Apple has finally caught the crypto-fever and has moved to enable support for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in its e-wallet and payments services’ app Apple Pay. But, that is not all.
Now, that the iPhone maker has taken a step towards the new age currency, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are being expected to soon follow the suit and enable support for the same sometime later in 2021 as well!
BitPay, which is a cryptocurrency app, recently announced that the U.S based cardholders of BitPay Prepaid Mastercard can now add it to the Apple Wallet after which iPhone users can make purchases with a simple swipe of an iPhone or Apple Watch.
The company further mentioned that other popular payments platforms such as Google Pay and Samsung will eventually be supported by BitPay later this quarter but didn’t specify an exact date.
Essentially, those who possess a BitPay Card, they are able to convert cryptocurrencies in a standard currency which in turn can then be loaded onto the card and used wherever Mastercard debit is accepted.
Currently, BitPay extends their support for various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ether. It also supports stable stable-coins such as USDC, GUSD, BUSD and BUSD.
Stablecoins is a type of cryptocurrency which attempts to peg their market value by relating to some external reference such as the dollar.
Bitcoin: New Norm In The Global Payments’ Space?
Now, the fact that Apple Pay along with other payment giants is coming forward to embrace bitcoin as a payment norm is a big step forward for cryptocurrencies in the global forum.
Prior to this, bitcoin – world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization first saw a lot of support from Paypal which endorsed cryptocurrencies in the US in 2020. After that, quite recently MasterCard announced it will do the same further moving forward in 2021.
Also, one simply cannot chalk out Musk’s announcement about Tesla investing $1.5 billion in bitcoin – something which helped pique the interest of millions of people. Another popular payments company Square invested in bitcoin back in October 2020 as well.
Now, all of these events combined are slowly pushing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies towards mainstream acceptance not only as a viable investment option but also as a possible mode of payment. That being said, many countries and banking institutions are still on the fence about it.
For instance, the Indian Government recently announced that it might consider passing a Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill in the Parliament which, according to the Lok Sabha bulletin, aims to ban all kinds of private cryptocurrencies and instead facilitate the creation of a legitimate digital currency backed by the Reserve Bank of India aka RBI.
What are your thoughts on bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies becoming a norm in the global payments’ space? Let us know in the comments down below. We will keep you updated on all future development. Until then, stay tuned.
