On October 17, crypto payment giant BitPay announced its partnership with Xsolla, a service for in-game payments. As part of this cooperation, Xsolla was claimed to enable XRP payments for the popular Roblox online game platform. However, the following day Roblox debunked inaccurate information.
What is BitPay
BitPay is a project founded in 2011. It is an intermediary between businesses that want to accept crypto payments and customers who want to make ones. BitPay takes care of storing cryptocurrency, converting fiat to crypto, and more.
Among the well-known companies supporting BitPay are Airbnb, Microsoft, Google.
At first, the service offered only Bitcoin, but today it has 60 cryptocurrencies, including DOGE, XRP, USDT, ETH, and MATIC.
In September, BitPay added PYUSD, a stablecoin from Paypal. Read more about it in our article: Challenges with PayPal's stablecoin: 3 key concerns.
What is Xsolla
Xsolla is a company for in-game payments, which was founded in 2005. Since then, it has greatly increased its presence in the gaming space by releasing tools for game developers. However, its main product is still payment facilitation.
Among Xsolla's partners are Steam, Epic Games, Twitch.tv, Ubisoft. The company supports 700 payment methods in different national currencies and payment systems.
BitPay and Xsolla crypto partnerships: what went wrong
In 2014, the companies agreed to accept Bitcoin as a payment medium, so it became possible to buy games on Steam with the first cryptocurrency. In 2017, Xsolla stopped supporting BTC due to its high volatility and commissions.
On October 17, BitPay shared on its X (formerly Twitter) that it collaborated with Xsolla to provide Roblox with payments in XRP by Ripple Labs, despite years of XRP being pressured by the SEC. However, the next day Roblox stated that such claims are inaccurate.
If you are not familiar with the Ripple project, read our detailed breakdown: Exploring Ripple: is XRP worth investing in?
Why BitPay, Xsolla and Roblox collaboration could be important to the crypto world
Roblox is an online platform that allows users to program games and play those created by other users. It is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
According to the Demand Sage service report from July 31, in the second quarter of this year:
π Roblox had 65.5 million of online daily active users, with 44% of them being under the age of 13;
π the game has been downloaded 905 million times in the past 7 years, and 56.4 million came in the second quarter of 2023.
If XRP became available as a payment option in such a popular game, this kind of integration would be a huge step into mass adoption and acceptance of crypto and blockchain technology, especially among the young generation.
Cryptocurrencies are gradually entering everyday life, and collaborations of crypto projects with large non-crypto ones contribute to the whole process. Recall the recent partnership between TON and Telegram. It is just a matter of time that crypto will be used everywhere. Be ahead and learn how to use crypto in everyday life with our guide.
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