ETA Chief Sees More Partnerships With Bitcoin Startups

The Electronic Transactions Association, or ETA, represents payments companies including Visa, MasterCard, Amazon and PayPal, giving its stance weight across the merchant-services industry. Bitcoin was emerging as a potential challenge to established acquiring and cross-border payment models, making cooperation with conventional processors a test of whether the technology could move beyond a niche network and connect with mainstream merchants. ETA’s engagement also signaled how incumbent payment firms were beginning to assess cryptocurrency without formally endorsing it.

On Aug. 6, 2014, ETA admitted Atlanta-based Bitcoin payment processor BitPay as its first member from the virtual-currency industry. In an interview published Aug. 19, Chief Executive Jason Oxman said members were increasingly recognizing Bitcoin’s disruptive potential and that more partnerships with startups could follow. He stressed that ETA had not endorsed Bitcoin or taken an official position favoring it over other payment technologies. No financial terms were announced for BitPay’s membership, but Oxman cited the move as evidence that the association would remain open to innovation.