Cryptocurrency payments platform BitPay announced on Wednesday it has collaborated with the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) to share open-source projects and use a shared patent library. According to BitPay, COPA was founded by Square and believes open access to patents and freedom from threats on foundational cryptocurrency technologies is necessary for the industry to grow, innovate, and build new products.
“COPA is a non-profit community of like-minded people and companies formed to encourage the adoption and advancement of cryptocurrency technologies and to remove patents as a barrier to growth and innovation.”
Stephen Pair, CEO of BitPay, spoke about the collaboration by stating:
“BitPay is partnering with and supporting COPA because we believe that the blockchain space is at an inflection point where crypto is becoming mainstream forever changing the way businesses and consumers receive and spend funds. We see both business and consumer adoption accelerating as a result of COPA industry leaders working together to advance technology innovation making the blockchain easy to use for both businesses and consumers.”
Kirupa Pushparaj, COPA Board Chair, added:
“We want to eliminate barriers to innovation, rather than letting patents become one, and welcome BitPay and their many contributions to the blockchain and payments space.”
Founded in 2011, BitPay claims to be a pioneer and leader in global blockchain payments and supports payments from Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, XRP and ETH, as well as four dollar-pegged stablecoins, USDC, GUSD, PAX, and BUSD.