not need to submit documents or undergo any verification. The only process is registration in the system. The main advantage is multicurrency, that is, support for various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, etc. In addition, the card supports both VISA and MasterCard.

This card has a built-in token (WXT) and gives users 0.5% BTC on in-store purchases through the Cryptoback program. Cashback will be increased to 1.5% if you hold 500,000 WXT tokens on your balance. Card fees are as follows: £1.00 / €1.20 / $1.50, subject to all other fees and restrictions. Having achieved success throughout Europe and the APAC region, Wirex intends to expand its operations in Canada, Japan and the USA in 2022.

Bitwala Visa Bitcoin Debit Card

The Bitwala Card is a debit card directly linked to your Bitwala bank account. Powered by MasterCard, the card is accepted worldwide for payment or withdrawal at more than 30 million locations worldwide. Bitwala serves all EEA and Swiss residents and cards are delivered free of charge in less than 10 days. With the exception of some ATMs, which have fees associated with withdrawals, cash withdrawals are free.

Bitwala accounts are fully licensed bank accounts, complete with a Bitcoin wallet and trading functionality that allows you to connect fiat and cryptocurrency. Together with its German bank partner, Bitwala can offer the safest and easiest way to buy, store and use cryptocurrencies and fiat money - all in one account.

The card supports a fairly wide range of cryptocurrencies: BTC, BCH, ETC, XMR, DASH, OMG, NEO, XRP, ZEC, as well as many other altcoins. The company promises an even wider range of cryptocurrency support in the future. Bitwala partners with Mastercard, which means you essentially have the ability to use the card wherever Mastercard is accepted. This means that such a card can be used anywhere, given that Mastercard (and VISA) are the most accepted cards around the world.

The card maintenance fee is 1.00 euros per month, a fairly insignificant amount. There is no fee for issuing the card, which is quite unusual. However, an interesting point is the commission for spending on the card. For the Bitwala card it is set at 3.00%. This means that if you buy, for example, a bottle of champagne for $100, your account balance will decrease by $103.

MCO Visa card

The Crypto.com MCO Visa Card is quasi-global in the sense that it is available in the US, Europe and many other APAC countries. There are five different cards available, with varying amounts of MCO cash back (1-5%) on every purchase. The MCO card allows you to withdraw up to $120,000 per year, and for top tier MCO card holders, you can withdraw up to $1,000 per month without fees.

The MCO Prepaid Visa Card allows you to spend digital and fiat currencies stored in the Crypto.com app. “Our company’s goal is to eliminate the middleman using blockchain,” said Chris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com.

If you are planning to get an MCO card, the first step is to download the Crypto.com app. Once you have completed the identity verification process, you can go to the Cards section and view the different cards available. Unlike other crypto debit cards on the market, the MCO card does not allow you to purchase one. Instead, the company requires you to lock between 50 and 50,000 MCO tokens for 180 days, depending on the card.

Depending on the status of the card, you will be able to withdraw from $200 to an unlimited amount without commission, and for exceeding the limits a total commission of 2.5% will be charged. With the exchange of cryptocurrency for fiat within the system, the situation is similar: from $2000 to unlimited depending on the card with a commission of 2.5%.

In conclusion of all of the above, we can conclude that at the moment the cryptocurrency card market is just beginning its development, and in fact, this area has great prospects in the future. Today there are several worthy players on the market with quite interesting offers. Therefore, everyone must choose for themselves what is more important to them: commissions, anonymity, limits or general comfort in use. At the moment, the market has several products from which you can make a decent choice.

Installing and launching Bitpay

On computers, the Bitpay wallet is available in Windows, Linux, MacOS systems, on mobile devices - in iOS, Android, Windows Phone. To get started, you need to download the installation file and install it in the same way as other programs. When you launch it for the first time, information is displayed to familiarize yourself with the principles of the service.

At the same time, a Bitcoin wallet is created and it is proposed to create a backup copy of it. It is better to take advantage of this offer, since if your computer fails, it will be impossible to restore your wallet without a backup copy. When creating a copy, the system will show a key phrase that must be written down and re-entered in order to use the wallet.

Investigation

After familiarizing yourself with the product offered by the company, it becomes clear that the BitPay card is suitable for Russia and any other country where non-cash payments are accepted. Local currency will be converted into dollars, which are stored in the virtual wallet.

Information about Bit Pay representatives is comprehensive. Names and surnames are given, the address of the organization’s office, and a telephone number for contacting journalists are indicated. The site also describes the program code that was used to develop the application.

The BitPay wallet, judging by the number of downloads of the application, is in demand. This indicates confidence on the part of cryptocurrency investors who transfer their savings to the company’s accounts for further use.

But BitPay, which has both positive and negative reviews, has its drawbacks that users report.

See also: “Trendex”: reviews, description and analysis of the site trendex.co, is it a scam or not?

Creating and using wallets in Bitpay

The main page displays Bitcoin Wallets and Bitcoin Cash Wallets. You can add a new wallet using the horizontal menu item “Next steps”. To do this, click the + button at the top, after which a menu with several functions will open:

• Creating a new personal wallet;
• Creating a common wallet for several users (to make payments, the signature of each of them will be required);
• Joining a common wallet - you can become a co-owner if you have an invitation from the creators of the wallet;
• Import wallet – to add a previously created wallet to the system interface.

Thanks to the simple interface, no difficulties usually arise.

What's special about BitPay?

BitPay is, of course, not the only such company. Similar companies include Coinbase, CoinGate, and CoinsBank, which offer similar services. But as one of the first, BitPay is one of the most recognized and established.

It also offers other services such as the BitPay card, a prepaid Visa debit card for consumers. After paying $10 for the card, a person can load it, converting BTC from their Bitcoin wallet into US dollars. They can then use the card anywhere that accepts Visa. This is a harmonious way to combine crypto and the real world.

BitPay also offers an open source wallet for storing Bitcoins. It is popular, although it has come under scrutiny after hackers managed to crack the code and steal users' private keys.

BitPay has an impressive list of clients, including Microsoft and Virgin.

Menu in the Bitpay system

The horizontal menu is located at the bottom of the interface. It includes the following features:

• Review – access to the main page of the service;
• Receive – create a QR code to receive bitcoins by selecting any wallet or requesting a specific amount;
• Scan – to scan the QR code to send funds;
• Send – sending bitcoins to another user without a QR code;
• Options – to configure the commission for transferring bitcoins, as well as the address book and notifications. The commission can be chosen from the proposed options.

Features of the Bitpay system

In the Bitpay system, a user can:

• Accept online transactions;
• Add a payment button to your website (for e-commerce);
• Integrate a plugin into the shopping cart (for online stores);
• Accept payments in offline stores using BitPay Checkout;
• Order a VISA card to pay for purchases via Bitcoin;
• Trade cryptocurrency on the exchange;
• Order an Amazon gift card.

Transactions in the Bitpay system

Transactions in the Bitpay system are carried out according to the following algorithm:

• The client issues an invoice for payment displaying the Bitcoin address;
• At the same time, a QR code of the address is displayed for secure payment from a mobile phone;
• The invoice has a button for payment via URI;
• The count is valid for 15 minutes (there is a countdown timer;
• If the payment arrives after the time has passed, an additional payment amount may be required. This is due to changes in rates.

What is BitPay?

BitPay is the world's largest BTC payment provider. It was created as an easy way for businesses to accept Bitcoin as payment.

Clients make payments in Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash. BitPay then changes the payment to one of eight Fiat currencies, such as the US dollar, and pays it directly to the company/merchant.

When the client pays, he fixes the Bitcoin exchange rate, that is, creates a payment window. This means that BitPay assumes all the risk if Bitcoin fluctuates from the time the customer pays to the time the money reaches the business.

It charges merchants a flat one percent transaction fee, which they say makes it more attractive than the transaction fees charged by some credit card companies (banks).

BitPay accepts the following cryptocurrencies for payment:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Ripple
• Bitcoin Cash
• USDC

Bitpay reviews

Users note the ease of use of the Bitpay wallet, as well as numerous tips that help resolve most issues that arise. Support for various operating systems and the availability of a mobile application are important. At the same time, the interface looks the same on both mobile devices and desktop PCs. Reviews often contain requests to add altcoin wallets to the system, and the presence of a function for ordering an Amazon gift card is perceived as intrusive advertising.

Popularity of Bitpay among other US payment systems

According to Wiki Masterforex-V, the monthly number of Bitpay impressions was 568, which

• higher than Payoneer (351), Diners club international (100), Google Checkout (88);
• almost 655 times lower than that of the ranking leader - QIWI (372,221).

Bitpay or NixMoney: which is better and more profitable for users?

The solutions offered by Bitpay and NixMoney have won many fans of online payments in Russia. In addition, very high security standards and intuitive operation are a huge merit of its popularity. And although competition has appeared on the market between Bitpay and NixMoney, they remain leaders in Russia.

The fundamental similarity of these brands is that they are payment systems. If we compare the functionality of Bitpay and NixMoney , then they are practically no different:

1. In both cases, you need to undergo mandatory registration indicating your phone number.
2. After registration, a personal account is assigned for making payments and receiving invoices.
3. To increase the user level, allowing you to handle large volumes of finance (one-time payment, monthly payment amount, account balance), a procedure for confirming passport data is required.
4. Each account – both Bitpay and NixMoney – can be linked to a bank card and/or bank account.
5. The main thing is that these electronic wallets can be used to pay for purchases, services, cellular communications, games, casinos, etc. both using a browser on a computer and using a smartphone.

In general, both Bitpay and NixMoney have the same practical purpose - to manage funds accumulated in user accounts.

Who created BitPay?

BitPay was founded in the US in 2011 by Tony Gallippi and Stephen Par.

BitPay is currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

In January 2013, BitPay announced that it would move its headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia from its previous location, Orlando, Florida. This comes after the company received $510,000 in seed funding. According to the company's co-founder, Atlanta was chosen due to the number of fintech companies located in the state of Georgia.

In May 2013, BitPay announced that they had raised $2 million through the Founders Fund.

In September 2013, the company announced that it had reached the milestone of 10,000 merchants and companies. Gallippi stated that since the company's founding, they have processed over $34 million, which was roughly equivalent to 270,830 Bitcoins.

In 2014, BitPay expanded its North American presence beyond its Atlanta headquarters by opening offices in New York, San Francisco and St. Petersburg, Florida. BitPay's European headquarters opened in Amsterdam, while their South American headquarters opened in Argentina.

In January at CES 2014, BitPay announced that 12,000 merchants had signed up and the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino announced that BitPay would be used as their chosen BTC provider in Las Vegas.

In 2022, they raised the minimum payment on the platform to $100 from the previous $5; the change was reversed only a few days later. In December 2022, Steam stopped accepting Bitcoin payments from BitPay, citing that transaction costs for smaller games were too high, as well as volatility issues.

BitPay received a virtual currency license from the New York Department of Financial Services in July 2022.

Use of Bitpay by Forex Brokers

Bitpay is not convenient enough for traders, investors and forex and stock exchange brokers from the Russian Federation. Wiki Masterforex-V explains the percentage of popularity among brokers of the highest and second leagues of broker ratings by the fact that this system is “tailored” more for the Russian market and the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, as can be seen from the table below.

Sincerely, wiki Masterforex-V - free (school) and professional Masterforex-V training courses for working on Forex, stock, futures, commodity and cryptocurrency exchanges.