Bitcoin payment processor BitPay has achieved rapid growth since its founding, and in the past month the company has opened locations throughout the world. With new Latin American headquarters and recently opened locations in San Francisco and New York, the company seems to truly be working to become the largest global Bitcoin payment processor.
Last week, BitPay announced the opening of their European headquarters in Amsterdam, exactly two weeks after the company announced openings of their additional locations and the onboarding of key personnel throughout the world. The Amsterdam headquarters will handle sales, implementation and support to the 7,000 current European merchants.
Joining the BitPay team will be Moe Levin as the European Director of Business Development who will work toward the company’s goal of growing to 30,000 merchants by the end of 2014. Before Bitcoin and BitPay, Levin served in various roles in management, marketing, entertainment and event management after graduating Magna Cum Laude from York University. Levin is actively involved in the Bitcoin community and recently arranged Bitcoin conferences in Amsterdam, as well as one of the largest US conferences in Miami Beach.
Also joining the team in Amsterdam as Senior Sales Engineer is Pieter Poorthuis, who will be responsible for sales and customer implementations throughout Europe. Poorthuis has experience in the finance industry, having previously managed the implementations of ING’s mobile payment products, with specialty in contactless payments.
In addition to opening the European headquarters, BitPay has also added former General Manager of Mastercard in the Netherlands, Marcel Roelants to the company’s Board of Advisors. “As the world of payments is changing rapidly, BitPay is at the forefront offering technology and support to merchants,” Roelants stated in a recent press release. “Establishing its headquarters in Amsterdam is a great way to be closer to its European customers.”
With the addition of two employees in Amsterdam, the Atlanta based payment processor has reached 33 full-time employees worldwide. In a single year the company has achieved vast growth in personnel and the amount of countries and merchants serviced; BitPay currently has over 26,000 merchants worldwide. Co-founders Tony Gallippi and Stephen Pair along with other key personnel are known as thought leaders in the Bitcoin space and have also been featured as speakers at several conferences around the world.
In fact, the company is sponsoring the Bitcoin Foundation’s Bitcoin2014 conference in Amsterdam, and will be exhibiting at The Next Web conference later this month. For many involved with Bitcoin, the continued adoption and technological advancement of virtual currency has heavy implications on the future of finance and the global economy. BitPay and many other companies provide solutions for businesses to begin accepting the popular cryptocurrency. If in fact Bitcoin is the future payment method, payment processors like BitPay will be positively positioned to provide merchant-to-consumer solutions throughout the world. “Being Bitcoin ready is about more than accepting bitcoin, it’s about being ready for the future,” says Levin.