Bitcoin payment processor IBEX Pay will suspend all services in the United States starting May 31st.
The company announced the move in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday (May 15).
“Unpaid balances will be transferred to the customer's Swan account or Bitcoin address,” IBEX Pay said in the post. “Withdrawals processing after May 31st will take longer, so we ask customers to provide their Swan Account or Bitcoin address now.”
After careful consideration, we have decided to suspend all IBEX Pay services in the United States, effective May 31, 2024.
We would like to thank you for your continued support and look forward to your continued patronage. pic.twitter.com/7AXiDwW7DI
— IBEX Pay ⚡️ (@IBEXpay) May 15, 2024
According to the company's website, IBEX Pay allows customers to accept Bitcoin payments via the Lightning Network and convert them to fiat currency. The site says the company charges a transaction fee of 0.5% to 1%, so you can save on fees as well.
The company provides solutions for merchant point-of-sale, e-commerce marketplaces, donations, and sports, according to the site.
The move comes as some prominent figures in the technology industry say crypto payments will unlock scalable real-world usability.
Block chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey said on May 2nd during the company's quarterly earnings call that Bitcoin will become the common protocol for the internet's native currency.
“Artificial intelligence systems and agents will need to make transactions, and the most efficient way to do that will be a common protocol for transferring funds,” Dorsey said.
Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong told investors on May 2 that crypto payments are emerging as a key opportunity area.
“[We’re] We are promoting the utility of cryptocurrencies,” Armstrong said. “We are taking this…building a better payments experience on crypto rails…moving us closer to our goal of the average cryptocurrency transaction taking less than 1 second and costing less than $0.01 anywhere in the world. We do this through.”
Stripe announced in April that it would re-enter the crypto payments space after a six-year hiatus, citing “real-world practicalities.”
“We are excited to announce that we are bringing back cryptocurrencies as a way to accept payments, but this time with an even better experience,” said John Collison, President and Co-Founder of Stripe. President and co-founder John Collison said in his keynote address. He added that Stripe will begin supporting global stablecoin payments this summer with transactions instantly settled on-chain and automatically converted to fiat.
