Jason Oxman, CEO of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), which represents payment giants such as Visa, MasterCard, Amazon, and PayPal, said in an interview with CoinDesk that the traditional electronic payments industry is seeing Bitcoin’s disruptive potential, and collaboration with startups will only increase. Oxman said ETA’s role is to facilitate electronic transactions, which will be adopted in whatever form customers or merchants consider most suitable.
BitPay became the first Bitcoin payments company member of ETA in August 2014
In August 2014, ETA officially accepted BitPay as a member, making it the first virtual currency company to join the association. BitPay is a Bitcoin payment solutions provider based in Atlanta that offers merchant processing services to accept Bitcoin payments. In a related announcement, ETA explicitly said it is “looking forward to more partnerships of this kind in the future.”
Using BitPay’s membership as an example, Oxman emphasized that ETA “won’t turn a blind eye to innovation,” and said the association is shaping an image of being willing to “work with new technologies and startups.” He added that the choice of partners largely depends on market demand rather than technical preferences.
Early promotion by the Bitcoin Foundation
In a CoinDesk interview, Oxman noted that the Bitcoin Foundation played a key role in helping ETA members understand Bitcoin’s advantages. He specifically mentioned a speech delivered by Patrick Murck, then General Counsel of the Bitcoin Foundation, at an ETA event in 2013. The talk successfully brought Bitcoin’s business arguments into the association’s focus, prompting members to start viewing Bitcoin as “an interesting development in the industry.”
This shift in perception provided the backdrop for BitPay’s membership in 2014: once the association began to look at Bitcoin from a business perspective, the conditions for more Bitcoin startups to enter ETA had taken shape.
ETA CEO’s stance: supports all forms of electronic transactions, neither favors Bitcoin nor rejects it
Oxman emphasized that ETA does not lean toward Bitcoin. Its scope of support covers all forms of electronic transactions, and it also does not take a negative stance toward other technologies. He observed that the competitive ecosystem of the payments industry is forming a diversified landscape:
Traditional payments: Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and others have built a massive global transaction network
Bitcoin payments: Startups such as BitPay and Coinbase Commerce provide instant settlement and cross-border payments with zero friction
Hybrid models: Increasing numbers of payment processors accept both fiat and cryptocurrencies
Oxman said that, in essence, what ETA does is facilitate electronic transactions—“and those electronic transactions will take whatever form customers or merchants consider most suitable.”
Oxman’s observations on the NYDFS BitLicense proposal
Oxman offered observations on the BitLicense proposal from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), saying that the regulatory core for any new payments technology should be consumer protection, but it “should not reflexively apply rules just because it is new.”
He suggested regulators should deeply understand three aspects: the Bitcoin system itself, how blockchain works, and how Bitcoin processors protect consumers and merchants. This position indicates that Oxman believes regulation should be based on a thorough understanding of underlying technological mechanisms, rather than simply applying existing financial rule frameworks to cryptocurrency payments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ETA, and which companies does it represent?
ETA is the Electronic Transactions Association. It represents payment industry giants, including Visa, MasterCard, Amazon, and PayPal, and is one of the major industry organizations in the traditional electronic payments sector.
When did BitPay join ETA, and what is the significance?
BitPay joined ETA in August 2014, becoming the first Bitcoin payments company to officially join the association. In its announcement, ETA said it is “looking forward to more partnerships of this kind in the future,” marking the traditional payments industry organization’s formal opening to Bitcoin payments companies.
What is Oxman’s core position on the NYDFS BitLicense proposal?
Oxman said that when regulatory bodies develop regulations related to Bitcoin, they should deeply understand the Bitcoin system, how blockchain operates, and how Bitcoin processors protect consumers and merchants, and advised that they should not “reflexively apply rules just because it is new.” This statement calls on regulators to base their approach on technical understanding rather than directly adopting existing financial regulatory frameworks.
