BitPay Adds Shiba Inu, Enables Acceptance Among Merchants
Shiba Inu logo

BitPay Adds Shiba Inu, Enables Acceptance Among Merchants

At this point, a good number of everyday Americans have likely at least heard of Bitcoin and perhaps even Ethereum. Meanwhile, however, there are a number of other notable cryptocurrencies — including some with very vocal enthusiasts. A prime example is the token Shiba Inu (SHIB). Now, the coin is getting a boost as BitPay has announced it will now support the token and allow retailers that use BitPay to accept it as payment.

Like Dogecoin before it, Shiba Inu has a dedicated online fanbase — known as the #SHIBArmy. The “meme coin” was created in August 2020 and has risen to prominence throughout the year. Currently, the coin has a market cap of more than $19 billion, putting it in the top 15 for crypto assets.

With BitPay’s update, customers will now be able to buy, sell, and swap SHIB on the platform. Plus, customers with the BitPay Card will be able to spend the coin wherever MasterCard is accepted. Additionally, retailers that utilize BitPay will have the ability to accept Shina Inu.

The push for BitPay to add support of Shiba Inu actually came from AMC CEO Adam Aron. According to a tweet from Aron last month, he specifically requested the change. Now, AMC — which has embraced its own “meme stock” status — will accept SHIB for online purchases of tickets and concessions.

Meanwhile, another early adopter is Newegg. Speaking to the company’s interest in SHIB, its director of brand marketing Andrew Choi said, “We are always looking for ways to innovate the shopping experience on Newegg.com, and something our customers want is greater flexibility and options, including the ability to pay with a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Through our partnership with BitPay, we have the ability to move quickly and lead the market with flexible cryptocurrency payment options. To that end, we’re excited to offer SHIB as a payment option on Newegg.com.”

Also commenting on the move to add SHIB, BitPay CEO Stephen Pair explained, “The Shiba Inu community is passionate about its coin and serious about giving those consumers places to spend SHIB. BitPay believes that the more community involvement from coin holders supports awareness and adoption helping to move the blockchain industry to pave the way for blockchain payments to disrupt the way consumers and businesses receive and spend funds.”

While Shiba Inu’s popularity is mostly based on it being a meme, BitPay’s embrace of it along with AMC and Newegg brings a new level of legitimacy to the token. Of course, it remains to be seen whether this results in continued gains or whether interest might fizzle out. Either way, it’s always intriguing to see big brands embracing new opportunities and crypto in general.

Leave a Reply

The "Email" field is empty, you must enter some text to proceed.The text you entered in the "Email" field appears to be invalid, please edit it and try again
Get the Latest News Delivered to Your Inbox
Travelers with two Best Western Credit Cards

Best Western Debuts Two New Rewards Credit Cards

After pausing applications for their previous rewards card, the hotel chain Best Western has unveiled a new pair of rewards credit cards with a new issuer. About the Best Western cards: Best Western is partnering with First Bank & Trust and Mercury Financial to introduce two new co-branded credit cards. First up is the no-annual-fee Best Western Rewards Visa Signature Card. With this card, customers can 4x points on Best...
Marriott Bonvoy card and a woman on vacation

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card Launches Travel Contest

Chase and Marriott Bonoy have unveiled a special contest while continuing to offer its best-ever welcome bonus. About the welcome bonus and Bold Chat Court Contest: Marriott Bonvoy and Chase have launched a special opportunity called the Bold Chat Court contest. As part of this contest, 10 lucky travelers will be awarded 500,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (for a total of 5 million) as well as $5,000. For this contest, the...
Bilt and All Reward logos

Bilt Adds 2 New Transfer Partners Including First 3:2 Transfer Rate

Bilt is once again expanding its travel transfer rewards program — and is even breaking the mold with one new partner. About the new additions to Bilt: This week, Bilt launched partnerships with two more travel brands: TAP Air Portugal and Accor. As a result, Bilt members will now be able to transfer their points to Miles&Go and ALL Reward, respectively. In total, Bilt now has 18 transfer partners including 13...
Fioney Top 10 Must-Read Personal Finance Articles Septemeber 2024

Top 10 Personal Finance Articles of the Month — September 2024

Welcome to Fioney's look at the top 10 personal finance articles of the month. On the first Friday of each new month, we look back at some of our favorite posts published in the weeks prior and highlight them right here. This includes a mix of sites that have become staples of our lists as well as many first-timers. To start things off this month, we'll look at some articles...

2024 SoFi Checking and Savings Review

Ever since I started taking an interest in the FinTech sector, one company whose name I’ve seen pop up over and over again is SoFi. Lately it seems as though that theme has been sent into overdrive as the company has not only become a household name thanks to its stadium naming rights deal but also because of the company’s continued product expansions. The most interesting development in my mind...