Stephen Pair, cofounder and CTO of Bitpay, founded the company in 2011 because he saw a need for bitcoin payment processing.  Bitcoin is a new financial technology, invented in 2009 as the first peer-to-peer digital currency, that makes it possible to send money like an e-mail—to anyone, anytime, anywhere—without going through a bank, government, or corporation. Pair is involved in all the company’s day-to-day operations, including research and engineering, product development, and information technology. He has 20 years of experience building software systems in the financial and telecommunications industries.