eGifter and CARE Among First BitPay Merchants to Accept XRP
BitPay, the world’s largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services, announced the launch of XRP payments and cross-border transfers with added support for XRP to the BitPay Wallet app. The blockchain payments giant worked alongside Ripple developer platform Xpring to complete the integration, which was initially announced in October.
BitPay merchants around the world can now accept XRP without any additional integrations required on their part, and according to BitPay CMO Bill Zielke, they already are. E-commerce site eGifter and international non-profit CARE, according to Zielke, are among the first on board.
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XRP is an open-source, independent digital asset that is native to the XRP Ledger. It is the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Xpring, Ripple’s open developer platform, provides tools, services and programs that make it easy for developers to integrate payments into their apps.
“With the addition of XRP,” Zielke said, “BitPay continues to expand consumers’ ability to transact in the currency of their choice and give merchants new exposure to a large base of loyal XRP users intent on driving real-world adoption.”
Gifting platform provider eGifter, an innovator in the digital gift card space and an early adopter of Bitcoin, becomes one of the first BitPay merchants to accept XRP. The New York fintech’s company’s CEO Tyler Roye said, “We’re excited to add XRP as a payment option on the eGifter platform, and we welcome XRP early adopters in the same way we did those of Bitcoin in 2014.”
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Also with the integration, CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and providing lifesaving assistance in emergencies, will now accept tax-deductible donations made in XRP among other digital currencies. Last year CARE worked in 100 countries and reached nearly 70 million people around the world. With such a large, global footprint, the addition of gift options for CARE is welcome news for the organization’s leadership.
CARE’s Executive Director for the Western Region, Alejandra Villalobos said “We’re grateful to be able to channel payments innovation directly into fighting poverty, and we appreciate the close collaboration with BitPay in working with CARE as we expand gift alternatives for our donors. The opportunity to benefit from the generous support of the XRP community and the broader cryptocurrency community as a whole is very exciting.”
“BitPay provides new and practical opportunities for the utility of digital assets,” said Ethan Beard, SVP of Xpring. “We hope to build upon this progress, to make it easy for everyone to integrate money into their apps. We’re excited to further our partnership with BitPay and enable the use of XRP for everyday purchases, which benefits merchants and consumers alike.
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