Twitch is arguably one of the most popular live streaming sites in the world and it’s dominated by gamers. Streamers can pay for upgrades and premium accounts to remove ads, get featured on the homepage more frequently, and a barrage of other features. Up until fairly recently, users of the Twitch platform were able to pay for their membership using Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, but users are now reporting that the payment option has since vanished. It wouldn’t be the first time a platform linked with gamers has pulled a crypto payment method, but it certainly comes as a surprise as many live streamers had praised the BTC payment option.
BitPay Being Pulled
Twitch was using BitPay as its crypto payment processor – a move that many companies have made thanks to its instant crypto-fiat exchange on transaction. BitPay even has a BitLicense, meaning Twitch users in New York can still pay in crypto, making the move to pull BitPay even more surprising. The move behind pulling BitPay from the Twitch payment methods is still unclear and hasn’t been explained by Twitch. But, after the huge outcry from the Twitch community, we will either see a new crypto payment method added in the coming days or an explanation statement issued from the company.
Another Possible “Mistake”?
Twitch has been using BitPay for a considerable amount of time, making the excuse “it was an accident” less feasible than it was for the Fortnite team. As the turn of the year, the popular game Fortnite started accepting Monero in its merchandise store – something that became an instant hit with its massive following. However, the joy was short-lived, as less than a week later Tim Sweeny – Epic Games CEO – announced that it was an “accident” and that Monero payments were left switched by mistake on when the merchandise store switched to a new payment processor. The Monero payment option was then removed and has showed no signs of returning – despite its popularity.
Could Brave Takeover?
Earlier this year, Brave Browser announced that it would be allowing Twitch users to tip streamers using its platform. Brave utilizes the BAT token and viewers would be able to use a plugin in the browser interface to tip streamers. If Brave does go ahead and implement this, streamers would once again have access to crypto markets. While Twitch already has a tipping system in place, it doesn’t utilize cryptocurrencies.
It’s a sad day for the Twitch crypto community, while we are still waiting for an explanation. Twitch is likely to cite “complexity of accepting crypto” as the reason behind the decision to pull crypto payments, but BitPay instantly converts crypto to fiat – meaning the reason would be invalid. Either way, we will have to wait and see what Twitch’s official statement on the matter will be.
Do you think Twitch should carry on accepting cryptos? Is there more to this decision than meets the eye? Let us know in the comments below!
