Mobile carrier AT&T will now accept payments in crypto

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Cryptocurrency is taking another step towards the mainstream as mobile carrier AT&T announced it would accept payments in crypto today, according to a release from the company.

Customers can pay their mobile bills via BitPay when they pay online or in app. BitPay is one of the largest cryptocurrency payment processing firms, processing bitcoin transactions. AT&T hasn't gone all in on crypto yet, as of now the option to pay through BitPay is only extended to bill transactions.

Though the move may seem positive for crypto users, Joe McCann, a former crypto hedge fund 
manager at Passport Capital, told The Block the move seemed to come out of left field and speculated that perhaps the company has internal data showing more millennials utilizing crypto payments.
"What upside does AT&T have in supporting crypto payments?" he asked.

McCann's questions of internal data may not be off-base, as Kevin McDorman, vice president, AT&T Communications Finance Business Operations pointed to customers using cryptocurrency as a reason for the extended options.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve and expand our services,” McDorman said in a statement. “We have customers who use cryptocurrency, and we are happy we can offer them a way to pay their bills with the method they prefer.”

Chief Commercial Officer at BitPay Sonny Singh praised AT&T for the partnership, which began when BitPay reached out a year prior.

"AT&T did a great job making this happen," he said.

Players with a similar size, brand and reach could start following suit, since the implementation by a brand as large as the cellular company could alleviate concerns going forward, according to Singh. In addition, utilizing crypto for bill payments is cheaper. Singh said customers save two to three points on every transaction. 

"The big companies want to learn," said Singh. "We've met with executive teams at many Fortune 500 companies to explain to them how [crypto] works and we brain storm on how we can work together."

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