When Stripe announced last month that it would process payments in 130 global currencies, co-founder John Collison hinted that Stripe was investigating another type of currency – this one entirely digital. Of course he meant Bitcoin, and on Thursday Stripe confirmed it.

The online and mobile payments startup has launched a bitcoin payments pilot with a few select customers, including Canadian encrypted data backup service Tarnsap, and it plans to launch a full beta trial in the near future. It’s set up a splash page where customers can sign up to participate.

Stripe’s young co-founders, Patrick and John Collison.

Stripe is also testing Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, which will allow direct transfers from bank accounts. But the bitcoin revelation is definitely the more intriguing news. While an increasing number of online merchants accept bitcoin today, they go through specific cryto-currency brokers like CoinBase. When – and if –…