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The Important Bits
BitPay is celebrating 15 years of making crypto more useful in everyday life. To mark the milestone, we’re sharing birthday deals in the app, a reflection from Co-Founder and CEO Stephen Pair, and a thank-you to the partners helping power the next chapter.
Also in this issue: stablecoin adoption in Nigeria, Ethereum layer-2 consolidation, U.S. crypto policy updates, SpaceX’s bitcoin holdings, boosted gift cards, no fees on crypto buys, and more.
Let’s jump in.
Industry News & Headlines
Industry News
Read news from across the blockchain industry:
Stablecoins Gain Ground for Cross-Border Transfers in Nigeria: The IMF says Nigerian households and small businesses are increasingly using dollar-pegged stablecoins for cross-border payments, with the country receiving about $59 billion in crypto inflows from July 2023 to June 2024 and accounting for roughly 60% of stablecoin inflows in sub-Saharan Africa. (Reuters, 6/16/26)
Ethereum Layer-2s Enter a Consolidation Phase: As smaller rollups struggle to attract users and liquidity, industry observers say the future of Ethereum scaling may favor fewer, more specialized layer-2 networks focused on payments, stablecoins, tokenized assets, and other clear use cases. (CoinDesk, 6/4/26)
Lawmakers Advance Housing Bill With CBDC Ban: U.S. Senate and House leaders reached a bipartisan agreement on housing legislation that includes language barring the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC or substantially similar digital asset through Dec. 31, 2030. (The Block, 6/17/26)
Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill Text Reveals 20-Year Lock-Up: The full text of H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, would codify a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, require federally held BTC to be locked for 20 years, mandate quarterly proof-of-reserve reporting, and prohibit new taxes, borrowing, or deficit spending to acquire bitcoin. (Bitcoin Magazine, 6/8/26)
SpaceX SEC Filing Confirms Bitcoin Treasury Holdings: A June 15 SEC filing shows SpaceX still holds 18,712 BTC on its balance sheet after its IPO, with the company’s bitcoin position valued at about $1.29 billion as of March 31, 2026. (99Bitcoins, 6/17/26)
Market Movers
A quick snapshot of notable market activity, trends, and cryptocurrencies driving headlines.
BitPay Turns 15!
Since 2011, BitPay has focused on one thing: making cryptocurrency more useful, accessible, and practical for everyday life. What started with simple BTC payments has grown into a full ecosystem for buying, managing, storing, swapping, and spending a wide range of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
Fifteen years later, that mission hasn’t changed. We’re still building tools that help people do more with crypto, whether that’s paying merchants, shopping with gift cards, managing a portfolio, or sending money globally.
Looking Back, Building Forward: A Note from BitPay CEO and Co-Founder, Stephen Pair
To mark BitPay’s 15th birthday, Stephen Pair, BitPay Co-Founder and CEO, shared a personal look back at the company’s early days, the evolution of crypto payments, and what comes next.
Thank You To Our Partners
BitPay's strength has always come from the ecosystem we've built alongside our partners. Behind every crypto buy, sell, and swap in our app, there's an infrastructure partner making it work: Simplex (since 2020), Changelly (2021), MoonPay (2022), Banxa (2022), Transak (2023), Ramp Network (2023), Sardine (2023).
Thank you to every partner who's helped shape what BitPay is today. Powering the next 15 together.
A New Swap Experience Is Now Live in the BitPay Wallet
We are excited to roll out an improved swap experience in the BitPay Wallet, built to make swaps faster, the interface simpler, and multi-chain moves easier, all while keeping your crypto in your control with 100% self-custody.
Merchant Shoutouts
Highlighting merchants driving crypto adoption and exciting promotions.
Shop APMEX’s silver and gold popular categories, including pop culture collectibles. Shop now!
OneGold gives you direct ownership of vaulted gold, silver, and platinum at an ultra-low cost. Start your free account today.
Buy a domain name with Namecheap today!
Ready to start accepting crypto with your Shopify business? Get started today with the BitPay app!
Instantly deploy high-performance cloud servers, cloud GPUs, bare metal, and cloud storage worldwide with Vultr. New users receive $100 to test their platform.
Use BrandBucket to name your business.
Shop US stores and have your items reliably shipped back home with Qwintry
BitPay Travel
BitPay Travel is now open to all! In collaboration with Xeni, BitPay Travel allows crypto users to pay for flights, hotels, rental cars, and activities with their cryptocurrency. Book your travel at great prices and pay straight from your cryptocurrency wallet.
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Note: All information herein is for educational purposes only, and shouldn't be interpreted as legal, tax, financial, investment or other advice. BitPay does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information in this publication and we neither endorse, nor are we responsible for, the accuracy or reliability of any information submitted or published by third parties. Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement or offer to invest, buy, or sell any coins, tokens or other crypto assets. BitPay is not liable for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies. For legal, tax, investment or financial guidance, a professional should be consulted.