Australia’s opposition Labor party is facing criticism over its lack of formal policy regarding the cryptocurrency industry just days before a national election is expected to be called Prime Minister Scott Morrison, from the Liberal Party, is expected to fire the starters pistol for a Federal election this weekend. However, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) is well ahead in the polls at this stage and their crypto policies are less than comprehensive. With at least 18% of Australians having invested in crypto at some point according to new figures from Gemini, cryptocurrency is becoming an election issue that cannot be …

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the popular mixed martial arts organization, will be paying out Fan bonuses to its fighters in Bitcoin (BTC). The fan bonus will be paid out to the top-three fighters of the pay-per-view event in association with its official cryptocurrency platform partner Crypto.com. There will be a total of three Bitcoin fan bonuses of the night ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. Fans from around the globe can vote for the BTC bonuses of the night on the official Crypto.com website on the day of the event. The first Bitcoin fan bonus will be introduced during the upcoming …

Nium, a cross-border payments firm based in Singapore, has announced the launch of a new API-based solution that will allow businesses to start accepting cryptocurrency payments. As per the announcement, the newly launched product is called Crypto Accept. It allows online sellers to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) before expanding to other digital assets in 2023. Payments are sent to internet merchants' accounts in U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies the next business day, allowing vendors to expand their market and enhance their online payment experiences while avoiding price volatility. Nium partnered with crypto payments processor BitPay to launch …

Convenience store and gas station giant On The Run (OTR) will soon accept crypto payments at its 170 outlets across South Australia and Victoria. The move will allow customers to pay for gas, snacks, and even a Subway foot long in over 30 cryptocurrencies. OTR’s parent company the Peregrine Corporation, one of the largest privately-owned companies in South Australia, will also be accepting crypto at its Subway, Oporto, and Smokemart stores. Once the system is finalized in July, it will become the largest business in the country to accept in-store crypto payments. The company is working with Singapore-based exchange Crypto.com …

There is “grassroots evidence” that “America is adopting Bitcoin,” according to Clay Graham, founder of Rapaygo and a Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN) enthusiast. At a Bitcoin Lightning festival held in Portland, United States over the weekend, the Bitcoin LN clocked more than $200 (four million Sats) in just three hours. Hailed as “Puddle Town on Lightning Rails,” Portland’s Bitcoin Party was a space where “vendors, food carts, artists all accept Bitcoin.” Graham told Cointelegraph that there was also a “food cart pod” that acted as a “business attraction destination to Bitcoin fans who want a Bitcoin beach type experience.” Fiat …

In Europe, “Bitcoin only” is a growing trend, as more and more consumers and companies are hardening their resolve that Bitcoin (BTC) is the only digital asset worth holding. Bitcoin-only exchanges and brokers are places to stack sats, not “gamble” on Ether (ETH), or trade “garbage” that looks like “venture investments.” That’s according to the CEOs of major Bitcoin-only exchanges and brokers, including CoinCorner, FastBitcoins, Relai, Bittr, Pocket Bitcoin and Bitcoin-lyon. Cointelegraph spoke to the CEOs and founders of these European Bitcoin brokers to find out why they are Bitcoin only, and why you should build a company on this …

In an ongoing effort to carve out a regulated crypto market for the general public, the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. Parallelly, the Commission proposed a new rule that demands disclosure of service quality and IT usage information from crypto businesses including brokers, exchanges and dealers. According to the notice issued by the Thai SEC, businesses in the region have been advised against accepting crypto payments from April 2022 after discussing its implications with the Bank of Thailand (BOT). The joint study conducted by the BOT and SEC concluded …

During its Q4 2021 earnings call late Tuesday, Adam Aron, CEO of iconic theatre-chain AMC Entertainment, briefed the community on the company's latest crypto adoption efforts. As told by Aron, AMC will start accepting Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) "in a couple of weeks." AMC began accepting online payments for movie tickets via major cryptocurrencies last year. The company said it is also still exploring options to issue its own coin; an idea that has been in the making for quite some time as it monitors the current cryptocurrency regulatory framework. Aron also shared his praise for the blockchain …

Major e-commerce marketplace eBay could integrate crypto payments soon, said CEO Jamie Iannone in a recent interview. The internet marketplace is among the oldest e-commerce platforms, now looking to become the go-to platform for Gen Z and Millennials. The CEO said in an interview with The Street that the firm is looking to integrate crypto payment options for quite some time and an official announcement could be made during the upcoming investor’s day on March 10. During his interview, Iannone revealed that the e-commerce giant is looking to transition to new payments modes as they are already managing $85 billion …

After the Taliban took full control of Afghanistan in August last year, many international non-governmental organizations and services stopped operating in the country. Among them were payment services like Western Union and Swift. Many Afghans subsequently began to learn about cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology to — at the very least — receive remittances from abroad. As electronic payment services like PayPal and Venmo have never been available in the 5,000-year-old country, Afghans have lost many opportunities in the online business world. “We lost many opportunities like blogging, affiliate marketing and online dropshipping because most of them pay with …

Christophe De Beukelaer is the first European politician to convert his entire salary to Bitcoin. He kicked off 2022 with the bold move, hoping to raise awareness about Bitcoin and alternative monetary models, financial education and to get people talking. De Beukelaer first got into Bitcoin and blockchain in 2017, and foresees a future in which Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies play a role as a “counterpart to the traditional financial world.” He gave an interview to Cointelegraph to delve deeper into his vision for Bitcoin and his motivations behind being paid in Bitcoin (BTC). When asked about how long it took …

The secret to fast-track cryptocurrency’s mainstream adoption lies within addressing a contradicted consumer demand for crypto payments across business verticals, reveals a new survey. In a study participated by crypto exchange Crypto.com’s 110,000 customers and over 1.5 million Worldpay merchants, roughly 60% of both merchants and customers shared their interest in crypto payments. However, the consumer demand does not reciprocate the business verticals that accept cryptocurrencies. As evidenced above, the consumer demand for crypto payments exceeds merchant availability across four major industries — travel, automotive, digital media and hospitality. The gap in merchant availability poses a massive opportunity to capitalize …