BitPay

BitPay is primarily a crypto payment processor — it lets merchants accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and receive fiat settlements. It also offers a separate non-custodial wallet app (BitPay Wallet) for consumers to store and spend crypto. The two products are distinct: the payment processing service is a B2B tool, while the wallet app is a self-custody consumer product where private keys are stored locally on your device and BitPay never holds your funds.

BitPay is one of the most compliance-focused crypto processors in operation. It is registered with FinCEN as a Money Services Business and received a virtual currency license (BitLicense) from the New York Department of Financial Services in July 2018 — a notoriously strict standard. Founded in 2011, it is also one of the longest-running companies in the industry, providing additional operational credibility over less established services.

In January 2019, BitPay introduced mandatory KYC identity verification for payment transactions above $3,000. Users must submit a government-issued ID and personal details before completing high-value payments. BitPay cited its obligations as a FinCEN-registered MSB and compliance with the US Bank Secrecy Act as the reason. The move was controversial in the crypto community as it added friction to what had previously been a pseudonymous payment rail.

No. The BitPay Wallet app is non-custodial: all private keys are generated and stored locally on your device and are never transmitted to BitPay's servers. BitPay cannot access, freeze, or recover your funds. However, BitPay's merchant payment processing service is different — when a merchant receives a BitPay invoice payment, funds flow through BitPay before fiat settlement, which does involve temporary custody on the processing side.

BitPay supports Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), and Polygon (MATIC). It also supports major stablecoins including USDC, USDT, DAI, GUSD, WBTC, PYUSD, and EURC across multiple networks including Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and Solana.