BitoPro, a cryptocurrency exchange in Taiwan, has partnered with Blue Ocean Technology to launch “BitoPay,” a cryptocurrency payment solution. This allows over 300,000 online merchants to connect BitoPay, which is integrated with Blue Ocean’s payment system, and receive payments in New Taiwan Dollars by directly converting cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT) from BitoPro. BitoPay will also support other highly liquid cryptocurrencies, including BitoPro’s native token BITO, in the future.
To encourage merchants to embrace the opportunities presented by Web3 users, BitoPay and Blue Ocean have announced that there will be no transaction fees for merchants using BitoPay until July 31.
Currently, customers using Blue Ocean’s payment system can choose to pay with BitoPay. They simply need to scan the authentication QR code with their mobile phones and confirm the transaction, which will deduct the amount from their BitoPro account’s stored cryptocurrencies. The process is smooth and requires minimal waiting time.
Blue Ocean has chosen to adopt BitoPay’s cryptocurrency payment gateway infrastructure as part of its exploration into cross-border and domestic multi-payment solutions. This makes BitoPro the first cryptocurrency exchange in Taiwan to handle high-volume payments, verify transactions, and provide real-time settlement in New Taiwan Dollars.
BitoPro CEO Zheng Guangtai described BitoPay as the first step in building an ecosystem for cryptocurrency payments, which will further expand the usage and investment of cryptocurrencies among Taiwanese people. He emphasized that as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) are crucial in combating fraud and money laundering in Taiwan, partnering with exchanges as debit suppliers adds an additional layer of security for third-party payment providers. Zheng also mentioned plans to welcome all local VASPs to collaborate with third-party payment providers through BitoPay’s payment gateway, which can reduce costs for the industry as a whole.
BitoPay currently focuses on instant settlement, allowing cryptocurrencies held in exchange custody to be easily converted into fiat currencies for online payments. This is similar to credit cards introduced by overseas exchanges such as Binance and Crypto.com, as well as the recent announcement by Stripe, a major US payment giant, to relaunch cryptocurrency payments this summer with a similar offering.
Another major exchange in Taiwan, Maicoin, offers payment services through MaiPay, which focuses on direct integration with merchants to create an internal circulation of cryptocurrency payments from consumers to merchants and Maicoin, without directly converting to New Taiwan Dollars during transactions.
Blue Ocean Group CEO Chung Hsing-bo and Blue Ocean Technology CEO Liu Yun-hui have stated that Blue Ocean is not currently considering directly accepting cryptocurrencies or engaging in cryptocurrency payment-related businesses.
In my personal opinion, as Taiwan’s cryptocurrency regulations and accounting standards for cryptocurrencies have not been established, it is difficult for merchants to directly accept cryptocurrencies. The cutting edge of the payment industry can, at most, rely on exchanges for settlement and use third-party payment methods in fiat currencies. While this does help with the adoption of cryptocurrencies, it does not provide a complete solution for businesses that want to directly accept and hold cryptocurrencies, or for existing cryptocurrency users who wish to make purchases. They would still need to rely on custodial institutions and go through the process of converting cryptocurrencies to fiat currencies, which is not an ideal solution.
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