BitPay, a payment processor that allows merchants to receive payments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, has suspended its operations in Germany indefinitely. The announcement came in a that was updated by the company on August 1st, 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 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, 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 and ? Find out with the new BitPay directory:
— BitPay (@BitPay)
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 was to withdraw from, the impact would likely be larger.
BitPay Presses On
Meanwhile, BitPay is pressing on with its business elsewhere in the world with some .
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 payments and future BitPay payment features.”
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