Stripe has launched its bitcoin payments integration following nearly a year of testing.

With the launch, Stripe is now allowing any merchant in its network with a US dollar bank account to accept bitcoin. Integration for merchants is made possible through either its API or as part of its Checkout feature.

A representative for Stripe told CoinDesk that its beta test had delivered promising results, and as part of the testing merchants within Stripe's network received both domestic and international payments.

The spokesperson noted:

"While in beta, Stripe merchants accepted bitcoin transactions from more than 60 countries so we're excited to see what's next."

San Francisco-based Stripe has been moving slowly towards full bitcoin integration, as company executives including CTO Greg Brockman have opined in the past on the technology's potential.

"It really comes down to the the way that we, Stripe, want to be the universal payment infrastructure of the web," he told CoinDesk during an interview last June. "As part of that, bitcoin is really interesting as something that helps spread that, that helps connect this archipelago of different financial systems."

Stripe began testing bitcoin payments in March 2014, when it worked on an integration with online data backup service Tarsnap. The company plans to charge a 0.5% fee for each transaction.

The announcement follows Stripe's beta completion in December. At the time, Stripe said it expected to launch its full service in January.

The company's detailed guide for merchant integrations can be found here.

Images via Stripe