coinnounce.com
Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has announced the adoption of an open authentication standard U2F within its merchant payments service Bitfinex Pay. The move enables the capacity for online stores and merchants adopting the Bitfinex Pay widget to receive payments for goods and services in a range of crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Lightning Network BTC (LN-BTC), and Tether on the Ethereum and Tron blockchains. Customers of a registered merchant can choose the ‘Pay with Bitfinex’ option upon checkout.
Bitfinex is positioning the U2F key as an alternative to traditional 2FA methods.
After a brief detour through the Bitfinex payment gateway, the customer will be returned to the merchant’s website. Once confirmed, payment will be sent directly to the merchant’s connected Bitfinex wallet address. With this introduction, Bitfinex is positioning the U2F key — a physical USB device — as an alternative to traditional two-factor authentication methods such as text-message or app notifications. The devices can be used across laptops and mobiles and require a 6-digit passcode to grant payment approval.
“We are providing our users with further means of protecting themselves.”
CTO at Bitfinex, Paolo Ardoino, said, “As a trailblazer in digital payments, Bitfinex Pay has already become a popular payment tool, and with the addition of U2F, we are providing our users with further means of protecting themselves.” He continued to say: “These security keys make it almost impossible for a hacker to intercept both your password and the two-factor code.” Late last year, payments giant Paypal debuted cryptocurrency payments on its U.S. platform, granting customers the ability to buy, hold and sell a selection of popular digital assets. More recently, this feature branched out its U.K. market.