Payments
Portsmouth embraces Bitcoin payments for city bills
In an effort to embrace virtual money, the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, will allow residents to pay their bills in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Deaglan McEachern, the city’s mayor, proposed the idea to city officials, who feel it will provide residents with more payment choices. As per a local news report from Seacoastonline on March 23, Mayor McEachern said that “there are waves of new things that will affect us in terms of our future that use the type of technology used in cryptocurrency.” He went on to say: “I want to make sure Portsmouth is not waiting around to see how this is going to affect us in the future because it’s already affecting us.” McEachern said the City Hall has learned a lot more about cryptocurrencies and blo...
Malaysian comms official calls the state to legalize crypto and NFTs
The Malaysian Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) is reportedly backing the adoption of cryptocurrencies, with the deputy minister calling the government to legalize crypto. Deputy communications and multimedia minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin has urged Malaysia’s regulators to legalize certain use cases of cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFT), local news agency Harian Metro reported on Monday. Zahidi pointed out that such measures would significantly support young people as the cryptocurrency industry has been growing increasingly popular among the younger generation. He also said that the KKMM is exploring ways to increase the participation of young people in the industry. The deputy minister noted that the decision on crypto regulation is up to Malaysia’s financ...
Twitter enables users to give and receive Ethereum tips natively
In September 2021, Twitter enabled Bitcoin payments as the first cryptocurrency payment option available via its tipping jar. On Wednesday, the social media platform added a slew of fresh payment services to these existing tipping options, including Ether (ETH). Have you set up Tips on your profile yet so it’s easy for people to show their support? Yes: Cool, we’ve added Paga, Barter by Flutterwave, Paytm, and the option to add your Ethereum address. No: What are you waiting for? Here’s how: https://t.co/Id5TwTpnCF — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) February 16, 2022 Users looking to receive ETH tips simply need to enable the platform’s tipping features and add an Ethereum address to the dedicated section of their profile. However, an attempt to add an ENS doma...
Here’s how much digital yuan used at Olympics, according to PBoC
The 2022 Winter Olympics participants, visitors and organizers could be spending more than $300,000 in China’s digital yuan every day, according to new reports citing officials from the People’s Bank of China. The e-CNY, China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), is being used to make 2 million yuan ($316,000) or more worth of payments each day, PBoC’s Digital Currency Research Institute director-general Mu Changchun said. The official provided the data during a webinar hosted by the Atlantic Council, Reuters reported Tuesday. “I have a rough idea that there are several, or a couple of million digital yuan of payments every day, but I don’t have exact numbers yet,” Mu said, adding that there was no breakdown yet of the number of transactions made by Chinese nationals and foreign a...
Alchemy Pay gains 77% after exchange listings and cross-chain integrations
The cryptocurrency ecosystem has come a long way since the launch of Bitcoin (BTC) and in the last few years smart contracts have revolutionized the industry. With that said, there is still plenty of progress to be made when it comes to integrating blockchain technology to peer-to-peer, business to business and business to consumer payment systems. Alchemy Pay aims to further the adoption of cryptocurrencies through its hybrid payments system and in the last week its ACH token gained 77% to trade at $0.0625 on Feb. 9. ACH/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Three reasons for the uptick in ACH price include the cross-chain launch of ACH on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), multiple new exchange listings that have helped expand access to the token and the integration of Alchemy Pay wit...
Bitcoin Lightning Network goes live on Cash App
Mobile payment service Cash App revealed that Lightning Network can now be used to transfer Bitcoin (BTC) through its app. With the new feature, its users can send their BTC to any Lightning or on-chain BTC address. Lightning Network is now available on Cash App. It’s the fastest, free way to pay anyone in bitcoin. Buy tacos, tip your favorite Twitter comedian, or send a friend money abroad—anywhere that accepts lightning. pic.twitter.com/65TXSJ6yL6 — Cash App (@CashApp) February 7, 2022 A few weeks ago, the company announced through a notification within the app that it has integrated the Lightning Network. Now, its users can finally use the feature and utilize the benefits that the Bitcoin Lightning Network brings into everyday BTC transactions. To use Lightning Network on Cash App...
SEC approves BSTX for blockchain settlements on traditional markets
The Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX), a new facility of the Boston-based BOX exchange, received regulatory approval from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate as a blockchain-based securities exchange. BSTX was launched jointly by BOX and Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO, originally seeking approval for launching publicly-traded registered security tokens. However, the SEC approval to operate as a national securities exchange allows BSTX to use blockchain technology for faster settlements in traditional markets. According to the SEC, “The Commission notes that the [BSTX] Exchange’s current proposal does not involve the trading of digital tokens and such a proposal, or any other additional use of blockchain technology.” While the SEC has previously...
PayPal stablecoin: What it could mean for payments
PayPal confirmed on Jan. 8 it is “exploring a stablecoin” that could be called PayPal Coin after a developer found evidence of such a stablecoin within the source code of the company’s iPhone app. PayPal senior vice president of crypto and digital currencies Jose Fernandez da Ponte said at the time that if the company plans to move forward with the stablecoin, it will do so while working closely with relevant regulators — an approach that could help the fintech firm avoid the wrath of United States senators that doomed Meta’s Diem cryptocurrency project. The company has clarified that the source code found on its iPhone app was developed in an internal hackathon. When Cointelegraph contacted PayPal to learn more, a spokesperson confirmed the previous reporting but did not offer any additio...
Staying cool: Is crypto snowballing to 1 billion users this year?
Crypto.com raised a few eyebrows this past week when it announced cryptocurrency users worldwide could reach 1 billion by the end of 2022. The timing was curious, given that Bitcoin (BTC) and many other cryptos are entwined in one of the largest drawdowns in their (albeit short) history and with the prospect of United States Federal Reserve interest-rate tightening edging ever nearer. But the cryptocurrency exchange, which in November gave its name to the arena where the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team plays in a 20-year deal, was obviously taking the long view. Also, its prediction was contingent on two things happening: one in the “developed” world, the other in less-mature national economies. It also involved some statistical extrapolation. To wit, the main arguments for ...
Altcoin Roundup: 3 ways blockchain technology could further mainstream in 2022
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...
Retail is pushing the Bitcoin price up, says Ledger CEO
As crypto prices recover after a slump last week, Pascal Gauthier, CEO of crypto wallet firm Ledger, addressed questions relating to the state of the crypto market. In an interview taken by CNBC at the Crypto Finance Conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Gauthier said the situation panning out with Bitcoin (BTC) comes as no surprise. The retail trend is prominent and it’s “always the same.” He explained: “The number of addresses with the minimum number of BTC is actually growing compared to the number of whales. There is a profound retail trend everywhere in the world; they trust Bitcoin more and more. It’s the people that will push the price up.” Recent data from on-chain market intelligence provider Glassnode supports the claim. The number of BTC addresses with...
Ramp expands presence in US with FinCEN regulation
On Tuesday, crypto-fiat gateway payments platform Ramp announced that its U.S. subsidiary Ramp Swaps LLC had received its registration as a Money Service Business with the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The regulatory greenlight enables Ramp to do business in 38 states across the United States. Besides the development, Ramp also has regulatory clearance with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority and Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority. Ramp allows users to buy crypto directly in their wallets and decentralized applications, or DApps. Last year, the company grew its transaction volume by approximately 30x. It has partnerships with over 400 blockchain entities worldwide, including Axie Infinity, Mozilla, Opera Browser, Aave, T...
