AT&T will now let you pay your bill with cryptocurrency

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AT&T is the latest large company to start accepting cryptocurrency as payment for your cell plan bills.

The telecom giant has partnered up with BitPay, one of the more trusted names in crypto payment handling for the new feature.

Why should I care?

Well, for the majority of consumers, it probably doesn’t matter. Same goes for most die-hard cryptocurrency advocates, who will probably continue to HODL (the term for holding crypto, instead of selling/trading it).

With more and more companies adding BitPay to their billing options, this could indicate a move towards more mainstream acceptance.

• BitPay offers a very similar service to PayPal, just with crypto. BitPay’s integrations take Bitcoin from the customer and give cash (fiat) to the company being paid, for a 1-percent fee (most credit card payment fees are around 3-percent).
• Other large companies offering BitPay as an alternative to cash include Microsoft and Newegg.
• It’s odd to see AT&T jumping onboard the crypto-train, maybe they are trying to win over more millennials (via The Block).
• With one of Bitcoin’s features being relative privacy, doesn’t that get negated by paying your phone bill with it?

With the volatility in the crypto-market, companies are rightly hesitant to offer direct payments in cryptocurrency. Using a third-party payment processor like BitPay reduces their risk, as the outcome is getting paid in cash, just like any other payment.

BitPay must be betting big on the long-term market, and with Bitcoin’s long-term price indicator rising for the first time in a year, they just might have bet on the right horse.

What do you think? Would you be interested in using crypto to pay your phone bill? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.