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Novaz AuthenticatorGET

BitPay 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5

On this page
  1. Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
  2. Make your backup codes right away
  3. When BitPay asks for a code
  4. If BitPay rejects your code
  5. New phone or lost phone
  6. Turning 2FA off
  7. Official BitPay help

BitPay has two things people mix up. One is your bitpay.com account, signed in with email and password: individuals use its personal dashboard, and businesses that accept crypto use the merchant dashboard. The other is the BitPay Wallet app, which is self-custody, has no account login, and is protected by your 12-word recovery phrase (BitPay). Two-factor authentication (2FA) only applies to the bitpay.com account, and BitPay's only documented 2FA method is an authenticator app (BitPay).

BitPay's pages don't say 2FA is required. For merchant accounts with several users, BitPay recommends that each user turn it on (BitPay). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the BitPay steps come from BitPay's own help center, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026, through the help center's public article feed. One older BitPay article, about losing 2FA, is no longer in the live help center, so we read it in an archived copy on web.archive.org. We haven't tested any of this on a BitPay account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

The personal dashboard article, edited in February 2026, gives these steps (BitPay):

  1. Log in at bitpay.com.
  2. Select your name and email address in the top right, then Settings.
  3. On the Settings page, select Security.
  4. Under Two-Factor Authentication, select Enable.
  5. BitPay shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the code is on your iPhone's own screen, take a screenshot, then tap + and Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
  6. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz into BitPay.

Merchant accounts use an older layout. BitPay's merchant article says to select your username, then User Settings, select Edit in the Security settings, scan the QR code, enter the code and click Enable (BitPay). A third BitPay page calls the same setting 2-Step Verification, so the name on your screen may vary (BitPay).

Neither setup article mentions a text key. If BitPay shows one, in Novaz tap +, then Enter key manually, and paste it into Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key? Scanning is safer, since the QR code carries the code settings.

Make your backup codes right away

BitPay doesn't hand you backup codes during setup. You generate them afterwards, from the same place (BitPay):

  1. Go to Settings > Security.
  2. Select Backup Codes under Two-Factor Authentication.
  3. Enter the current code from Novaz, then select Generate Codes.

You get a list of single-use codes and an option to print them. On a merchant account, you type your current code into the field marked Auth Token to get the list (BitPay).

BitPay's merchant article is blunt about this: without the app or those codes, you won't get into your account. Without a Novaz backup (iCloud backup or a backup file), its keys exist only on your iPhone, so these codes are what's left if the phone goes. Store them away from the phone, in a password manager or on paper. More in 2FA backup codes.

When BitPay asks for a code

Every time you log in to bitpay.com, once 2FA is on (BitPay). BitPay also supports passkeys, added from Settings > Security > Add Passkey. It describes them as an alternative way to log in that can sit alongside 2FA (BitPay).

BitPay lists "Ask for your 2FA (two-factor authentication) codes" among the things it will never do (BitPay).

If BitPay rejects your code

BitPay's help center doesn't cover rejected codes. Check the iPhone's clock first: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz shows a warning when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?

New phone or lost phone

With a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore BitPay on the new iPhone and keep the same codes. Without one, a new phone means setting BitPay up again while you can still sign in on the old one. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If the phone is gone, sign in with one of your backup codes. BitPay's current pages describe no other route. The archived article, last captured in April 2025, said to email support@bitpay.com from your account's email address and ask for 2FA to be removed. BitPay would first run an identity check, then you could sign in and turn 2FA back on (BitPay, archived). It didn't say what the check involves or how long it takes, and the article has since left the live help center. See also Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Turning 2FA off

BitPay says the Security tab of the dashboard settings is where you set up or disable it, but gives no step-by-step for removing it (BitPay). After you turn it off, delete the entry in Novaz: open it and tap Remove account.

Official BitPay help

More guides: Crypto exchanges and wallets