BitPay the controversial cryptocurrency payment processor has announced it is adding support for three stablecoins to its list of supported tokens, while excluding Tether (USDT).

On December 10th Bitpay confirmed in a press release that the businesses would be now accepting payments three new stablecoins. Uncluded are USD Coin (USDC), Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and Paxos Standard Token (PAX). All of which are stablecoins pegged in price 1:1 to the U.S. dollar.

BitPay avoids Tether (USDT)

This launch of new supported cryptocurrencies brings the total number of available on the platform to six. Three stablecoins to alongside their existing Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ether (ETH) options.

Notably absent from the payment processor is Tether (USDT), the stablecoin which by far has the largest trading volumes. Evening exceeding Bitcoin in some cases.

The CEO of BitPay Stephen Pair commented in a press release: “Accepting or paying with stablecoins opens up new possibilities for global businesses that require the stability of the dollar but the security and efficiency of blockchain payments,”.

“Businesses can invoice international customers without the need for costly, complicated cross-border wire transfers. Customers can send and receive payments using fast, efficient, and volatility free dollar-pegged stablecoins.”

Criticism of BitPay

BitPay has faced an abundance of criticism over various aspects of their business throughout this year. Reports have shown seemingly random declines of payments to charities. This launched a storm against BitPay over social media. Some users claimed that these policies negates the very centralized system that Bitcoin was created to be a solution against.

An additional separate problem comes from BitPay’s lack of compatibility with other major wallets. Bitcoin developers signaled future upgrades to the Bitcoin Core client, which could remove compatibility with BitPay altogether.

