Major Austrian telecom operator A1 has started accepting cryptocurrencies as payment in seven selected shops in Austria. Six cryptos accepted Starting from Aug. 19, A1 customers can pay for network services in selected A1 branches using six major cryptos: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, Litecoin (LTC), Stellar (XLM) and Dash (DASH), according to an official announcement published on Aug. 16. A1 Payment service, a digital payment system developed in collaboration with Austrian digital currency specialist Salamantex, German cashless payment provider Concardis and French smart payment solutions supplier Ingenico, was first unveiled in mid-June. Alipay and WeChatPay on the way In …

A search for “blockchain” on the career page for telecoms giant Verizon reveals that the company is actively looking to hire new recruits for blockchain-related jobs, including five blockchain developers. The Block highlighted the vacancies in a report on July 24. Verizon is apparently interested in creating a distributed network, as per the report. Additionally, the report specifies that a leading engineer at Verizon believes that hiring options are thin right now: “Google, Facebook, Microsoft, those guys are just taking the cream of the crop. [...] I have interviewed over 100 candidates in the last couple of years and it’s …

The federal judge overseeing Terpin v. AT&T — a legal battle pertaining to stolen crypto via SIM-swapping that has been going on for almost a year — has denied the telecom giant’s motion for dismissal. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, investor Michael Terpin had sued AT&T for $224 million. Terpin reportedly lost $24 million as a result of theft, and is seeking an additional $200 million in punitive damages. Terpin claims that he lost the foregoing assets in two hacks within seven months, due to the telecom provider’s alleged cooperation with the hacker and gross negligence. Judge Wright denied AT&T’s …

“[X-Number of] Industries Blockchain Will Disrupt” — How often do you come across articles with a headline like this? Every time, we discover new ways to implement the tech and, while being filled with inspiration, look around to see no practical change. Speaking about blockchain in use, we should therefore consider its potential rather than today’s use cases. It’s no wonder why blockchain seems to be “the one” for many industries in which data processing is involved (side note: everywhere). It especially happens to be the solution in industries in which security matters the most — e.g., banking, logistics, health …

Business advisory firm KPGM has partnered with tech companies Tomia, Microsoft and R3 to create a blockchain-based settlements solution for the telecom industry in anticipation of 5G network services. KPMG announced the partnership and product plans in an official blog post on July 16. As per the report, the planned blockchain solution intends to make use of smart contracts in order to reduce disputes between carriers and mobile operators. Such smart contracts would reportedly include critical information for this purpose, by providing details such as correct rates, destination and bilateral deal information. The upshot, KPMG hopes, is that settlements will …

The blockchain-based subsidiary of retail giant Overstock, tZERO, has appointed three new managers. The company announced the new hires in a press release on July 17. According to the announcement, new appointees Brooke Navarro, Michael Mougias and Alexandra Sotiropoulos have been official managers since July 15. The company states that these new executives are the firms head of issuance, head of investor relations and head of communications, respectively. The CEO of tZERO, Saum Noursalehi, remarked on the intended role for these new hires, saying: “On the issuance front, Brooke will drive strategic development of our security token ecosystem by focusing …

South Korea's largest telecom and the third top conglomerate SK Group has invested $10 million in major global blockchain firm ConsenSys, according to a report by local news agency Chosun on July 2. Worth noting is the increased involvement of major South Korean companies into crypto industry, including Samsung, internet giant Kakao, Hyundai, among others. In the report, Chey Tae-won, chairman at SK Corporation and South Korean billionaire entrepreneur, has expressed interest in blockchain and token economy. Speaking at a tech startup event in Seoul, Chey argued that traditional business approaches “should be digitized.” The SK chairman also pointed out …

Chinese telecommunications hardware giant Huawei is studying the entire Latin American market and considering expanding its operations, Cointelegraph Brazil reports on June 13. Per the report, a Huawei executive said at the CIAB Febraban conference on June 11 that it is possible its blockchain-enabled products and services will soon be available on the continent. The executive in question — who asked to remain anonymous — noted: “Everything will depend on the outcome of our market analysis and in case there is a market demand for blockchain we will make our services available in this area. Today we are focused on …

A unit of German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom will work with Binance-listed project Fetch.AI (FET) to develop decentralized IoT network innovations, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 22. Fetch.AI, a Cambridge-based tech startup, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Labs to build and implement autonomous agents (AEAs) on the Fetch.AI test network in order to integrate them into Internet of Things (IoT) device communications. The new partnership intends to find out how AEAs can be incorporated into IoT devices in order to provide them with the authority and autonomy to operate with …

Budget smartphones released by South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung will reportedly feature cryptocurrency and blockchain features, local English-language local media Business Korea reports on May 14. Per the report, the crypto and blockchain-related functionality included in the Samsung S10 will be included in other Galaxy smartphone models. The electronics producer also reportedly plans to cooperate with telecommunications companies on blockchain-based mobile identification cards and local currencies. Chae Won-Cheol, senior managing director of the product strategy team at Samsung Electronics' Wireless Business Division, reportedly said: “We will lower barriers to new experiences by gradually expanding the number of Galaxy models …

United States blockchain and crypto investor Michael Terpin has won $75.8 million in a civil case against 21-year-old Nicholas Truglia, who reportedly defrauded him of crypto assets. Reuters reported the news on May 10. Per the report, the California Superior Court last week ordered Manhattan resident Truglia to pay the amount above in compensatory and punitive damages. The amount is reportedly one of the largest court judgments awarded to an individual in the crypto space thus far, Reuters notes. As previously reported, Terpin filed the complaint against Truglia in particular in late December, after first filing a lawsuit against AT&T …

Telecoms giant NTT Corporation’s Thai subsidiary plans to launch a major innovation lab focused on blockchain, artificial intelligence and internet of things technology. Thai English-language newspaper the Bangkok Post reported on the development on April 23. NTT Communications (NTT Com) Thailand is the local operating unit of NTT Com Group, a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corporation — Japan’s largest telecoms firm and the world’s third-largest telecoms firm by revenue. According to the Bangkok Post, the new lab is slated for launch in the second quarter of 2019, and comes in addition to NTT Com Thailand’s existing 500 …