bitcoin payments
Not medical advice: Bitcoiner implants Lightning chip to make BTC payments by hand
The Lightning Network continues to shock the Bitcoin (BTC) community. A swiss IT Professional called F418 (not his real name) surgically implanted a Lightning-enabled chip into his right hand to make Lightning Network (LN) payments. An X-Ray image of the chip implanted into F418’s hand. Source: Youtube Speaking with Cointelegraph, F418 said he experimented with body modification and LN payments for fun. He does not recommend that Bitcoin enthusiasts take the layer-2 payments network, the LN, into their own hands as he did. “The use is just to show that it is possible and you can do stuff like that.” He added that most people carry cards, it’s just his hand has the wow factor: “It’s funny if you are doing a presentation as I sometimes do presentations about payments and talk to ...
Why banking uses at least 56 times more energy than Bitcoin
The next time Bitcoin (BTC) comes under fire for energy consumption, remember this statistic: the banking industry uses at least 56 times more energy. That’s according to cryptographer and founder of Valuechain, Michel Khazzaka: “I’m not saying it uses less or the same, just know it uses 56 times more than Bitcoin.” The statistic, first shared by Michel Khazzaka in the summer, caused a stir in the Bitcoin and wider crypto community. He published his estimates in a Valuechain report, a company he founded to investigate the world of crypto payments. In an exclusive Cointelegraph Crypto Story interview, Khazzaka talks viewers through the extensive research that led to striking conclusions. In short, Bitcoin might not be as bad for the environment as the mainstream media lead peopl...
Chinese agents used Bitcoin transactions through Wasabi to allegedly bribe US government employee
The United States Department of Justice has announced charges against two Chinese intelligence officers who allegedly bribed a double agent with Bitcoin. In an Oct. 24 announcement, the Justice Department said Guochun He and Zheng Wang attempted to obstruct the prosecution of an unnamed global telecommunications company based in China, which allegedly involved paying a U.S. government employee roughly $61,000 in bribes using Bitcoin (BTC). However, the individual was a double agent working on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and did not move against authorities in the Eastern District of New York in the case against the China-based company. According to an analysis by cryptocurrency risk management firm Elliptic, He and Wang used Wasabi Wallet to conceal the BTC transactions a...
Global Bitcoin payments market projected to reach $3.7B by 2031: Research
The global Bitcoin (BTC) payments market will reach $3.7 billion by 2031, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3% from 2022 to 2031, with private keys and hardware driving the sector expansion, forecasted Allied Market Research in a report published on Oct. 24. According to the document, operational demand for efficiency and transparency in payments systems, along with data security services growth and a surge in demand for remittances in emerging economies, are among the major factors supporting growth in the sector in the coming years. The report also stated: “Furthermore, increase in demand for bitcoin among banks, and financial institutions and untapped potential in emerging economies are expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the bitcoin payments...
Why crypto remittance companies are flocking to Mexico
Mexico is the second-largest recipient of remittances in the world, according to 2021 World Bank statistics. Remittances to the nation jumped to a record $5.3 billion in July, which is a 16.5% increase year-over-year compared to the same period last year. The steady growth presents myriad opportunities for fintech companies. Not surprisingly, droves of crypto companies are setting up shop in Mexico to claim a share of the burgeoning remittance market. Over the past year alone, about half a dozen crypto giants, including Coinbase, have set up operations in the country. In February, Coinbase unveiled a crypto transfer service tailored to United States-based clients looking to send crypto remittances to Mexico. The product enabled recipients in Mexico to withdraw their money in pesos. Other c...
Crypto Stories: YouTuber Paco de la India explains his travels using Bitcoin
A YouTuber started traveling the world to see whether he could survive solely on Bitcoin as a means of payment. In the latest episode of Cointelegraph’s ‘Crypto Stories’ series, Paco from India explained how he started his journey from the city of Bengaluru and learned from the example of travel pioneers who came before him, including Nellie Bly, who circumnavigated the globe in the late 19th century in less than 73 days. Paco worked a variety of jobs before reading up on Bitcoin (BTC) and made a big decision. “This is 2021,” said Paco. “I will travel the world by using Bitcoin.” The YouTuber added: “When my journey started, I had zero dollars. I sold my furniture, got $200 of Bitcoin, and as soon as I started on day one, the first Bitcoin meetup we had in Bengaluru, one guy came and gave ...
Bitcoin ecosystem makes a U-turn recovery in global ATM installations
Bitcoin (BTC) ATM installations have marked a new comeback as June 2022 saw the reversal of the five-month-long downward trajectory for the first time this year. The global ATM installations worldwide fell consistently throughout the year, with May reporting the lowest number of 205 ATM installations. However, June saw the installation of over 882 ATM installations in just the first ten days. Chart showing the net change of cryptocurrency machines number installed and removed monthly. Source: Coin ATM Radar As evidenced by the above graph, May 2022’s drop reached a range that was last seen three years ago in 2019. Over the last two years, in 2020 and 2021, Bitcoin ATM installations grew consistently owing to friendlier regulatory landscapes amid a rewarding market when numerous crypt...
Jack Dorsey is building ‘Web5’ powered by Bitcoin
Block subsidiary TBD has announced plans to build a new decentralized web centered around Bitcoin (BTC), underscoring founder Jack Dorsey’s belief that the largest blockchain network will play a major role in the internet’s evolution. The new project, called “Web5,” represents the latest Bitcoin-centric endeavor to be pursued by Dorsey since stepping down as CEO of Twitter in November 2021. Whereas Web3 incorporates blockchain technology and tokenization to decentralize the internet, Web5 is being envisioned as an identity-based system that only utilizes one blockchain: Bitcoin. Twitter user Namcios broke down the concept of Web5 in a series of tweets that described several software components working together to enhance the user’s experience and enable decentralized identity m...
Falling Bitcoin price doesn’t affect El Salvador’s strategy: ‘Now it’s time to buy more,’ reveals Deputy Dania Gonzalez
Dania Gonzalez, Deputy of the Republic of El Salvador, was recently in Brazil to reveal her country’s experiences with the decision to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. Gonzalez’s invitation to Brazil came from digital influencer Rodrix Digital, who was recently in El Salvador to produce a documentary about cryptocurrencies. Among the lawmaker’s activities in Brazil was attending Bitconf 2022, as well as meeting with Dape Capital CEO Daniele Abdo Philippi and Ana Élle, CEO of Agency ROE. Between her agendas, Gonzalez spoke with Cointelegraph and revealed how Bitcoin has helped to change people’s lives in El Salvador and how the federal government, led by President Nayib Bukele, has been taking advantage of the resources invested in BTC to improve the economy. El Salvador jus...
Bitcoin Pizza Day rewind: A homage to weird and wonderful BTC purchases
Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day! Before you dial for a Margherita to commemorate the world’s first real-world Bitcoin transaction, here’s a slice of trivia: What do a family holiday to Japan, a 50 Cent album, a steak dinner, and a framed cat photo all have in common? They were all paid for with Bitcoin (BTC) by members of the Cointelegraph Bitcoin community! And just like the Bitcoin pizzas that cost 10,000 BTC, which are now worth more than $300 million, the community’s Bitcoin purchases have also skyrocketed. Benjamin de Waal, the VP of Engineering at Bitcoin exchange Swan Bitcoin told Cointelegraph, “I spent 7 BTC on a family trip to Japan a few years back.” In today’s value, 7 BTC is worth well over $200,000 — but Ben’s happy because his kids are happy: “It would have be...
More than a third of AMC online payments are crypto or digital: CEO
AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron stated that crypto along with several other digital payment methods recently accounted for 35% of its online payments. The popular cinema chain has gradually been working on various crypto adoption plays after first rolling out online payment support for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC) in November. Last month it also added support for Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) payments via the AMC Theatres mobile app. Speaking as part of the firm’s 2022 Q1 earnings call on May 9, Aron emphasized that the firm’s plunge into crypto has not only been met with much “fanfare” but also opened up several payment rails that it had previously explored: “The same IT programming that was required for us to accept cryptocurrency also enabled us t...
“DeFi is not decentralized at all,” says former Blockstream executive
Samson Mow, former chief strategy officer at Blokstream and founder of JAN3, is convinced that most decentralized finance protocols can’t compete with Bitcoin when it comes to providing an effective monetary network because of their lack of decentralization. As Mow pointed out, DeFi projects are governed by entities that can modify the protocol at will. “At the fundamental level, money should be immutable,” explained Mow. “If you can change it at will, then you’re no better than a fiat currency governed by the Fed.” Bitcoin’s decentralization makes it very difficult to modify its protocol, which is why Mow considers it a unique candidate for becoming a truly global monetary system. Mow pointed out that despite the immutability of Bitcoin’s base layer, developers can still build appli...
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