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 ...
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...
2021 was a breakout year for the cryptocurrency sector and this year is expected to see an extension of the “mass adoption” trend. Public awareness of blockchain technology is on the rise and a new cohort of projects designed to fill more niche roles in society are likely to emerge in the coming months. Three sectors that have the potential to see significant growth in 2022 are human resources (HR), employee payment solutions and platforms that serve the gig economy by offering corporate blockchain solutions. HR might pivot toward blockchain Human resource management is ripe for blockchain integration due to the security and data storage solutions offered. Blockchain would allow each employee to have a unique address where all pertinent information could be cryptographically stored. HR als...