Peer to Peer or Payment Protocol?

Depending on the wallet and cryptocurrency you are using to pay the BitPay invoice, you can send the transaction towards:

A cryptocurrency address (Peer to Peer transaction)

A human readable payment link (Payment Protocol transaction)

The encoded QR code on the invoice and the payment details stored will thus depend on the wallet & currency selected. The below table lists the pros and cons for both options.

Peer To Peer Payment Protocol

Pros Pros Allows you to make a payment from any wallet or exchanges Ensure the right amount of miner fee sent with the payment.

Avoid common payment exceptions (underpayments, overpayments)

Reduces the risk of man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks Cons Cons Increased risk of payment exceptions

Increased risk of delayed transactions

Increased risk of man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks Not supported by all wallets

Note:

Peer to Peer option is only available for Bitcoin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash.

Ethereum and USD stablecoin deposits can only be made towards a payment link (and not Peer to Peer). You would need to use DApp browsers, web3 wallets, or wallets which have implemented the JSON payment protocol

Payment Protocol wallets

There are pros and cons for both options. However for an ecommerce transaction, BitPay recommends the consumer to use a wallet which supports the Payment Protocol (JSON Paypro from BitPay or BIP70) to avoid payment errors and ensure a fast confirmation on the network, which allows the merchant to fulfill the order.

Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of wallets supporting the payment protocol: