About Stephen Pair

Stephen Pair is the co-founder and CEO of BitPay, which is known as the world's largest processor of cryptocurrency payments. Pair established BitPay in 2011 after recognizing Bitcoin's potential to change payment methods for businesses and consumers. He has a bachelor's degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and more than 20 years of experience in financial and telecommunications industries as an entrepreneur, manager, architect, team lead, and developer. His fascination with cryptography, as well as his experience in building software systems, led him to co-found BitPay with his business partner Tony Gallippi. Stephen Pair has over 20 years of experience building software systems in the financial and telecommunications industries. He has held various roles including entrepreneur, architect, manager, team lead, and developer. He started programming at a young age on his dad’s TRS-80 Model 1 (circa 1978) and spent much of his early career focused on languages, compilers, operating systems and virtual machines. During the 1990s, he developed an interest in the mechanics of financial markets, economics, and monetary systems and the question of how they might evolve as the global Internet developed. He closely followed developments in cryptography along with attempts at creating new electronic money and accounting systems. This background led to the formation of Bitpay.com with his business partner Tony. He holds two patents in the field of streaming analytics along with several additional filings, some of which are still pending. Stephen Pair is currently a member of YPO, on the board of TechAlpharetta, an Endeavor Entrepreneur and chairperson of the TAG Blockchain task force. Stephen is married to Lisa and has two children, Matthew and Andrew. Together they live in Milton, Georgia.