Payment processor BitPay joins Circle as the only other Gold Member in the Bitcoin Foundation.

The Atlanta-based BitPay has been on a roll lately, signing up more than 26,000 merchants (including Tiger Direct and the Sacramento Kings) and processing more than $100 million in BTC transactions last year alone.

“BitPay paved the way in international merchant processing for the Bitcoin community; their clients rely on BitPay as a trusted, responsible partner,” said Jon Matonis, the foundation’s executive director.

“That trust will keep the Bitcoin ecosystem growing. We’re proud to welcome BitPay as a Gold Member and look forward to helping their efforts for global bitcoin adoption.”

Just this month, we reported on BitPay’s growth, including opening a new office in Argentina and upping their total staff to 31 people.

“BitPay feels it is important to support the great work done by the Bitcoin Foundation, as they are leading the continued growth and success of the core protocol upon which we build our business,” BitPay CEO Tony Gallippi said.

The Bitcoin Foundation describes its own mission as helping Bitcoin deliver on its potential for entrepreneurs to citizens around the world. This includes standardizing Bitcoin, buttressing its security and promoting the currency.