With the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting drawing to a close, attendees had the opportunity to join Cointelegraph for a farewell party at Ex Bar in Davos — where they could actually pay for food and drinks using cryptocurrency. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is scheduled to take place between May 22–26, with a slew of world leaders expected to attend. What role will blockchain have at the event? https://t.co/wEtEvuVK5I — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 20, 2022 Early partygoers had the opportunity to win one of 20 cards loaded with up to 100 Davos Coins, which were …

United States Federal Reserve vice chair Lael Brainard submitted a written statement in advance to the Financial Services Committee's virtual hearing, "On the Benefits and Risks of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)," that took place Thursday. That was a sound strategic move, considering that more than 25 legislators lined up to ask questions. Brainard’s appearance before the committee came just after the close of the comment period for the Fed’s discussion paper, “Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation.” However, recent events on the stablecoin market played a preemptive role in the framing …

Just three days after debuting in the Indian market, United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase abruptly stopped using United Payments Interface (UPI), the most popular payment service in the region. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong later revealed that the service disruption was due to an “informal pressure” from India’s central bank. During Coinbase’s 2022 Quarterly Earnings call, Armstrong spoke about the company’s global expansion plans while acknowledging Coinbase’s role in starting the conversation with regulators related to crypto adoption. When asked about the impact of the recent disruption related to offering payment services in India, Armstrong stated: “So a few days after …

Bitcoin (BTC) is for all. For you, for Michael Saylor in Miami, and for 38-year-old Jorge, a Mozambican family man who's using the largest cryptocurrency to make ends meet. Jorge, who goes by his first name for anonymity, lives in the tiny village of Bomba, Mozambique, on its southeast coast. Since the COVID-19 pandemic stripped away tourism from the sleepy surf town, one of Jorge’s primary wage earners—tourism—disappeared. Luckily, Bitcoin adoption is slowly swelling in Africa–from the Central African Republic across to Senegal and further north. Mozambique is also showing signs it's warming to the world's most popular crypto. Mozambique …

AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron stated that crypto along with several other digital payment methods recently accounted for 35% of its online payments. The popular cinema chain has gradually been working on various crypto adoption plays after first rolling out online payment support for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) in November. Last month, it also added support for Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) payments via the AMC Theatres mobile app. Speaking as part of the firm’s 2022 Q1 earnings call on Monday, Aron emphasized that the firm’s plunge into crypto has not only been …

In November 2021, MoonPay announced a $555 million Series A financing round that brought the crypto payment platform's valuation to $3.4 billion. On Wednesday, the fintech company revealed that $87 million of the total $555 million came collectively from more than 60 public figures and celebrities in the music, sports, media and entertainment industries. While the Series A round was led by firms like Tiger Global Management and Coatue with participation from Blossom Capital, Thrive Capital, Paradigm and NEA, the following household names are also considered strategic investors: Gwyneth Paltrow, Maria Sharapova, Eva Longoria, Gal Gadot, Matthew McConaughey and Bruce …

At the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami on Thursday, Cash App announced a new feature for U.S. customers which will allow them to automatically invest a portion of their direct deposit paychecks into Bitcoin (BTC). The mobile payment service run by Jack Dorsey's Block, formerly known as Square, will enable Cash App Visa Cash Card users to opt into this "Paid in Bitcoin" feature at no cost. Cash App’s Bitcoin Product Lead Miles Suter, who made the announcement Thursday, explained that any percentage from 1% to 100% of their direct deposits can be automatically converted into Bitcoin, and adjusted if …

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 …

The cryptocurrency ecosystem has come a long way since the launch of Bitcoin (BTC) and in the last few years smart contracts have revolutionized the industry. With that said, there is still plenty of progress to be made when it comes to integrating blockchain technology to peer-to-peer, business to business and business to consumer payment systems. Alchemy Pay aims to further the adoption of cryptocurrencies through its hybrid payments system and in the last week its ACH token gained 77% to trade at $0.0625 on Feb. 9. Three reasons for the uptick in ACH price include the cross-chain launch of …

Apple announced plans to launch Tap to Pay for iPhone, a new feature that effectively turns the smartphone into a point of sale (POS) device for businesses and merchants. So, what’s in it for crypto? The announcement explains that with Tap to Pay, iPhone-owning merchants receive contactless payments by using their mobile devices as a POS machine thanks to the NFC technology. According to Apple, the soon-to-be-launched Tap to Pay feature will extend support to “Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards and other digital wallets.” It basically means that, unless Apple places a direct barrier for it, customers who …

PayPal confirmed on Jan. 8 it is “exploring a stablecoin” that could be called PayPal Coin after a developer found evidence of such a stablecoin within the source code of the company’s iPhone app. PayPal senior vice president of crypto and digital currencies Jose Fernandez da Ponte said at the time that if the company plans to move forward with the stablecoin, it will do so while working closely with relevant regulators — an approach that could help the fintech firm avoid the wrath of United States senators that doomed Meta’s Diem cryptocurrency project. The company has clarified that the …

On Tuesday morning, Regal, a movie operator of more than 500 locations and 7,000 screens in 42 states plus D.C., announced it would be partnering with digital payment network Flexa to enable its customers to pay with crypto for movie tickets, food, and beverage. Regal will accept a wide variety of coins and tokens, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Doge (DOGE), USD Coin (USDC), DAI (DAI), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Chainlink (LINK), Cosmos (ATOM), Basic Attention Token (BAT), and more. Flexa is known for its ability to guarantee payments for real-world applications. In times of peak activity on …