In an effort to embrace virtual money, the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, will allow residents to pay their bills in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Deaglan McEachern, the city's mayor, proposed the idea to city officials, who feel it will provide residents with more payment choices. As per a local news report from Seacoastonline on March 23, Mayor McEachern said that "there are waves of new things that will affect us in terms of our future that use the type of technology used in cryptocurrency." He went on to say: "I want to make sure Portsmouth is not waiting …

On March 21, mobile banking application Dave announced a partnership with FTX US to provide cryptocurrency payments on the platform. It also announced a $100 million investment from FTX Ventures. In the statement, Dave said the investment would aid its strategy for future crypto-related initiatives, with FTX US serving as its partner for cryptocurrencies. Both companies said they’re currently exploring ways to introduce crypto payments into Dave’s platform. FTX US President Brett Harrison commented that it looks to align with companies that can help drive widespread adoption of digital assets, believing Dave was a fit in that regard. Jason Wilk, …

Major U.S.-based payment processor PayPal has assembled a team of industry experts to act as advisors on crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies. In a Tuesday announcement, PayPal said the addition of six members to its Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies advisory council would help support its current and future products as well as its goal of creating a more inclusive digital financial ecosystem. Fortress Investment Group co-CEO Peter Briger, Georgetown University Law Center professor Chris Brummer, Weizmann Institute of Science professor Shafi Goldwasser, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Timothy Massad, MIT Sloan School of Management finance professor Antoinette Schoar, …

Progressive International, a global organization supporting progressive left-wing activists and organizers, is moving into cryptocurrencies in response to getting de-banked by major payment and banking firms. The organization took to Twitter on Monday to announce that it now accepts donations in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in order to defend itself against attempts to shut them out of the global financial system. Last week, several companies blocked donations to the @progintl campaign of solidarity with Cuba and its ambitions to help vaccinate the world. To defend against attempts to shut us out of the global financial system, we …

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 …

Google has hired a former PayPal executive to help bolster Google Pay, with plans to expand into the crypto space. Arnold Goldberg has been given the task of running Google’s payments division as part of a company-wide push into financial services, including crypto. Google’s president of commerce Bill Ready told Bloomberg that: “Crypto is something we pay a lot of attention to [...] As user demand and merchant demand evolves, we’ll evolve with it.” Google Pay is an online payment system developed by Google to allow in-app, online and contactless purchases on mobile devices including Android phones, tablets and watches. …

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ,” is now the world’s 11th richest person, according to Bloomberg. The crypto entrepreneur has amassed a $96 billion fortune on the back of his booming exchange business and the rapidly appreciating value of Binance Coin (BNB). CZ’s wealth offers a startling reminder of just how lucrative crypto has become for early adopters. It’s also a sign of things to come as digital assets become more mainstream over the next decade. (If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ll also be counted as one of crypto’s early adopters.) This week’s “Crypto Biz” …

American fintech giant PayPal Holdings has reportedly confirmed its intent to launch its own stablecoin named PayPal Coin. The development of an in-house stablecoin was first discovered in the source code of Paypal’s iPhone app by developer Steve Moser. Confirming the evidence found on the PayPal app, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s SVP of crypto and digital currencies, told Bloomberg News: “We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators.” Moser’s finding uncovered that PayPal is in the works of building PayPal Coin, which will be backed …

Payments giants Visa is launching new consulting and advisory services in a move to help its clients navigate the world of cryptocurrencies. The firm said on Dec. 8 that its crypto advisory practice, housed within its consulting and analytics division, will offer advice to financial institutions, retailers and other firms on everything from rolling out crypto features and exploring nonfungible tokens, to developing wallets for central bank digital currencies. According to Visa, part of banks' interest in cryptocurrencies is in remaining competitive. Citing a recent in-house study, Visa said that “40% of crypto owners surveyed report they would be likely …

The Bitcoin network already processes more volume by dollar value than Paypal and the largest decentralized cryptocurrency network in the world by market cap could outstrip Mastercard by as early as 2026. A Nov. 25 report from market intelligence platform Blockdata titled When might the Bitcoin network process volumes like Mastercard and Visa? points out that the Bitcoin network processed about $489 billion per quarter in 2021, which is greater than Paypal’s $302 billion. After just 12 years in existence, Bitcoin processes about 27% of Mastercard’s $1.8 trillion per quarter, and 15% of Visa’s $3.2 trillion. Three factors could see …

American cinema giant AMC Theatres is finally adopting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) for online payments following months of teasing the new payment option. AMC CEO Adam Aron announced Thursday that the company now proudly accepts four major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) for online payments. The new payment method already accounts for 14% of AMC’s total online transactions, Aron said, adding that cryptocurrencies join traditional payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal, the CEO wrote. Dogecoin (DOGE), a popular meme cryptocurrency that skyrocketed 9,000% over the past year, will be the next …

Global payment giant PayPal is going after cryptocurrency wallet TokenPocket over an alleged trademark infringement. Apple temporarily removed the TokenPocket wallet from the App Store, the company announced Nov. 4. According to the firm, the reason for removal was a complaint from PayPal concerning an alleged trademark issue. TokenPocket said that they received communications from PayPal over the dispute with their company’s trademark in a letter earlier this year. TokenPocket stressed that they are willing to resolve in a friendly way, and PayPal “has no more replies to this.” “We attach great importance to this and dispatched professionals to conduct …