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Starbucks customers can now pay for items with bitcoin by leveraging the Bakkt digital wallet application. Bakkt’s CEO, Gavin Michael explained that 500,000 users participated in testing before the launch, as the company says it looks forward to expanding crypto assets to everyone. You Can Now Pay for Goods at Starbucks With Bitcoin You can now pay with bitcoin by leveraging the Bakkt wallet at the popular chain of coffeehouses called Starbucks. With over 30,000 locations worldwide, Starbucks is the world’s largest coffeehouse chain and pulls in around $26.50 billion in revenue yearly. According to Bakkt executives, 500,000 customers participated in Bakkt’s invitation-only early access program, and now anyone can download the application via the App Store and Google Play Store and use it to make purchases. “The average consumer holds a wealth of digital assets – from gift cards to loyalty points to bitcoin – but lacks the tools to adequately track and utilize their value,” Bakkt’s CEO, Gavin Michael said during the announcement. “We’re thrilled to bring the Bakkt App to the public as a step along our journey to expand digital asset access to all. Bakkt Names a Number of Popular Partners Starbucks is not the only mainstream shop that will accept bitcoin via the Bakkt app, as companies like Golfnow, Best Buy, Choice Hotels, and Fiserv are joining in as well. Karl Hebert, Starbucks VP of global card, commerce, and payments explained that the Starbucks team worked very closely with the Bakkt team members. “Our teams worked closely together as Bakkt sought input in developing a unique and trusted payment experience that enables customers to unlock the value of their digital assets in the form of U.S. dollars,” Hebert said. The Starbucks executive added: We are excited that customers now have the opportunity to use Bakkt to load their Starbucks Card in the Starbucks app and then use it to pay at Starbucks. Additionally, Jerramy Hainline, senior vice president, and general manager at Golfnow said his company also looks forward to diversifying toward an alternative payment system. “As a technology leader in our sport, Golfnow is excited to join with Bakkt to further diversify payment solutions for our more than 3.5 million members,” Hainline detailed. “The potential our partnership presents is very compelling, creating an opportunity to make golf even more accessible by giving our customers the ability to convert crypto, gift cards, and unused loyalty points into a round of golf.” What do you think about being able to spend bitcoin at places like Starbucks, Best Buy, and Golfnow? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Pioneering clinical trials platform ClinTex is giving away $1 million USD worth CTi tokens through a unique staking program, which is running from April 1st to September 30th, 2021. London, United Kingdom – Following a successful launch in 2020 ClinTex has been developing CTi-OEM, a blockchain app focused on using data analytics to enhance operational efficiency in clinical trials. Due to the success of the CTi presale (in which the soft-cap target was achieved) and the swift development of the platform, ClinTex chose not to go ahead with the final stage of its IEO. Instead the company chose to continue with a secure CTi token listing on top cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and sustain the impressive momentum that the project had started to gather. CTi Growth Since its listing on KuCoin both the project has seen significant growth. Humbled by the level of support that the project has gathered in a relatively short period, ClinTex have decided to reappropriate the tokens originally intended for the IEO into a uniquely rewarding staking program for all CTi token holders. The staking program offers CTi token holders an opportunity to earn higher rewards than typical staking programs. CTi Token giveaway Clintex will be giving away over $1 million USD in CTi tokens to its community through a unique staking program designed to offer maximum benefit to its participants. The program is an opportunity for participants to earn as much as 40% interest to participants for staking CTi tokens over three different staking options. The staking program will see ClinTex distribute a total 18.5 Million CTi tokens to participants from 1st April 2021 to September 30th, when the first app is due for release. Because CTi is a single asset, participants of the program can earn high yield rewards by sending their CTi to the staking pool and will receive their stake and rewards after their staking time has elapsed. Staking And Rewards There are three options for CTi token staking, one month, three months or 5 months: with the highest interest rewards going to the longest staking term. One month stakers will be rewarded by 6% returns, a three month stake offers a sizable 21% return and 5 month stakers will get a massive 40% return on their CTi tokens. For example a 5 month stake of 1000 tokens would yield a 1,400 CTi return. Compound Staking Token stakers will also have the option to increase their staking rewards even further with ‘Compound Staking’, an added benefit which allows for an additional staking period after the initial staking time has elapsed. Anyone staking 1,000 CTi for 30 days will earn a return of 1,060 CTi but if they were to stake for an additional 30 days they would earn additional interest on the first months profits, increasing their rate of 6% to 12.36% and receiving a more substantial 1,236 CTi in the process. Start Staking Now Anyone can take part in the CTi staking program for the next 6 months, which is set to end at the same time as the launch of the first CTi app. Staking has now launched on the ClinTex website. Interested parties will require a web3 cryptocurrency wallet such as Metamask to take part in the program Clintex: A Blockchain Solution For Clinical Trials ClinTex is a scalable blockchain platform built for clinical trials, to serve as a single source of truth for the clinical trial and pharma ecosystem and designed for wide adoption by the stakeholders of the ecosystem. In recent years the standards in the clinical trials industry have fallen, with hugely inflated costs and massive trial delays becoming the norm. The average cost of getting a new drug on the market today is an eye watering $2.5 billion, and some trials can take as long as 10 years to be approved. Distributed ledger technology has the potential to revolutionise the clinical trials industry and solve these growing issues. ClinTex stands head and shoulders from its peers with its fully scalable blockchain platform for the development of real-world clinical trials. ClinTex will be the first company to deliver real-world solutions in the clinical trial industry with blockchain technology and AI, integrated with clinical data sources to make a positive lasting impact on a global issue. ClinTex staking program represents a great opportunity to be involved in a potentially industry changing shift and is also a potentially rare investment opportunity for CTi holders. Join the CTi staking program to start earning up to 40% rewards for a 5 month stake. Media Contact Details Contact Name: Bitcoin PR Buzz Press Team Contact Email: press@bitcoinprbuzz.com Learn more about ClinTex — https://twitter.com/ClinTexCTi Buy CTi on KuCoin — https://trade.kucoin.com/CTI-USDT Read about ClinTex on Medium — https://medium.com/@clintexcti Learn more about CTi Staking — https://clintex.io/stake Follow ClinTex on Twitter — https://twitter.com/ClinTexCTi Join the community on Telegram — https://t.me/ClinTexCTi About Bitcoin PR Buzz Bitcoin PR Buzz has been proudly serving the crypto press release distribution needs of blockchain start-ups for over 9 years. Get your Bitcoin Press Release Distribution today. ClinTex is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has greenlighted Coinbase’s initial public offering via a direct listing on Nasdaq, the company has confirmed. Coinbase’s IPO is set to debut in two weeks, on April 14. Coinbase IPO to Debut in 2 Weeks Coinbase Global Inc. announced Thursday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared its registration statement relating to its initial public offering (IPO) effective. The company has also set a date for its IPO, stating: Coinbase anticipates that its Class A common stock will begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ‘COIN’ on April 14, 2021. The IPO was pushed back from March following enforcement action by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to Bloomberg. The derivatives watchdog fined the crypto exchange operator $6.5 million “for reckless false, misleading, or inaccurate reporting as well as wash trading.” Coinbase was valued at about $90 billion in its final week of trading on Nasdaq’s private market, the news outlet further conveyed. The company is going public through a direct listing. Last week, Coinbase announced that it is setting up an office in India amid regulatory uncertainty as there are reports of the Indian government planning to ban cryptocurrencies. The crypto community on social media is excited to hear that Coinbase will IPO in two weeks. Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor, whose company has amassed almost 100K BTC, said: “Congratulations to the entire team at Coinbase. This listing will accelerate institutional adoption of bitcoin and catalyze a host of complementary industry initiatives.” What do you think about Coinbase’s IPO? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Stratis, the Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) platform, expands developer reach by collaborating with C# Corner, the largest, most active group of C# developers in the world. 2nd April 2021, London, United Kingdom -  Stratis achieves another milestone as it partners with C# Corner, a 3M+ member community that works towards the advancement of knowledge and software technology. Stratis’ focus on leveraging Microsoft technologies, specifically the C# programming language, means a plethora of programmers worldwide will now be developing and supporting one-another to build with Stratis Blockchain Technologies. The partnership will influence several activities being performed in the coming months, starting with a dedicated Stratis Blockchain Development Team focussed on developing practical use cases utilizing Stratis. C# Corner’s development team will commit to delivering multiple solutions, ultimately demonstrating the power of the platform developed by Stratis.  Moreover, Stratis will work alongside C# Corner to perform focused Hackathon events every quarter, providing prize pools for those participating in demonstrating blockchain use-cases with Stratis’ Smart Contract solution. Stratis aims to create a vast network of developers who can design, build and deploy functional applications on Stratis. The growth of a rich and knowledgeable community of developers will undoubtedly drive adoption and development. This partnership will also introduce the highly anticipated Certified Stratis Blockchain Expert (CSBE) certification program; aimed at those architecting Blockchain Solutions utilizing Stratis. The certification assures that an individual has a deep understanding of core blockchain concepts and their feasibility, and demonstrates best practice set forth by Stratis’ core development team. Stratis will also have a dedicated area in the Learn section of C# Corner, where those interested in Blockchain development can further their skills following instructor-led tutorials.  C# Corner: Microsoft Stack Focused Community C# Corner, ranked below 2,800 globally and founded in 2000, is one of C# and .NET developers’ largest online communities. C# Corner reaches close to 5 million developers each month and provides daily updates on software development news. C# Corner has 1.2 million followers on Facebook and several thousand followers on Twitter and other social media platforms. C# Corner members publish daily fresh content on learning and building better software. Members share their knowledge via articles, blog posts, forum questions, and career advice. C# Corner also provides learning content, including videos, learning tutorials, live shows.as well as organizing several developer-focused conferences that are the most prominent developer conferences globally. The C# Corner MVP program recognizes and awards top technical experts and thought leaders in the space and promotes them on its platform and social media. Veteran Microsoft developers lead the C# Corner team, including several Microsoft MVPs, regional directors, and certified trainers. Mahesh Chand, the founder of C# Corner, is a 14-time Microsoft MVP and a former Microsoft Regional Director. Mahesh is also a published author and has issued half a dozen books on C# and .NET. The Stratosphere and Beyond Stratis spent the past several years building a versatile and feature-rich platform based on Microsoft’s leading programming framework, .NET Core. The platform can now be utilized to create Blockchain solutions in a familiar environment.  By using an alternate consensus algorithm known as Proof-of-Authority, Stratis’ BaaS Technology can scale, handling far greater throughput than other blockchain solutions. A defined set of distributed block producers ensure transactions are validated and processed rapidly, resulting in lightning-fast turnaround times. Stratis’ solution provides the ability to ‘Scale at Will’ and thus does not experience congestion, resulting in pre-defined and known transactional costs, removing the risk of experiencing volatile costs when interacting with the Blockchain. With $4.1 Billion spent on blockchain solutions worldwide last year, every industry today is exploring the benefits blockchain technology brings. Stratis offers the easiest adoption solution through its different offerings built on C#, the most widely used coding language. About Stratis Stratis offers unprecedented levels of security, reliability, and performance through leveraging blockchain. The platform’s native C# ecosystem enables businesses worldwide to utilize their existing IT infrastructure and tools to adopt blockchain technology by providing access to the Stratis blockchain’s features in a familiar language to the everyday developer. Microsoft Focus: Stratis provides the only Blockchain platform that offers end-to-end Microsoft solutions, utilizing the .NET Core Framework Stratis Identity: A decentralized KYC and AML check to make it easier for businesses to verify client identities and comply with regulations. Supply Trust: A turnkey solution for supply chain management, providing complete visibility in a trustless and decentralized environment. STO Platform: Regulation-compliant digital securities for businesses launching STO’s Stratis Smart Contracts: Secure and auditable digital contracts developed in the industry-standard Microsoft C# language, fit for the DeFi age. Follow Stratis on Twitter – https://twitter.com/stratisplatform Join the Stratis Developer Academy – https://academy.stratisplatform.com/ Check out Stratis on GitHub – https://github.com/stratisproject Read the latest Stratis news – https://www.stratisplatform.com/news/ Media Contact Details Contact Name: Bitcoin PR Buzz Press Team Contact Email: press@bitcoinprbuzz.com Stratis is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

As non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are becoming a global phenomenon increasingly due to their mainstream adoption, there are also concerns about the surge of related scams. A recent study revealed the most common NFT scams that are spreading on the net. Suspicious Domain Registrations With ‘NFT’ Word Surged 250% in March 2021 According to the research conducted by security experts of Bolster, replica stores are on a bullish trend, as the recent figures show a boost in the number of domain registrations. Scammers have been actively setting up replica stores with suspicious-looking domains with names such as “rarible,” “opensea,” and “audious.” Per the study, such domain registrations have skyrocketed nearly 300% in March 2021 when compared to previous months. The replica stores or phony copycats, says Bolster, often rely on using the same design of legitimate NFT stores, even replicating their logos. Similarly, fake NFT stores are considered a variant of the replica NFT stores, with the difference that the first one doesn’t impersonate the design of an existent legitimate store. That said, the fake stores sell NFTs that don’t exist whatsoever. Also, figures are not optimistic in terms of stopping the bullish steam of the fake NFT stores. In March 2021, suspicious domain registrations with the word “nft” accounted for 17,118, representing an increase of 250% compared to February 2021. Bolster highlights other types of NFT-related scams, such as selling “counterfeit NFTs” by impersonating original artworks. Researchers elaborated on the matter: If you were following NFTs in the recent weeks, you would be aware of the Banksy-styled artworks sold on the NFT markets for $1 million in crypto. Although I do not want to get into whether that was a copyright/ trademark issue, this sets a precursor for what is to come. Counterfeit and real-world ‘inspired’ artwork/content will become a problem shortly. Users need to be careful about what they are buying or bidding. It is difficult to verify the seller on such online marketplaces. The Uptrend of Scams Is Far From Slowing Down As usual in the crypto sphere, the NFT landscape is not exempt from dealing with fake giveaways or airdrops. According to Bolster, “thousands of such scams” are spotted by them every month. Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, and Discord are the most common way to spread fake giveaway campaigns. In the same line, scammers are using social media networks to perform NFT-related brand impersonation. Bolster highlighted an example of several active fake Rarible.com communities in Telegram. But the firm doesn’t believe the NFT scams’ growing trend will slow down soon: These scams will get more complex and sophisticated. Scammers will keep innovating to make sure users fall for these. Not just NFTs, when buying anything online, a buyer needs to be aware of where and to whom they are giving away their credit card or banking information. What are your thoughts on the study’s findings? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

In an abrupt move, Binance South Africa announced on March 31 that all South African rand (ZAR) trading pairs will be delisted on April 2. The crypto exchange adds in a statement that “all trade orders will be automatically removed after 10.00 UTC on April 1” in each respective trading pair. Binance concludes by requesting users to withdraw all funds before the 10.00 UTC deadline. ZAR No Longer Meets the Standard In justifying the decision, Binance South Africa states that it “periodically reviews each digital asset we list to ensure it continues to meet the high level of standard we expect.” The email goes on to add that when “a token no longer meets this standard or when the industry changes,” a decision will be made to remove such a digital asset. Meanwhile, in a strong hint that ZAR trading pairs had failed the in-depth review, Binance said: Based on our most recent reviews, we have decided to delist and cease trading on all ZAR trading pairs at 10.00 UTC on April 1, 2021. According to the statement, the exact trading pairs to be removed include USDT/ZAR, BTC/ZAR, ETH/ZAR, BUSD/ZAR and BNB/ZAR. Still, the email explains that South African users can still trade these “assets in other trading pairs that are available on Binance.” Users Speculate Meanwhile, not everyone is satisfied with Binance’s explanation for dropping ZAR trading pairs. For instance, one local report speculated that “a common delisting template (had been) used in the rush to push the announcement out.” However, the report also quotes an unnamed “Binance Africa Angel” who suggests that “the platform’s low liquidity on the pairs was cause for the decision.” The lack of ZAR deposit functionality is thought to be “exacerbating the problem.” On Twitter, some users expressed surprise at the decision which they claim is contradictory. Basing their claims on a Chainalysis report, which places South Africa “among the top 10 countries in the world for crypto adoption”, the users argue that it, therefore, makes no sense for Binance to delist ZAR pairs. Do you agree with Binance’s justification for delisting ZAR trading pairs? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Irish police are on high alert due to the rising number of cases related to a bitcoin-related scam targeting high-net-worth people in the country. The situation has become worrisome because suspicious high-value transactions have already been noticed by authorities. Authorities Already Searched One Property Tied to One of the Suspects According to The Irish Times, Gardaí (Ireland’s police) investigates what they consider a major crypto scam whose criminals could be residing in the country. A local bank already raised concerns about a suspicious transaction of 500,000 euros ($586,500) from a dormant account. After inquiries conducted by Gardaí on the older customer who wanted to invest such an amount of money into what he believed was a legit crypto business opportunity, he accepted the police’s advice to not send the fiat money. But per the media outlet, it seems other similar transactions took place before they acted to block the 500,000 euros move to the criminals’ wallet. In fact, the victim wanted to exchange the money into cryptos and then deposit it into a bitcoin (BTC) wallet belonging allegedly to the scammers. Although no arrests have been made as of press time, Irish police already searched on a property in south Dublin, allegedly tied to some suspects. The report says mobile phones, computers, cash, designer handbags, and jewelry was found and seized by the authorities. Moreover, investigations are focused on how the criminals — some of them are allegedly foreign nationals and based in Dublin — approached the victims and gained their confidence. Overseas Authorities Are Helping the Irish Police on the Investigation Police are worried about the destination of some of the funds received by the ostensible bitcoin scammers, as they’re trying to determine how much money was exchanged into fiat and if it’s being held on overseas bank accounts. Still, Gardaí believes funds could have reached “several million.” Pat Lordan, an official of the Gardaí National Economic Crime Bureau, issued the following warning: One case involved a retired professional from the midlands who lost his entire pension and savings of nearly €250,000. Our advice is simple: don’t respond to unsolicited approaches, be wary of wild claims, and never ever let anyone have remote access to your computer. What do you think about this massive bitcoin scam taking place in Ireland? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

On Thursday, Bitcoin Cash proponents were introduced to a new website that features a project called Smart Bitcoin Cash or Smartbch for short. Essentially, the project is a sidechain for Bitcoin Cash that is compatible with Ethereum’s EVM and Web3 API, which means people will soon be able to leverage decentralized applications (dapps) without paying lots of money for transaction fees. Bitcoin Cash Fans Introduced to a Unique Ethereum and Web3-Compatible Sidechain At the time of writing, Ethereum is the dominant chain when it comes to Web3 applications and decentralized finance. However, ethereum (ETH) fees to interact with a Web3 compatible dapp or some type of smart contract can be very expensive these days. The Smartbch project aims to change all that and the creators plan to make throughput as large as one billion gas every 15 seconds. The new website called smartbch.org says the sidechain will essentially maximize throughput of EVM and Web3 tools. The website gives a person a comprehensive look at what Smart Bitcoin Cash aims to accomplish with a FAQ, documentation, community resources, and even jobs and bounties. “Smart Bitcoin Cash’s innovation lies in libraries,” the core components mentioned in the project’s white paper notes. “Instead of inventing fancy consensus and cryptographic algorithms, we decided to adopt another methodology: to develop low-level libraries with an aim to fully uncover the hardware’s potential, especially its inherent parallelism. Ordinary users and developers are provided with a compatibility layer supporting EVM and Web3, so the optimized low-level “close to the metal” libraries themselves remain concealed by this layer of abstraction. During the implementation, we used the codename ‘Moeing,’ which is added to the libraries’ names as prefix.” Five Tools and Many Benefits Smartbch leveraged five tools that will be greatly beneficial to the sidechain’s ecosystem. MoeingADS single-layer architecture, the MoeingEVM parallelized execution engine, the MoeingDB application-specific database, MoeingKV storage, and the MoeingAOT compiler for the EVM. The project’s website notes that programmers can “build a new playground for Bitcoin Cash’s ecosystem and enlarge the user base.” Smartbch will also offer: EVM and Web3 compatible and has a short block interval to support defi-applications. The throughput will be as large as one billion gas every 15 seconds to allow more users to practice defi at a very low cost. Has been developed from scratch and is made of several low-level libraries which fully leverage the potential of hardware, especially its inherent parallelism. Earn an extra reward for Bitcoin Cash’s miners and holders, who can elect Smart Bitcoin Cash’s validators with hashpower and locked coins, respectively. Develop trustless non-custodian two-way pegged gateways, which can support any kinds of side chains of Bitcoin Cash for securely transferring BCH bidirectionally. This enables Bitcoin Cash to include more side chains for a richer ecosystem. Bitcoin.com’s newsdesk was the first to report on the Ethereum and Web3-compatible sidechain coming to Bitcoin Cash during the first week of March. Of course, the BCH community on Reddit loved the idea and many supporters wrote a comment about the project on r/btc. “We are working with the Smartbch team and have a test node running. Should have the Uniswap contract working this weekend,” one programmer wrote on the forum. The first release of version 0.1.0 of Smartbch is now available and developers can help test a dapp on Smartbch. Programmers can also download the source code and start a single node testnet. At the time of publication, bitcoin cash (BCH) is exchanging hands for $560 per unit, up 2.3% during the last 24 hours. What do you think about the Smartbch project and the Ethereum and Web3-compatible sidechain coming to Bitcoin Cash? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

According to Bloqport’s latest data, bitcoin, which ended the month of March with an overall gain of 29%, has now been in the green for six consecutive months. The data also shows that the crypto asset’s value has nearly doubled from its December 2020 closing price of $29,383 to its current value of $58,647. With this run, bitcoin has already outperformed many other assets including gold. An Institution-Fueled Bull Run As shown by the research and analytics firm’s data, BTC’s current run began at the start of Q4 of 2020, a period that coincides with increased reports of institutional investors acquiring the crypto asset. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, Microstrategy and Square Inc had kickstarted a new wave of large corporations and hedge funds buying into the crypto asset. For instance, on October 7, 2020, Square Inc announced it had converted 1% of cash reserves (or $50 million at the time) into BTC. Since then, more corporations including Elon Musk’s Tesla have revealed their BTC holdings. Meanwhile, as more institutional investors and large corporations continued to reveal their BTC positions, the crypto asset’s value surged. For instance, after registering a net gain of 28% during October, the crypto asset went up by 43% in November and a further 48% in December. BTC’s Second Best Run The month of December also saw BTC going past its 2017/18 all-time high of just under $20,000. Similarly, BTC has grown by double digits figures in the first three months of 2021 with the month of January recording the least gain. Yet according to Bloqport’s data, this is only the third time the bitcoin has recorded net gains for six consecutive months or more. The same run was previously seen in 2012, between April and September. However, it is the period from November of 2012 to May of 2013 when BTC recorded seven consecutive monthly net gains. In terms of the worst periods for the crypto asset, the data shows that BTC had some of its less stellar moments in the year 2011 and 2018. Do you think BTC’s net monthly gains can go beyond the current record of seven consecutive months? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

While bitcoin prices have been consolidating just under the $60k handle, a number of other alternative digital assets have seen steep gains. Two coins, in particular, the decentralized storage network filecoin token and the notorious meme token dogecoin have jumped well over 10% during the last 24 hours. On Thursday, April 1, 2021, otherwise known as “April Fool’s Day,” the popular cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE) jumped over 12% during the last 24 hours. The spike in price was immediately after the famous Tesla executive Elon Musk tweeted: SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2021 Dogecoin kind of slumped during the course of March but did very well during the first two months of the year. During the last seven days, DOGE is up 19% against the U.S. dollar and 973% during the last three months. On Wednesday afternoon (EST), dogecoin was exchanging hands for $0.058 per coin. Meanwhile, filecoin (FIL) has been duking it out with litecoin (LTC) in recent times. FIL is trading for $205 per coin and jumped over 12% on Wednesday. FIL’s market cap is around $11.9 billion and filecoin has jumped a massive 151% during the last seven days. FIL/USD markets on Coinbase on April 1, 2021. Statistics from bybt.com show that inflows into Grayscale Investments‘ Filecoin Trust is where some of the action has stemmed from, while demand on spot exchanges has increased as well. Data shows on Wednesday that filecoin (FIL) trade volume is around $4.66 billion across global crypto exchanges. In addition to dogecoin and filecoin, both binance coin (BNB) and chainlink (LINK) have seen solid gains during the last day as well. Besides FIL and DOGE, the two currencies are leading the pack as far as 24-hour gains are concerned. BNB saw a 4.6% jump in value during the morning while LINK spiked by 6.9% on Wednesday. The biggest gainers on Wednesday included medibloc (MED +75%), armor (ARMOR +73%), and verasity (VRA +71%). Today’s losers with the most percentages losses were coins like bumo (BU -66%), kimchi.finance (KIMCHI -46%), and cybereits (CRE) which is down a touch over 40% today. What do you think about today’s crypto gainers and losers? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

xSigma is a decentralized exchange for stablecoin swaps backed by a NASDAQ-listed corporation. In the first month since it was launched the DEX reached an impressive $112 million in total trading volume. xSigma developments continue with a Gas Cashback, a new roadmap, a staking pool being launched and a platform picked for Layer-2 implementation. xSigma DEX Sets New Records in First Month Backed by ZK International Group, a NASDAQ-listed and China-based corporation, xSigma launched its stablecoin DEX on February 24, 2021. The exchange has an incredible kickoff that day and the entire ecosystem around it set new record highs for the DeFi sector in its first month of operation. These include a total trading volume of $112 million and a daily exchange volume that reached $15 million. The first month also saw the number of SIG token holders, the platform’s native utility token, climb over 2,600. In total for the first month of operations, SIG trading volume has surpassed $50 million on Uniswap and 1.8 million SIG tokens have been awarded to liquidity providers. xSigma’s native token has also been exposed to many more people, getting added to price aggregators CMC and CoinGecko, portfolio trackers Zapper, Blockfolio, and Zerionand as well as integrated into 1inch.exchange. ✅ xSigma has recently launched the Pool 3, which enables SIG staking. There is over $2.5m worth of $SIG locked in the pool now. ℹ️ For your convinience we have prepared a guide for the Pool 3: https://t.co/5OzgNUFL0h — xSigma (@xSigma5) March 28, 2021 Developers Continue to Push Forward The strong team of technology veterans at xSigma didn’t rest on its laurels following the successful launch of the DEX and continued to develop new ways to benefit the community. Pool 3 was launched, enabling SIG staking. It was also revealed that a platform was picked for L2 implementation – zkSync – Ethereum’s first zero-knowledge rollup developed by Matter Labs. Paying back xSigma users for enduring the high costs of using the Ethereum network these days, a Gas Cashback program was introduced. The generous initiative is open to holders of at least 30 SIG who conduct transactions of more than $1,000. Up to 80% of the cost of the transaction will be subsidized by xSigma and repaid directly to eligible users in ethers. During the first month after the launch xSigma also released its Roadmap. The plan includes various proposals to keep expanding the ecosystem such as a range of promotions to raise the profile of xSigma and onboard new users and liquidty providers, and partner with other prominent DeFi players. The team also pledged to burn the extra unminted tokens from the Rewards fund and to burn the same amounts proportionally from the Dev Fund and Growth Fund. Additionally, an off-chain DAO will be established where SIG holders will be able to vote proportionally to their stake, but without the need to pay gas fees. All these steps show how the team is committed to rewarding the community and transform xSigma into a best-in-class AMM for the DeFi generation. xSigma Lab has picked @zksync as a platform for its stablecoin DEX Layer-2 implementation. xSigma will exchange knowledge and experience with @the_matter_labs to deliver one of the first L2 stablecoin DEXs⚡️ pic.twitter.com/IiVKaQuTYm — xSigma (@xSigma5) March 29, 2021 This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

Following the release of new Garbage Pail Kids non-fungible token (NFT) assets and the recent Godzilla NFT collectibles from Topps, the leading pop-culture consumer products company Funko Inc., revealed the company is also joining the NFT fray. Funko announced on Thursday that the company has acquired Tokenwave, LLC and the investment aims to project the firm into the digital assets and NFT markets. Funko Pop! NFTs Coming This Summer The publicly listed firm Funko (Nasdaq: FNKO) is a well known American company launched in 1998 by Mike and Claudia Becker. Since then the company has catapulted to one of the top pop-culture brands throughout the last two decades. Funko makes a myriad of products, but the company is best known for licensed bobbleheads and vinyl figures. The investment into Tokenwave, LLC aims to “extend the company’s pop culture platform to include digital assets.” Tokenwave is the developer of Tokenhead, an application for smartphones that allows people to collect NFTs. The app is available via Android and iOS and the 10 million NFTs hosted on the platform get 100,000 visitors per day. Exact numbers about Funko’s acquisition of Tokenwave were not disclosed. Funko aims to launch the NFT offerings this June and each week the starting price will begin at $9.99. The Funko-centric NFT products will be hosted on the WAX blockchain marketplace according to the announcement. “Funko is thrilled to advance another platform that our fans and collectors will love and find valuable,” Funko CEO Brian Mariotti detailed. “Our strategy in this space is clear – bring the value-added NFT opportunity to our licensing partners to leverage our broad range of existing pop culture content across Television, Movies, Sports, Music, Anime, Video Games and Comic Books. Our amazing licensing partners are excited about our entry into this new digital space and we believe the diversity of our licensing portfolio sets us up for long-term success,” the executive added. The Rarest Funko NFTs and Redeemable Funko Pops The 23-year-old company gets over $500 million in revenue per year according to statistics and since Mariotti started as CEO, Funko has expanded its toy lines a great deal and has signed with well known firms. “Our ability to combine Funko Pop digital NFTs with exclusive Funko Pop Vinyl Figures has the potential to be a game-changer,” Mariotti added. “By backing the rarest of the Funko NFTs with exclusive redeemable Funko Pop!s, we are poised to enter the NFT market in a very unique manner.” The NFT industry will likely expand Funko’s product lines and the company has already manufactured over 20,000 different products since 1998. The announcement also says that the Funko NFTs will leverage WAX’s patented NFT technology which is called “vIRLs.” Mariotti called the technology “powerful” and he thinks the NFT space is all about content and Funko has been providing that for the last 20 years, the CEO highlighted. What do you think about Funko getting into the non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles space? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Payments giant Paypal has launched the “Checkout With Crypto” service to allow consumers to make payments at millions of merchants using cryptocurrencies in their Paypal wallets. “This is the first time you can seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit card or a debit card inside your Paypal wallet,” said Paypal’s CEO. Crypto Payments Through Paypal Now Enabled at Millions of Merchants Paypal Holdings Inc. announced on Tuesday the launch of a new service called “Checkout with Crypto.” The announcement details: Available at millions of global online businesses and continuing to expand over the coming months, Paypal customers with cryptocurrency holdings in the U.S. will be able to choose to check out with crypto seamlessly within Paypal at checkout. “Checkout with Crypto will automatically appear in the Paypal wallet at checkout for customers with sufficient cryptocurrency balance to cover an eligible purchase,” the announcement adds. “All transactions are settled in USD and converted to the applicable currency for the business at the standard Paypal conversion rates.” The currently supported cryptocurrencies are bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, and ether. The crypto payment service will be available at all of its 29 million merchants in the coming months, the company told Reuters, adding that it will charge no transaction fee for payments using cryptocurrencies and only one type of coin can be used for each purchase. Paypal’s crypto payment service launch followed Elon Musk’s Tesla accepting BTC as a means of payment for its cars. However, Paypal merchants will be receiving fiat currency whereas Tesla Technoking Musk said that his company will keep all the BTC payments without converting them into fiat currency. Visa is also working to allow bitcoin payments at 70 million stores. Dan Schulman, Paypal’s president and CEO, told the news outlet ahead of a formal announcement, “This is the first time you can seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit card or a debit card inside your Paypal wallet.” Schulman further opined: We think it is a transitional point where cryptocurrencies move from being predominantly an asset class that you buy, hold and or sell to now becoming a legitimate funding source to make transactions in the real world at millions of merchants. Paypal launched its crypto service allowing customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in October last year with a plan to enable all of its merchants to accept cryptocurrencies. The company set up a dedicated crypto business unit last month and early this month, it acquired crypto-security firm Curv to expand its digital asset initiatives. What do you think about Paypal enabling crypto payments at millions of stores? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Aurus is embracing the concept of DeFi to disrupt the precious metals industry. The firm has built a truly decentralised platform which allows companies like refineries, distributors and vaults to autonomously tokenise precious metals. The ingenious part of the Aurus system is their revenue-sharing token, AurusDeFi (AWX), which enables holders to earn a share of the platform’s revenues. Aurus to Disrupt the Precious Metals Industry Trading app Robinhood positions itself as democratising finance for all. However, the centralised nature of the platform- where one party holds the ultimate decision-making power, is in direct conflict with this mission. Just ask the Redditors of the WallStreetBets community. As they discovered in January, traders have zero control over how the exchange is managed. If they have a problem, their only recourse is to withdraw their funds and switch to another broker (where they’ll probably face similar issues, for the time being anyway). This incident helps to explain why the concept of decentralised finance- or DeFi as it’s commonly known- has gained so much traction. DeFi removes the need to rely on middlemen and the associated bureaucracy or manipulation which has burdened the traditional financial system for so long. Instead, DeFi relies on smart contracts, programmes that automatically execute the terms of an agreement, on blockchains to complete transactions. Smart contracts allow markets such as brokerages and exchanges to operate unhindered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The technology is still at a nascent stage, but the projects leveraging it are building a faster, more transparent and more accessible financial system for all. Aurus is embracing the concept of DeFi to disrupt the precious metals industry. The firm has built a truly decentralised platform which allows companies like refineries, distributors and vaults to autonomously tokenise precious metals. The ingenious part of the Aurus system is their revenue-sharing token, AurusDeFi (AWX), which enables holders to earn a share of the platform’s revenues. But to understand the tokenomics behind AurusDeFi, you need to take a deeper dive into how the ecosystem works. Building a Decentralised Precious Metals Ecosystem As well as making precious metals more accessible to retail investors, Aurus also removes the single point of failure risk associated with centralised systems. The firm is building a global ecosystem made up of precious metals refineries, vaults and brokers that work together to mint their own tokens. In the case of AurusGOLD (AWG), each token is backed by one gram of 99.99% LBMA-accredited gold and held in fully insured and audited vaults around the world. It’s worth noting that Aurus, as a technology provider, is not involved in the minting process and therefore has no influence on the gold traded or vaulted. UK-based, Direct Bullion, became the first precious metals dealer to join the Aurus ecosystem, tokenising 5 kilograms of the yellow metal in 2019. The firm has since added AurusGOLD to their offerings as a more convenient and liquid form of gold ownership. The incentives for industry partners to participate in the ecosystem comes from the platform’s revenue-sharing mechanism. Gold providers and vaulting partners receive an equal share of 50% (25% each) of the minting, transactional and storage fees generated from the usage of AurusGOLD. The other 50% is proportionally distributed among holders of a revenue-sharing token called AurusDeFi. This unique business model enables the ecosystem to be highly scalable and entirely self-sustaining. AurusDeFi has a limited total supply of 30 million tokens and represents a stake in the Aurus ecosystem by providing its holders with a passive income stream, paid in AurusGOLD. As the ecosystem grows, so do the generated revenues. To put this opportunity in context, bitcoin hit the headlines recently when it reached a market cap of US$1 trillion for the first time. In contrast, the total value of the global gold supply is estimated to be more than ten times bigger. Aurus completed their final fundraising round in February of this year- raising three times the expected capital- and the next step is to list the tokens on CEX.IO and BiKi. Launched in London in 2013, CEX.IO is one of the most well-established crypto exchanges with over four million users globally, while Biki has more than two million users in Asia. These partnerships represent a huge milestone for Aurus as both exchanges offer deposits and withdrawals in fiat, as well as other staking and interest yielding products for both retail and institutional clients. The Bigger Picture The vision for Aurus is to build an open, highly scalable ecosystem which the entire precious metals industry can benefit from, whilst at the same time making it simple for anyone to invest and transact with precious metals. With that in mind, the firm recently launched a new token for another asset class targeted by the traders of WallStreetBets. AurusSILVER (AWS) offers the same benefits as AurusGOLD, such as easy access to the US$1.5 trillion market for the metal, and each token is backed by one gram of LBMA-accredited silver. Aurus’ ambitions don’t end there. With AurusPLATINUM (AWP), Aurus is set to become one of the earliest platforms to tokenise platinum. While not as high profile a precious metal as gold and silver, this is a groundbreaking event for retail traders as currently, one of the only ways they can digitally acquire platinum is through an ETF on the South African stock exchange. The launch of AWS and AWP will make AWX even more valuable, as holders of AWX will benefit from 30% of the revenue they generate. Aurus is planning to list both tokens on CEX.IO in the coming months. Aurus is also pleased to announce the addition of new industry partners to the platform. Aurica Metales is the oldest and largest precious metals broker in Chile. Demand for AurusGOLD has already been so high that Aurica ran out of stock, and had to tokenise more gold on several occasions. The firm also recently started selling AurusSILVER and plans to expand operations to other Latin American countries too. Elsewhere, the firm will be onboarding an international bullion trading company from Turkey along with one of the largest precious metals brokers in Singapore called Indigo Precious Metals (IPM). The Turkish trader was founded over 25 years ago and counts central banks and government agencies among its clients, while IPM is run by leading metals experts and will be the first partner to issue AurusPLATINUM. Monetising Metals As mentioned before, Aurus does not get involved in the supply, minting or distribution of the metal- backed tokens. However, they serve a very important role by enabling the stable of Aurus tokens to be used to their full potential: as a medium of exchange, a means of collateral, a yield bearing instrument or just simply an easy-to-access investment product. The upcoming listing with CEX.IO is an example of the types of partnerships that Aurus engages in to add value for their users. Aurus has also recently partnered with Tangem and Cyclebit to launch its stablecoin-supported point of sale terminals. Holders can load their tokens (AWG, AWS, AWP) onto the Aurus Vault Signer Card, a crypto hardware wallet, which will soon allow users to pay with gold, silver and platinum at merchants all over the world. From this perspective, the future looks golden for Aurus as there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming months – most defi(nitely) a revolution for the precious metals market. Aurus tokens available on CEX.IO here: AurusGOLD | AurusDeFi Stay up to date with Aurus: Twitter | Telegram This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

On the heels of the last stimulus package, U.S. President Joe Biden is creating more legislation that may lead to a massive $3 trillion package dedicated to domestic needs and infrastructure. The recent discussions with Biden and Senate Democrats honed in on the political party’s “Build Back Better” campaign. The recent stimulus talks have a few economists feeling optimistic about the future of the American economy, while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said: “the next stimulus bill will have to be paid for through higher tax rates.” Biden and Senate Democrats Push for Infrastructure Relief Stimulus Estimated to be Around $3 Trillion The U.S. government doesn’t seem to want to stop creating money, as talks of passing more stimulus legislation have increased almost right after the passing of $1.9 trillion just a few weeks ago. Despite the fact that average Americans are concerned about purchasing power and inflation, central bank members and politicians continue to find ways to create more funds. Reports have noted that U.S. President Joe Biden met with fellow Democrats on Monday about a relief package that will help fund infrastructure. Columnists from Marketwatch and the New York Times say that the package will be around $3 trillion and it is focused on family-friendly policies and rebuilding infrastructure like hospitals and school programs. Fresh after U.S. President Joe Biden and Congress passed the recent $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, Biden and Senate Democrats are looking to push another stimulus package estimated to be around $3 trillion. Politicians claim the money will be dedicated to infrastructure, Biden’s “Build Back Better” campaign, and the Democrats’ “Green New Deal.” Prior to the virtual meeting with Senate Democrats and Biden, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said “We need to get it done.” However, word on the street from Democrats is Senate Republicans don’t want to play ball. The myriad of reports also highlights that the $3 trillion number is not set in stone and nothing from the new proposal has been fully drafted. Although, the Associated Press has said that the “overall price tag first reported Monday by the New York Times has been circulating on Capitol Hill for weeks, since the start of the Biden presidency.” Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, told the Democratic committee that they all need to reach out to their fellow Republicans in order to “craft a big, bold and transformational infrastructure package.” Moreover, the House Speaker asserted that such a package would bolster “people in every zip code by creating good-paying jobs for the future.” However, Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that the next stimulus measure will likely come with a price tag. “The next stimulus bill will have to be paid for through higher tax rates,” Yellen was quoted as saying and rumor has it, Biden’s plans could adjust corporate taxes from roughly 21% to 28%. Goldman and S&P Global Are Positive About More Stimulus, Republican leader Mitch McConnell Calls the Package a ‘Trojan horse’ of ‘Left-Wing Policies’ Even though the Treasury Secretary discussed raising taxes, economists at Goldman Sachs grew more optimistic and a U.S. chief economist at S&P Global said the stimulus would help the economy. This week, Axios contributors have noted Goldman economists have recently revised their outlook after discussions of stimulus heated up. Goldman now forecasts real consumption will jump by 9.5% in Q1 and 12.5% in Q2. Meanwhile, Beth Ann Bovino, the economist from S&P Global, thinks a stimulus package would kickstart the economy. Bovino said: Stimulus helps build the bridge for the recovery to reach the other side, but an investment in infrastructure is the fuel to jump-start the economic engine. Democrats are ready to push out another three trillion clearly before the ink has dried after Biden signed the last two trillion-dollar package. The party seems to be playing directly out of the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) playbook. Republican leader Mitch McConnell doesn’t seem to like the recent Democrat-infused infrastructure proposal, according to his statements on the Senate floor Monday morning. After U.S. President Joe Biden signed the recent $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, McConnell told the public as far as economic recovery was concerned the “tide had already turned.” “The American people already built a parade that’s been marching toward victory,” McConnell said at the time. “Democrats just want to sprint in front of that parade and claim victory.” With more stimulus, the Treasury Secretary’s warning of higher taxes may ring true in the future. Meanwhile, a number of right-wing politicians have already spoken out against the Democrat’s recent push for another relief package. Republican leader Mitch McConnell seemed irritated by the proposal on Monday speaking to the Senate. “We’re hearing the next few months might bring a so-called infrastructure proposal that may actually be a Trojan horse for massive tax hikes and other job-killing, left-wing policies,” McConnell said to his fellow colleagues. What do you think about the U.S. government pushing out a $3 trillion relief bill after passing the recent $1.9 trillion just a few weeks ago? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Venezuelan customers from the biggest satellite TV provider in the country are now able to pay their monthly bills via cryptocurrencies. Simple TV announced it had enabled the feature to its over four million users, whose company was the replacement of Directv. Company Expects to Cut Dependency on Fiat Dollar According to the announcement, the provider arranged a partnership with Panamanian firm Cryptobuyer, and Simple TV’s landing page is now showing the option to pay via cryptos. Customers could send their payments in bitcoin (BTC), dash (DASH), litecoin (LTC), ethereum (ETH), binance coin (BNB), and binance dollar (BUSD). Also, users can also pay with Cryptobuyer’s native token, XPT. Simple TV, owned by a Chilean investment fund, offers over 300 TV channels from major networks, including ESPN, HBO, and Disney. With such addition, the satellite TV provider expects to “boost the usage of cryptocurrencies across Venezuela.” Jorge Farías, CEO of Cryptobuyer, told Contrapunto that crypto payments would enable TV providers like Simple TV to widen their range of coverage significantly: It is known that Simple TV reaches the most remote places of the country, imagine the importance of this, when it allows the possibility of accessing its service in places of the interior, for example, without having to have a dollar account or having to depend on an intermediary. It is an important step that even pays for the possibility of access to entertainment and information, even more, demanded by the confinement. Simple TV took over Directv’s portfolio in Venezuela after the American satellite TV provider closed its operations in the nation, becoming the major provider. Crypto Adoption in Venezuela Is on the Rise Across Stores The South American country — known for its troubled situation in economics and political affairs — has been actively witnessing crypto adoption among stores and services providers. Bitcoin.com News reported last year that all Pizza Hut locations in Venezuela started to accept a broad range of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. What are your thoughts on Venezuelans’ possibility to pay satellite TV bills with cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. The State Grid Corporation of China will be adopting blockchain interoperability platform Wanchain’s technology for their national data management system. 30th March, 2021, Beijing, China – Wanglu Tech Ltd. (“Wanchain”) is pleased to announce that the State Grid Corporation of China (“State Grid”) has approved the results of its contracted feasibility study. The study systematically analyzed the impact of integrating blockchain technology into State Grid’s national data management system and concluded that Wanchain’s blockchain technology is ideal to upgrade the world’s largest utility company’s national data management system. Study Highlights The feasibility study results highlight the unique requirements of State Grid’s national data management system and outlines the specific consensus mechanisms and encryption algorithms best suited to integrate with existing systems. On the basis of these results, State Grid selected Wanchain’s interoperable blockchain technology to build a company-wide, inter-departmental, cross-regional data management system. This upgraded system will leverage Wanchain’s T-Bridge framework, enabling interoperability between private and public blockchains. Jack Lu, Founder and CEO of Wanglu Tech notes: “We are extremely proud to be working with State Grid to modernize their data management system. Large enterprises present an important avenue for the widespread adoption of blockchain technology. Enterprise blockchain solutions highlight the need for truly interoperable solutions. This collaboration reinforces Wanchain’s interoperable blockchain technology as the best in the industry.” Smart Contracts and 5G State Grid will also use smart contracts to automate and streamline data management systems. Combined with other emerging technologies, such as 5G, State Grid is designing a new, integrated data management system using Wanchain’s blockchain technology. About State Grid State Grid is a central state-owned enterprise (“SOE”) established on December 29, 2002 under the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China. As a super large-scale SOE crucial to China’s energy security and economic lifeline, State Grid takes the investment, construction and operation of power grids as its core business, with a registered capital of RMB 829.5 billion. State Grid supplies power to over 1.1 billion people in 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, covering 88% of the national territory. In 2020, the company ranked third on the Fortune Global 500 list. About Wanglu Tech Ltd. Wanglu Tech Ltd., established in 2016, is a blockchain company dedicated to providing government and enterprise clients with innovative, interoperable blockchain solutions and applications. Wanglu Tech Ltd. Handles the core development of the Wanchain blockchain infrastructure on behalf of the Wanchain Foundation. Media Contact Contact Name: Temujin Louie Contact Email: temujin@wanchain.org Learn more about Wanchain – https://www.wanchain.org/ Follow Wanchain on Twitter – https://twitter.com/wanchain_org Find Wanchain on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wanchainfoundation/ Join the official Wanchain Telegram group – https://t.me/WanchainCHAT Wanglu Tech Ltd. is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment advice or an offer to invest. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Bitcoin is not liked by everyone from the Island Council of Tenerife, Spain. At least that’s what was suggested by its president, Pedro Martín, who ordered the sale of the local government’s investment in cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Is an ‘Opaque’ Currency, Martín Says Martín, from the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party (PSOE), issued the order of dismantling the investment made through the Technological Institute of Renewable Energies (ITER) in a previous administration, citing “ethical” reasons. In detail, according to El Economista, the Island Council of Tenerife’s president considers it an “opaque” currency that cannot be declared in the tax filings. Although the president did not disclose the exact number of bitcoins (BTC) acquired by the council, it was reported that the liquidation could yield almost one million euros ($1.17 million), which could be around 20 BTC. During an interview with a local radio of the Canarias Islands, Martin said the council realized an audit of the 70 public companies related to the local government. With such findings, the president believed it was not ethical that public entities are dealing with cryptocurrencies. Martin told El Economista: I was surprised by the possibility that we could have a bitcoin bank at ITER, a kind of possibility to have a warehouse. These are very strange situations. That’s not one of the biggest problems: bitcoins. This is part of a series of problems that we have been encountering. (…) I believe that it is a currency that is not accountable to the treasury. I do not think it is appropriate for a Cabildo of the island to manage it. In the same line, Enrique Arriaga, the Island Council of Tenerife’s vice president, expects that inquiries on the alleged irregularities with ITER could be clarified soon and the role of the BTC investments in the alleged wrongdoings. Locals Criticize Bitcoin Investment’s Selling by the Local Government The reaction on social networks to Martin’s statements came fast. Specifically, Isidro Quintana, a local gaming entrepreneur, Oxford & Stanford’s graduate, criticized via Twitter the measure taken by Tenerife’s government. He suggested that bitcoins could be used “smartly, for example, to improve the 70% of young unemployment.” Quintana added: Pedro Martín, a public investment of 20 thousand euros that transforms into more than 1 million euros is a blessing, bitcoin can be declared to the treasury as any property asset to the treasury. He has just committed an attack against our citizens due to ignorance. What do you think about the measure taken by Tenerife’s government of selling bitcoin’s investment? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Hot on the heels of a recent winning auction bid for Beeple’s “Ocean Front” NFT, Justin Sun is making another splash in the NFT market following his decision to seed an investment fund that collects high-profile works of art. Fund Just One Leg of Sun’s Ambitions in The NFT Ecosystem Ongoing efforts to digitize art and collectibles have put the spotlight on the blockchain industry once more as dizzying NFT auction results draw high-profile artists and entertainers along with industry insiders competing for market share in the ever-expanding space. In keeping with his boisterous style and ambition to reach every corner of the crypto sphere, Tron’s Justin Sun has revealed his intensified focus on the NFT space following recent auction participation and listing Lindsay Lohan’s digital collectibles on Tron’s blockchain. Sun’s newly launched JUST NFT Fund vies to be the leading fund investing in the NFT space, with a mandate to strictly acquire works from high-profile names with a minimum price of $1 million and a $10 million median price. This is designed to ensure the fund invests in artists with longevity and appeal given the increased appearance of low-quality works attempting to capitalize on the auction mania. In his traditionally boastful style, Sun notes, We will become the best performing Ark Fund in the NFT industry. JUST NFT will build a bridge between blockchain and the world’s top artists, supporting the growth of native NFT artists in the world of crypto. Justin Sun’s Ambitions to NFTize Other Auctioned Works of Art This latest move is yet another piece of his multi-pronged strategy to attract the art community to blockchain and, more specifically, Tron. The JUST NFT Fund will also work hand-in-hand with artists by inviting high-profile creators to consult. Besides these consultants, the fund will be hiring art experts from Sotheby’s and Christie’s that already command experience in the NFT space. Beyond the art fund, Sun’s ambitions stretch into being the blockchain of choice for all the related activities. He plans to NFTize other auctioned works of art on the Tron blockchain using the TRC-721 standard, helping host and track ownership of the pieces minted on the blockchain. For Sun, this represents just another bridge he is building with the art community as he works to become the ecosystem of choice for incubating, auctioning, and collecting NFTs. Do you think Justin Sun is really interested in art or this is just another marketing trick to keep Tron in the news cycle? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

New reports emerging from South Africa suggest privately held firms are converting a portion of their cash holdings into bitcoin as they seek to hedge against currency devaluation. According to one report, an open-source software specialist firm, LSD Open, could well be the first South African company to make the bold step after it reportedly acquired $134,000 worth of bitcoin. Bitcoin Philosophy As a local report explains, LSD Open completed the purchase in two separate transactions and an average price of just over $34,200 per BTC was paid. At the time of writing, the value of LSD Open’s BTC holdings had grown by almost 70% in just “a matter of weeks.” Meanwhile, the report also discloses that LSD Open’s BTC acquisition had been facilitated by Bitfund, a local cryptocurrency exchange. LSD Open CEO Stefan Lesicnik is quoted explaining how bitcoin’s attributes are aligned with the philosophy of his company. Lesicnik said: Our vision is to make the world more open, and bitcoin supports our philosophy on how we believe the world works best. The CEO adds that working in the open-source space seems to “attract many crypto enthusiasts for whom the decentralised, open nature of cryptocurrencies appeals.” Meanwhile, Lesicnik also discloses that LSD Open is also involved in a “broad spectrum of the ecosystem, including running and maintaining bitcoin full nodes.” More Companies Planning to Buy In the meantime, the same report also quotes Dean Joffe, co-founder of Bitfund, revealing how his organization “has helped seven or eight South African firms to buy cryptocurrencies – mainly bitcoin and stablecoins like USDC.” Joffe also adds that his company is already “in discussions with two Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed companies about doing the same for them.” However, the report explains that these companies “have not yet pulled the trigger on any cryptocurrency purchases.” What are your thoughts on the move by South African companies to buy and hold BTC? You can tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin Cash proponents have recently been introduced to a new noncustodial payment processor called Prompt.cash. The platform provides merchants with a simple way to accept peer-to-peer electronic cash payments and can also generate a new address per invoice. Prompt.cash: A Hosted Noncustodial Payment Processor for Accepting P2P Electronic Cash A number of innovative applications that leverage the crypto asset bitcoin cash (BCH) are on the horizon. In recent times, BCH fans have been introduced to a newly created payment processor called prompt.cash, a platform that allows people to accept BCH in a noncustodial fashion. The main developer behind the project is a well known programmer who goes by the name Ekliptor. The dev has 16+ years coding experience and has been working with bitcoin cash payment systems for years now. The engineer also developed cashtippr.com, a WordPress plugin that allows website owners to receive instant tips. Speaking with Bitcoin.com’s newsdesk, Ekliptor told us why he started working on the prompt.cash noncustodial payment processor. “My experience from this has been that many people in the BCH community asked for a simpler solution and one that they can also put onto non-Wordpress websites within a minute by just copy and pasting,” Ekliptor said. “Custodial payment processors (our competitors) are like a bank,” the developer added. “They own the money they receive and then later the merchant can withdraw the money into his or her own wallet (or not in case of compliance issues or a security breach). Our noncustodial processor works like ‘Software-as-a-Service’ instead of being a bank. This means every payment arrives directly in the wallet of the merchant. We can not freeze or hold the merchant’s money as we are not part of the transaction,” he added. Ekliptor continued: And all this in a more convenient and even easier setup than custodial processors without the usual banking/KYC paperwork. Digital Entrepreneurs Donate Funds to the Prompt.cash Flipstarter The Prompt.cash project also has a Flipstarter fundraiser going on right now, as the developers are raising 390 BCH. The Flipstarter description details that the team’s Prompt.cash platform is the first hosted noncustodial Software-as-a-Service payment processor. “[The application] allows integration without bureaucracy and enables our merchants to integrate us within minutes,” the Flipstarter descript explains. “We already have a working payment processor implemented in Go, following best practices and code standards.” So far, the Prompt.cash project has raised 206 BCH or over $100k worth of bitcoin cash. Bitcoin.com’s founder and angel investor, Roger Ver sent the project 101.15 BCH. The popular digital entrepreneur Kim Dotcom sent the Prompt.cash project 100.8 BCH. “Exciting times,” the creator of the content monetization platform K.im added in his comment. The Flipstarter also notes that the Prompt.cash application has been live for about a month so far and signed 50 merchants to-date. Bitcoin.com’s readers can read more about the Prompt.cash project and the Flipstarter fundraiser here. What do you think about the noncustodial payment processor project Prompt.cash? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. MPH Club announced that they will allow their clients to pay in bitcoin to rent cars. MPH Club is a Miami-based exotic and luxury car rental that allows their customers to vacation in style. Their fleet includes the newest models from Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Rolls Royce, and others. They offer a few services, which include: Rentals Membership Chauffeurs Corporate events Vehicle delivery Hotel and airport pickup Partnership program Their service is incredibly popular and has been used by the likes of Steve Aoki, Floyd Mayweather, and Shaquille O’Neal. Part of the reason for their popularity is that they are able to offer such a wide selection is due to their partnership program. The MPH Club Partnership Program – This service allows local exotic car owners to “lend” their cars to MPH Club. MPH Club will then add it to their fleet and offer it to their customers to rent out, usually at an average price of $1,000 per day. If the car rents then MPH Club will split the profit with the car owner. This program has allowed them to grow their business at an incredible rate and bring their service to almost every major city in Florida. Benefits of the service Part of the reason that MPH Club is so popular is because of the convenience that they offer to their clients. For one thing, their locations include Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Naples, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee. They also offer hotel and airport pickup to make the rental process as simple as possible for their clients. Since many of these cities are major vacation hubs (particularly Miami), it allows them to capitalize on wealthy patrons who are looking to travel in style during their time off. In addition to the number of locations, their partnership program acts as a win-win-win scenario. Clients – Their clients benefit from the program because they get access to a wider selection of cars. If MPH Club was 100% reliant on their own inventory then it would be much harder to offer all of the rental options that they do. Additionally, the large supply of rental options means a more competitive price for clients. Car owners – The car owners benefit because they are able to turn their exotic car into an income-producing asset. Since many of these cars will rent for about $1,000 per day (the most expensive option is the Bugatti Veyron at $25,000 per day) just a few days of renting can create quite a bit of profit. MPH Club – MPH Club benefits from this arrangement because they are able to increase their inventory of cars without having to pay for it. Even though they split the profit with the car owner, they are essentially boosting their income for free. Now accepting bitcoin As mentioned, the MPH Club will now allow their clients to pay for their rentals in bitcoin. While they are not the first company to do this, it is still a big breakthrough for the cryptocurrency. A few major corporations such as Microsoft, Home Depot, and Bed Bath & Beyond allow their customers to pay in bitcoin. The difference here is that MPH Club is not a major corporation. MPH Club operates on a much smaller scale than these companies and can be considered a mid-size corporation. They only operate in Florida and have a few locations throughout the state but they are far from a major corporation. To learn more about MPH Club and the service that they offer contact the club at: Website: mphclub.com Instagram: instagram.com/mphclub/ This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Australia-based superbrand Webjet recognizes the value potential of the blockchain startup LockTrip and joins its mission by securing the rights for up to a 51% stake in what is a unique deal for the blockchain space. Summary of Article Travel Industry Leader Webjet Limited to invest up to $8.3M into LockTrip Managing Director of Webjet group himself, John Guscic and Director of Corporate Development, Lynne Oldfield to join LockTrip’s Board Webjet to Integrate the LockTrip.com Marketplace and the LOC economy into their OTA (Online Travel Agency) Websites in Australia and New Zealand Webjet and LockTrip to Explore the Opportunity to Migrate Booking Verification System “Rezchain” onto Hydra Chain Webjet (WEB:ASX), headquartered in Melbourne (Australia), has announced that it will be entering the crypto space through a strategic marriage with the blockchain-based travel marketplace LockTrip.com. In addition to its product offering up to 60% savings compared to traditional booking sites, LockTrip is also known for developing and launching the rapidly growing Hydra blockchain, specialized on bringing real-world businesses on-chain. Introduction to Webjet Webjet is the world’s second-largest accommodation supplier to the travel industry through its WebBeds division. Across its multiple B2B wholesale brands, the company is supplying more than 44,000 clients with world-wide inventory and has a presence in more than 50 countries. This includes a wide profile of companies such as travel agencies, online travel agencies as well as other wholesale suppliers. The Inventory supply Brands owned by Webjet are: Destinations of the World (DOTW) Lots of Hotels Sun Hotels JacTravel Fit Ruums Total Stay In addition to the wholesale inventory supply, Webjet also dominates the OTA market in Australia and New Zealand via the retail sites https://www.webjet.com.au/ and https://www.webjet.co.nz/. Listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, the company is currently traded at a valuation of above AU$2 Billion and has recorded a total flights/booking transaction volume of AU$3 Billion for 2020. The more significant it is to see such a giant and industry leader joining the crypto space through the well known and established blockchain-based company LockTrip and its LOC token. The “marriage”, as it is called by Nikola Alexandrov, CEO and Co-Founder of LockTrip, is uniquely structured. He comments: “The LockTrip/Webjet deal is a testament on how traditional tech giants spot opportunity in blockchain technology. Among the multiple synergies, perhaps the most unique feature of the deal is Webjet’s commitment to integrate the LockTrip marketplace on it’s OTA websites. If that condition is met, the LOC economy would be supercharged by the existing business of a global superbrand that has millions of active users. This makes the deal unprecedented in the blockchain space.” Supercharging the LOC Economy According to the whitepaper of LockTrip, every booking made on the marketplace results in LOC token being bought from exchanges and permanently burnt, amounting to 3% of the booking value. The fixed supply of less than 18.6 million LOC therefore makes it a deflationary economy. In addition to this, it is also possible to pay for travel bookings directly with LOC to take advantage of the cheapest prices on the marketplace. The deal is now seeking to expand the LOC burn mechanism towards the leading OTA brands of Webjet in Australia and New Zealand, thus capturing the economy of three distinct travel marketplaces. If the integration is successful, this would be a massive step for the advancement of the crypto industry towards real world businesses. According to the announcement, LockTrip.com as a travel marketplace and brand will continue to expand towards the global market and allow users worldwide to save up to 60% on their travel bookings by cutting out middlemen and commissions. Regarding their investment decision, John Guscic, Managing Director of Webjet, says: “We first made contact with the LockTrip founders in early 2019 to share views on blockchain, given Webjet’s blockchain journey with Rezchain. From the initial conversation, we were impressed with the way the founders approached solving the well-known challenges of a public blockchain, and felt they had a game changing opportunity to utilize the fundamental features of blockchain to improve the hotel distribution landscape” He then continues: “Having identified the exciting potential that Locktrip and Hydra could offer, we began to explore a deeper relationship, which has resulted in today’s announcement. We are delighted to be on board with the LockTrip founders offering innovation to travel consumers and suppliers alike” Potential Migration of Rezchain onto Hydra Chain The synergies of the deal go far beyond the LOC economy integration to the Webjet OTAs. Arguably, the more significant element of the deal could be the migration of the Rezchain booking verification system onto the Hydra blockchain. Webjet has been investing in their own commercially viable blockchain-based project branded Rezchain, which aims to prevent data mismatches between various suppliers and intermediaries. Rezchain is a private blockchain, with 100% centralized nodes and is fully operational as we speak. This critical infrastructure could now be migrated onto the decentralized infrastructure of the Hydra chain. According to its MasterPlan, the long term mission of LockTrip is about solving pressing problems of the travel industry regarding data mismatch, fragmented supplier relationships and inefficient distribution. “These are exactly the core problems we set out to solve by launching LockTrip. To a certain degree, Rezchain was also trying to tackle the same problems that LockTrip identified. Joining our forces through a marriage with Webjet was the logical thing to do.” says Nikola Aloxandrov. The long term objective of LockTrip is to launch a distributed database for travel inventory, which could solve many of the problems outlined above. The development of the Hydra chain also had the core purpose of serving this long-term goal, as it comes with all the building blocks needed. Some of these are: Fixed transaction fees in $USD Wallet-level scalability (parallel processing of transactions allows for a single wallet to process hundreds of transactions per block) Network-level scalability with an elastic transaction capacity of up to 540 TPS Support for turing-complete smart contracts Gas royalty for smart contract creators Layer two solution for bigger data amounts Earlier this year, Hydra was launched as a blockchain that offers real-world businesses a platform to join the crypto space. The fixed transaction fees and gas royalty for businesses were mentioned as key features. Lynne Oldfield, Director of Corporate Development at Webjet, comments: “Public blockchains are typically slow, resource hungry and have unpredictable pricing; with the release of Hydra chain, the founders of LockTrip provide a robust, scalable platform for genuine commercial applications and we are excited to invest with them as they grow this opportunity” If the integration is successful, Rezchain would be the third real-world business to build on Hydra. Aside from Rezchain and LockTrip, a third project named Evedo (EVED token) has also announced that it will be migrating from Ethereum to Hydra later this year. Evedo aims to revolutionize the event industry by connecting parties directly with each other and removing commissions in between. The biggest long-term potential for the deal between LockTrip, Hydra and Webjet lies in the endgame scenario: Tokenizing travel inventory, and thus connecting various suppliers, hotels and marketplaces through a globally accessible distributed travel database. This is a massive vision that could cause tremendous economic shifts across the industry. It is yet to be seen whether the team will be able to accomplish it. The online travel industry grew to more than $700 Billion in 2019. Disrupting such a massive industry will surely not happen overnight. But with Hydra, they have built the tools necessary to make it possible. And with their new partner of Webjet, which is the second biggest travel supplier in the world, they now also have the power to pull it off. LockTrip Telegram Community Hydra Telegram Community This is a sponsored post. Learn how to reach our audience here. Read disclaimer below. View the full article

On Monday, the American multinational financial services corporation Visa announced that digital currency payments have arrived on Visa’s settlement platform. The payment giant revealed that the company will leverage USD coin (USDC), the regulated token built on top of the Ethereum network. A lot Has Changed Since Dee Hock founded Visa Visa has announced cryptocurrency integration with its settlement platform on March 29. The company said a lot has changed since Dee Hock founded Visa, and nowadays Visa must “accommodate new form factors for money.” BREAKING: Visa has become the first major payment network to incorporate a digital dollar (USDC) into their network and settle transactions in the new system, rather than the old banking system. Eventually every payment network will do this. — Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) March 29, 2021 Visa is piloting the new USD coin (USDC) capabilities with the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com and then will offer USDC settlement capabilities to other customers in the future. “The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency, and it’s really an extension of what we do every day, securely facilitating payments in all different currencies all across the world,” Visa said during Monday’s announcement. Working With the Digital Asset Bank Anchorage and CBDCs Visa also emphasized that the ability to leverage USDC will help native crypto companies and Visa can “evaluate fundamentally new business models.” The payment company is also working with the company Anchorage, a federally chartered digital asset bank. Visa revealed that it upgraded its treasury and its integration with Anchorage will help the payment network support a central bank digital currency (CBDC) if one emerges in the next few years. “Crypto-native fintechs want partners who understand their business and the complexities of digital currency form factors,” Jack Forestell, executive vice president and chief product officer at Visa noted. “The announcement today marks a major milestone in our ability to address the needs of fintechs managing their business in a stablecoin or cryptocurrency, and it’s really an extension of what we do every day, securely facilitating payments in all different currencies all across the world.” Since the Visa announcement, cryptocurrency markets saw a lift in value on Monday morning. Bitcoin (BTC) jumped close to 4% during the morning trading sessions and the entire crypto market cap increased by 3%. At the time of publication, the crypto economy is valued at $1.67 trillion. What do you think about Visa adding the stablecoin USDC to the company’s settlement platform? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

South African regulator the Financial Sector Conduct Authority recently issued its second crypto “health warning” after it noticed increased reports of crypto-related losses suffered “in the past three months.” In the warning, the regulator reminds investors that since cryptocurrencies are “not regulated by the authority or any other body,” there will be no legal recourse “if something goes wrong.” Unregulated Firms and Promises of High Rewards The FSCA’s second warning comes in the wake of the collapse of the Mirror Trading International (MTI), a bitcoin Ponzi scheme. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, MTI was subsequently identified as the biggest crypto scam in 2020 by a blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis, in its annual crypto crime report. However, in its latest warning, the South African regulator also zeroes in on scams and promises of very high rewards often made by unregulated entities. The health warning says: The high risk already inherent in crypto assets is further being compounded by scam activity, as well as unregulated firms targeting consumers with marketing material that highlights the rewards, but not the potential downside, of investing in crypto. Consequently, the regulator says it is now “working on finding measures to regulate certain aspects and players in the crypto asset space.” Until that happens, the FSCA is urging retirement fund trustees to remain “vigilant in their fiduciary duties before mandating investment managers to expose their fund assets to risks associated with crypto assets.” Crypto Regulation Position Paper Meanwhile, in the latest warning, the FCSA reveals ongoing steps by South African bodies to regulate the crypto industry. As explained in the warning document, the FCSA is part of the seven-member Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) that published its position paper in November 2020. The position paper lists “a variety of recommendations pertaining to the regulation of crypto assets.” However, the regulator reiterates in its warning document that this position paper does not presently have an impact on the legal status of cryptocurrencies in that country. The FCSA states: The draft Declaration in no way impacts the status of crypto assets in the context of other laws such as the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSR Act) exchange control regulations, requirements under the Pension Funds Act (PFA) and Collective Investment Schemes Act (CIS Act)and so forth, nor does it attempt to regulate, legitimise or give credence to crypto-assets. Nevertheless, the regulator says it expects a rollout of the new measures being worked on to start in “the coming months.” What are your thoughts on the FSCA’s second health warning? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. View the full article