Why are Bitpay's addresses only valid for 15min?

[Toddster]

I just saw someone buy something with Bitpay, and they were given a bitcoin address to send the funds to.  The screen said that this address was only valid for 15min. 

I understand that having a unique address for each transaction helps them neatly organize transactions but why do they say that the address is only valid for 15min?  Is that to get people to pay quickly in order to minimize fluctuations in the exchange rate? 

[coercion]

Is that to get people to pay quickly in order to minimize fluctuations in the exchange rate? 

Yep. Bitpay guarantees a dollar conversion rate for 15 minutes. When a purchase is initialized a price is set in BTC that corresponds to a particular dollar amount. That way if the price of BTC goes down in the 10 minutes that it takes the customer to complete the purchase the seller won't lose money in BTC to USD conversion. Extending beyond 15 minutes opens Bitpay up to more risks.

[e521]

Is that to get people to pay quickly in order to minimize fluctuations in the exchange rate? 

Yep. Bitpay guarantees a dollar conversion rate for 15 minutes. When a purchase is initialized a price is set in BTC that corresponds to a particular dollar amount. That way if the price of BTC goes down in the 10 minutes that it takes the customer to complete the purchase the seller won't lose money in BTC to USD conversion. Extending beyond 15 minutes opens Bitpay up to more risks.

Do you know if 15 mins is a static window or it can change or be changed in certain hours where volatility is higher?
Also is 15 mins based on some stats?

[Toddster]

Thanks for the answer. 

It would be really helpful to the adoption of bitcoin if there were a financial product like futures that Bitpay could purchase as "insurance" against price fluctuations. 

[hrga787]

Bitpay guarantees a dollar conversion rate for 15 minutes

[howzar]

Because it's linked to The USD price which they guarantee to the seller and the price isn't changing for you. And even this is good considering the high volatility of BTC and the fact they might be giving money to cover the difference even on small duration's like 15 mins.