ETA Chief Anticipates Growing Collaborations Between Bitcoin Companies and Traditional Payment Processors
Jason Oxman, who heads the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), has signaled that the organization's members may be beginning to acknowledge Bitcoin's transformative capabilities, potentially paving the way for increased collaborative efforts between established electronic payment companies and emerging Bitcoin enterprises.
Jason Oxman, the chief executive of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), has suggested that the association's membership base could soon begin acknowledging the transformative nature of Bitcoin, which may result in an increase in collaborative ventures between conventional electronic payment service providers and emerging Bitcoin-focused enterprises.
According to a press release, the ETA—whose membership includes major corporations such as Visa, MasterCard, Amazon and PayPal—announced on August 6 that it had accepted BitPay as a member, marking the first time a virtual currency company has joined the association. The statement emphasized the ETA's dedication to welcoming innovative technologies and indicated that additional similar collaborations should be anticipated "as the payments industry innovates for the future."
During a recent conversation with CoinDesk, the leader of the financial trade organization clarified that the ETA had not taken an advocacy position specifically for Bitcoin and maintained a neutral stance regarding different technologies, emphasizing that his support was distributed evenly across all varieties of electronic payment methods.
Nonetheless, Oxman pointed to the organization's newly established partnership with BitPay, the Atlanta-headquartered Bitcoin payment solutions company, as proof that the ETA "will not turn a blind eye to innovation." Oxman expressed his desire to position the organization as one receptive to collaboration with new technology startups, including those in the Bitcoin space, while noting that these decisions were primarily driven by market demand:
"At bottom, our industry is in the business of facilitating electronic transactions, and those electronic transactions are going to take the form of whatever the customer or merchant of choice agrees is going to be the form of their electronic transaction."
ETA CEO, Jason Oxman
Oxman further stated that the Bitcoin Foundation had been instrumental in informing the ETA about Bitcoin's potential benefits, emphasizing the value of forming strategic alliances between Bitcoin startups and established players in the electronic payment sector. When discussing a 2013 ETA event where Patrick Murck, the Bitcoin Foundation's general counsel, delivered a presentation, Oxman observed:
"[Murck] did a good job of putting a business-focused backing to bitcoin. With that kind of introduction, our members look to bitcoin as an interesting development in the industry, and at least one of our members has seen fit to strike a deal with a bitcoin processor."
Oxman provided his perspective on the BitLicense proposal from New York, observing that historically, the ETA had been tasked with creating pathways for novel payment solutions like PayPal, dedicating significant effort to preventing Government interference with innovation. That said, Oxman acknowledged the rationale behind the Government's approach, clarifying that regulators were primarily focused on safeguarding consumers:
"In the world of new payments technologies, any regulators are going to ask questions about the level of consumer protection available through alternative payment systems. The less those systems are established and deployed, the more regulators are going to feel compelled to step in and protect consumers where those protections are not otherwise available."
While Oxman expressed understanding for both perspectives in the BitLicense proposal debate, he believes that the NYDFS ought to engage in more comprehensive investigation regarding Bitcoin:
"I do think that it's important to sound a cautionary note that regulators should not apply reflexive rules just because something is new. What they should do instead – hopefully New York will undertake this, but the early signs are cause for concern – they should take a real in-depth look at how bitcoin's systems operates, how the block chain operates, how bitcoin providers like bitcoin processors take additional steps to protect consumers, to protect merchants."
In developments from earlier in the week, Benjamin Lawsky, the superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, announced an extension of the public comment period for the BiLicense proposal by an additional 45 days, moving the deadline to October 21. This decision came after the three major Chinese exchanges—BTC China, Huobi and OkCoin—submitted a collaborative letter to Lawsky outlining their comments and apprehensions regarding the proposed regulatory framework.