Vietnamese online ticketing agency Future.Travel now accepts Bitcoin (BTC) payments via the Lightning Network (LN), with funds being converted into local currency at the time of sale. To enable LN-based Bitcoin payments, Future.Travel collaborated with Canada-based tech firm Neutronpay, which will provide Future.Travel its multi-currency merchant platform, according to an April 20 announcement. With the newly integrated option, the BTC transaction processing time will ostensibly be cut down to three to four seconds in most cases. Eliminating fraud, reducing transaction processing time Overall, Future.Travel has been supporting BTC payments for over six years and recently added other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin …

If government corruption affects the stability of the national currency, it’s only natural that citizens will turn to gold or other assets like Bitcoin (BTC) to invest their savings. It offers them a sense of financial control in an otherwise unstable market. And it’s not just investing that is feeling the impact of crypto. This technology has the capacity to change the way we live. The freedom to travel and transact is a fundamental right everyone should have, and cryptocurrency adoption is all about providing freedom. Related: What Does Mass Adoption Mean Relating to Crypto? Experts Answer Navigate The world …

The aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry — which handles a dizzying 25 billion parts a year — is turning to blockchain to tackle its difficulties. Verdict magazine reported on Feb. 4 on the formation of a new, so-dubbed MRO Blockchain Alliance, which includes leading industry members, among them HAECO Group, Bolloré Logistics, Cathay Pacific, FLYdocs and SITA. Blockchain could bring up to $3.5 billion in cost savings The idea of forming a dedicated blockchain alliance for the MRO industry was reportedly first aired in 2019, at an event hosted by major international aircraft maintenance and engineering firm Haeco …

Travala, a service that lets its users pay for hotel stays with digital currency, has expanded its crypto payment options by adding support of NEM (XEM) tokens. The NEM Foundation and Travala.com announced the integration of XEM with the travel company’s platform, according to a blog post published by Travala on Jan. 22. As such, XEM joined over 20 other digital currencies supported by Travala’s platform, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tron (TRX), stablecoin Tether (USDT), privacy-focused token Monero (XMR) and others. Boost in revenue The move comes in the wake of Travala’s announcement that it began accepting USDT as …

Cryptocurrency-accepting booking service Travala has seen its revenue for the month of December go up by over 33.5% month-on-month following a partnership with Booking.com. According to a post published on the firm’s official blog on Jan. 1, Travala has also seen the total monthly number of accommodation nights booked through the service reach 1,528 in December, which is a 15.2% increase since November. Furthermore, the average room price increased by over 15%, from $115 to $133 over the same period. Chart of the monthly accommodation nights booked through Travala. Source: Travala Over 9% of December’s bookings were paid in Travala’s …

A new year heralds the opportunity for a new beginning. The start of a new life cycle. As the clock strikes midnight on Jan. 1, the year 2019 will be dealt a fatal blow by old father time, a cold-hearted act of destruction that would inspire Thanos himself. Soon, all that will remain of 2019 will be a handful of dust. For many cultures around the world, the New Year is a time celebrated with gifts. Here’s how anyone can spend their crypto like an oligarch this festive season. Luxury goods So, you’ve bought Bitcoin, managed to prevail the treacherous …

Thailand, one of the most-visited countries in the world, will soon apply blockchain to its Electronic Visa On Arrival (eVOA). Thailand’s new blockchain-powered eVOA system intends to speed up and protect the digital visa application process and will soon be available for five million visitors from 20 countries. eVOA operator partners with Australian travel firm for the blockchain-enabled service The upcoming eVOA feature is a joint effort of Australian travel company ShareRing and Gateway Services, an entity that owns the license to process eVOA for Thailand, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Dec. 19. According to the …

Travala, a service that allows its users to pay for hotel stays with cryptocurrency, will now let its customers reserve any hotel that is bookable through Booking.com. Travala announced in a press release on Nov. 25 that it has already integrated Booking’s accommodations to its platform. The new feature will purportedly allow users to book 90,000 different destinations using cryptocurrencies. Pay for your stay with crypto Travala’s customers can pay with its proprietary AVA token and 20 major crypto assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Dash (DASH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), EOS, Stellar (XLM), Cardano (ADA), Binance Chain (BNB), …

German airline Hahn Air claims to be the first airline company to issue tickets on a blockchain, the firm announced in a press release on Nov. 18. The ticket sale using blockchain technology was made possible through Hahn Air’s collaboration with a decentralized platform for the travel industry, Winding Tree. Frederick Nowotny, head of sales engineering at Hahn Air, Maksim Izmaylov, the founder of Winding Tree, and Davide Montali, CIO at Winding Tree, became the first passengers to use blockchain-booked tickets. Commenting on the product, Nowotny said the goal of the company is to “investigate and monitor the opportunities this …

Alternative Airlines, a travel company based in the United Kingdom, has partnered with cryptocurrency service Utrust to facilitate payments with crypto. On Nov. 13, the Swiss-based digital payments processor Utrust announced a new partnership with its first merchant in the travel industry, Alternative Airlines. The two companies plan to provide customers with the ability to book flights while paying with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dash, DigiByte (DGB) and Utrust’s native token UTK. Search over 650 airlines and pay with crypto The collaboration between the two companies will introduce instant cross border transactions, buyer protection, and crypto-to-cash settlements …

Blockchain startup Zamna raised $5 million to automate airport security checks using blockchain and biometrics technology, tech news outlet Silicon Republic reports on Oct. 28. The startup plans to use the funding to deploy its Advance Passenger Information platform. Zamna also said that International Airlines Group (IAG), Emirates Airlines and United Arab Emirates’ General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs are now among its clients. According to company data website Crunchbase, the seed round was reportedly led by venture capital firms LocalGlobe and Oxford Capital partners alongside IAG, one of the world’s largest airline groups. Up to 90% fewer document …

Artificial intelligence-enabled travel platform Travelport, IBM and travel management company BCD Travel are jointly developing a blockchain platform to streamline hotel commission reconciliation. According to a news release on Aug. 20, the companies are collaboratively working on the creation of a blockchain-based platform in a bid to optimize hotel commission processing. Specifically, the product is designed to track and account for the commission payments that hotels owe when travelers buy services through booking agencies. Travelport and IBM are working within the framework of the IBM Garage — a consultation program for customers who want to experiment with new technologies and …