Apple Pay can now be used to spend Bitcoin
BitPay cards can now be added to Apple Wallet.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Bitcoin wallet BitPay's Prepaid Mastercard users in the US can now add their card to Apple Wallet and Apple Pay will now allow Bitcoin to be spent online, in stores and in apps , BitPay said Friday.
The BitPay Wallet app supports not only Bitcoin but also cryptocurrencies Ether and Bitcoin Cash as well as the dollar-pegged stable coins USD Coin, Gemini Dollar, Paxos Standard and Binance USD.
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BitPay plans to add support for Google Pay and Samsung Pay by the end of March.
"We have thousands of BitPay Wallet app customers using the BitPay Card," BitPay CEO Stephen Pair said in a statement. "Adding Apple Pay and soon Google and Samsung Pay makes it easy and convenient to use the BitPay Card in more places."
To add your BitPay card to Apple Wallet, you need to have the most recent BitPay app.
The addition of cryptocurrency spending to Apple Pay follows an analyst report Monday suggesting Apple should launch its own cryptocurrency exchange. Since Apple Wallet is used by millions, it could generate more than $40 billion by making the jump to cryptocurrency, said the report by RBC Capital Markets.
Apple adding Bitcoin also follows shortly after Tesla CEO Elon Musk voiced interest in cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Tesla said it will soon accept bitcoins as payment for its electric cars.