On Friday, BitPay announced that the new minimum payment amount that will be processed will be raised to $100. Only two days later, the company has retracted the changes, restoring the $5 minimum that had been previously available. The announcement also exclaimed that BitPay Card orders were temporary unavailable.
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The initial decision to raise the minimum amount to $100 was explained on the BitPay blog: “The Bitcoin network has been seeing record transaction volume in the last few weeks. This growth has also led to record network congestion and record-high bitcoin miner fees.” BitPay cited Bitcoin miner fees at above $30 per average transaction, finding it difficult to justify allowing such low payment amounts, which would not be economically feasible under current conditions. “Bitcoin Payments under $100 are quickly becoming impractical for users to send and for BitPay to process.”
BitPay offered further explanation regarding the decision, by reiterating the high miner fee costs associated with sending and refunding mistaken payments. On Sunday, the Bitcoin payment processor effectively canceled its decision to implement an increase on the minimum payment amount, saying payments as low as $5 and above will be processed. The sudden change of heart was associated with “recent Payment Protocol improvements to the BitPay payment experience have effectively eliminated these payment mistakes.”
More Changes from BitPay
Similar to other cryptocurrency companies and exchanges, BitPay is determined to lower costs by integrating SegWit to its platform as soon as possible: “We will be working in the coming months to implement Segregated Witness (Segwit) in various parts of our platform. Segregated Witness reduces the size of bitcoin transactions, allowing for an average bitcoin miner fee reduction of over 40%.”
As the dynamic Bitcoin market continues to evolve, many changes are to be expected, as companies are adjusting to the modified marketplace on an ongoing basis. This is evident in BitPay’s active stance on Cryptocurrencies , constantly updating its practices and policies. Earlier this month, Bitpay announced that it will support additional blockchains in its ongoing adjustments to demand and changes across the industry. While the situation could certainly be updated again in the near future, the company currently does not have “plans for further immediate changes to the minimum BitPay invoice amount.”
