BitPay Suspends German Operations to Mull Over New Regulations

BitPay, a payment processor that allows merchants to receive Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, has suspended its operations in Germany indefinitely. The announcement came in a blog post that was updated by the company on August 1, 2019.

In a CoinTelegraph report on the announcement, BitPay PR representative Jan Jahosky explained that the creation and adoption of new regulations in the country is the reason behind the suspension; specifically, the country will require cryptocurrency businesses to obtain a license issued by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority starting next year.

“Germany has publicly stated that they want crypto companies to apply for a license starting in 2020,” Jahosky told the publication. “We have paused operations in Germany while we evaluate the need for German licenses.”

BitPay’s withdrawal from Germany likely will not have a major impact

BitPay’s suspension of services to German merchants has already publicly affected at least one business. Computer Base, a German technology news outlet, announced yesterday that it would no longer accept payments in Bitcoin as a direct result of BitPay’s withdrawal from the country.

However, the end of Bitcoin payments likely won’t have a huge effect on the company’s revenue--the vast majority of the publication’s subscribers use PayPal to pay for their subscriptions; a smaller group uses wire transfers.

Where can you spend #Bitcoin and #crypto? Find out with the new BitPay directory: https://t.co/SPB4LDQupE #BlockchainPayments pic.twitter.com/dphPPhUu3D

— BitPay (@BitPay) June 24, 2019

Indeed, it seems that only a fringe of Computer Base’ payments used Bitcoin to pay for their subscriptions.

This is likely to be the case with most other companies that used BitPay to offering Bitcoin as a payment option in Germany. Because there are many well-established and easily-accessible electronic payment systems in Germany, BitPay’s withdrawal will likely have a low impact; if the company were to withdraw from a market in which Bitcoin was a more popular payment option, the impact would likely be larger.

BitPay Presses On

Meanwhile, BitPay is pressing on with its business elsewhere in the world with some new updates to its front-end platform.

Yesterday, the company announced updates to its “payments, login, and ID verification,” as well as the launch of a “dashboard” that “provides users access to transaction history and a personalized home for both their Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Read this Term payments and future BitPay payment features.”