BitPay is one of the most popular crypto payment gateways available thanks to its simplicity, but it gets a lot of flak in the crypto world. Whether it’s because of scandals to do with bugs in the code or a strained partnership with its banking partner, people will always find a reason to complain. Let’s take a look at all the reasons people have given for BitPay being the spawn of the devil.
The Private Key Stealing Bug
Back in November 2018, it was revealed that there was a huge bug in the BitPay code that could allow a hacker to steal private keys from all app users. This was down to a third-party NodeJS package that BitPay and Copay both used. The package had been modified to steal private keys from apps that were using it, leaving a lot of customers vulnerable. Fortunately, the bug was patched in version 5.2.0, and all users were urged to create new wallets and use the Send Max function to protect their accounts.
This scandal rocked the BitPay world, as merchants around the world quickly became afraid of losing their funds. That being said, the scandal was far from dangerous, with no people reporting missing funds from their accounts – meaning the vulnerability was never exploited.
The Systems Upgrade Back in March
As with most developing technologies, there will be system upgrades that require some network downtime. Back in March, BitPay and its BitPay Card was scheduled for a system conversion. This meant that cash back features – including ATM withdrawals, POS cash back and OTC cash back advances – were unavailable. A handful of clients didn’t receive the email that explained this, and they presumed BitPay had frozen their accounts. This created a lot of chaos in the crypto community, with many people spouting out hate about BitPay from that point on. Systems returned to normal a few days after the upgrade took place.
Trolls Getting Upset Over BCH
Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash fanatics don’t really get along. They both believe their chain in superior and would fight to the death in an area over the semantics. Originally, BitPay only accepted Bitcoin, and Bitcoin maximalists loved rubbing this in the face of Bitcoin Cashers. However, BitPay eventually added support for Bitcoin cash, which caused outrage in the Bitcoin community. This has left a lot of resentment for BitPay in the Bitcoin community, with many people calling it the centralized spawn of Satan.
Bitcoin maximalists will recommend virtually every other payment provider over BitPay simply because of it adding Bitcoin Cash. That being said, there are a number of equally easy to use payment provider services out there that solely focus in the Bitcoin community.
The Conclusion
BitPay isn’t evil, and it’s not going anywhere any time soon. It’s still one of the best and simplest crypto payments platforms around. It might be pulling out of Germany over new regulations, but other platforms will quickly fill that gap. If you’ve not tried BitPay, it’s well worth ignoring the FUD and giving it a try.
