New York-based crypto loans and savings startup BlockFi launched its Bitcoin (BTC) rewards credit card today. The card is available to select approved customers on the United States waitlist. Officially named BlockFi Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card, the card was first announced at the end of last year by Visa and BlockFi. Available to use anywhere Visa is accepted, the card allows its recipients to earn 1.5% back in Bitcoin instead of airline miles or other cashback rewards. Earned Bitcoin rewards will be transferred to cardholders’ BlockFi Interest Account. Initial reports were saying that the card would have a $200 …

Intercontinental Exchange subsidiary Bakkt has introduced a debit card allowing customers to use crypto for retail purchases. In a Tuesday announcement, Bakkt said it had launched a fully virtual Visa debit card for both online and in-store spending. Card holders can spend Bitcoin (BTC) from their Bakkt accounts without waiting to convert the cryptocurrency to fiat. “Imagine a Bitcoin user who sees a significant gain,” said Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael. “Now, instead of selling and waiting to transfer to a bank, they can simply walk into their favorite store, tap their Bakkt Card and buy that new item they’ve been …

PayPal and Visa are among several major investors to have participated in a $300 million funding for Blockchain Capital. In a release issued on Tuesday, Blockchain Capital announced that the close of its Blockchain Capital V LP. According to the release, Fund V, capped at $300 million was oversubscribed with numerous investors including college endowments, family offices, and pension funds participating in the capital raise. As part of the announcement, Blockchain Capital stated that PayPal, Visa, and some other Fund V investors will take part in the firm’s strategic partnership program. Blockchain Capital is one of the oldest blockchain-focused funds …

Ether (ETH), the second most-valued cryptocurrency after Bitcoin (BTC), has hit a major milestone amid the ongoing price rally. On Wednesday, Ether’s price set another historic record, surging to as high as $4,346, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Ethers market capitalization briefly surpassed $500 billion, reaching nearly $505 billion on Wednesday. The new milestone marks Ether’s ongoing massive surge after it surpassed the $4,000 price mark for the first time in its history on Monday. At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $4,317, up more than 6.4% over the past 24 hours and seeing massive gains of about …

As blockchain technology and the public's awareness of cryptocurrency continues to grow, a range of new use cases a coming to market and enhancing the efficacy of legacy financial systems. Despite its many applications, the original use case for Bitcoin (BTC) as a medium of exchange remains one of the most fundamental applications of blockchain technology and while BTC might not be the best asset to use for payments, there are service providers who have eased the process of settling transactions in other cryptocurrencies. For now, the most widely accepted way to use cryptocurrencies for direct payments in everyday life …

If 2021 has taught us anything about digital currencies, it’s that big banks and major payments providers are now feeling more comfortable with Bitcoin (BTC). While the CEO of PayPal and other large corporations are expressing excitement for crypto payments and salaries paid in Bitcoin, executives from Visa, JPMorgan and ING all agree that Bitcoin is still an investment vehicle rather than a currency. This notion was revealed during a panel discussion entitled “Buying with Bitcoin,” which took place during Forbes’ “2021 Blockchain 50 Symposium: Crypto Goes Corporate” online event. Michael del Castillo, associate editor at Forbes, led the discussion …

E-commerce merchants can now transact in nearly 40 cryptocurrencies through global payment platform Nuvei. According to the announcement, merchants partnered with the payment provider can use an array of cryptocurrencies to send and receive payments across 200 countries, including top assets Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), lesser known cryptos such as Reddcoin and Bitcoin Gold, and even hyper-volatile coins like Dogecoin (DOGE). Nuvei’s customers can even use Ripple (XRP), despite the asset’s recent legal woes and subsequent delistings from major exchanges. Commenting on the launch, Nuvei’s CEO and chairman, Philip Fayer, described the firm’s support for crypto assets as “empower[ing] …

Stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) have hit another milestone in terms of accumulation by exchanges. According to market data provider CryptoQuant, stablecoin holdings on global crypto exchanges soared to a new all-time high on March 28, exceeding $10 billion. Cryptocurrency exchanges are now holding nearly 16% of the total market value of all stablecoins, with stablecoin market capitalization amounting to $63 billion at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko. The total trading volume of all stablecoins is estimated at about $88 billion. According to CryptoQuant data, volumes of stablecoin holdings on exchanges have been …

Major credit credit provider Visa is piloting a program that will allow its partners to use the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain to settle a transaction made in fiat. In a Monday announcement, Visa said it will be partnering with cryptocurrency exchange platform and card issuer Crypto.com to offer a crypto settlement system for fiat transactions later this year. Visa’s partners will reportedly be able to exchange USD Coin (USDC) over the credit card’s payment network to clear transactions made in fiat currency. According to Visa, its standard settlement process requires partners to send fiat currency via wire transfer, which "can add …

Blockchain infrastructure provider Bison Trails has announced another major industry partnership, this time with Crypto.com, a leading digital currency exchange looking to bring familiar transactional use cases to cryptocurrency markets. Bison Trails is providing key infrastructure to Crypto.org, Crypto.com’s public, open-source payments blockchain. As part of the mainnet launch, Bison Trails will provide reliable validator node infrastructure to optimize validation and governance participation. In terms of technical specifications, Bison Trails will support the mainnet launch with participate clusters, query & transact clusters and seed nodes, the company explained. As Cointelegraph recently explained, Bison’s participate clusters feature two components to enhance …

Major South Korean internet company Naver has reportedly begun negotiations to acquire a stake in the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb. Naver has discussed a potential equity stake acquisition with major Bithumb stakeholder Vidente, local publication the Maeil Business Newspaper reported Monday, citing several unnamed sources. Naver is the provider of South Korea’s largest search engine and Line messenger, and is reportedly seeking to expand its platform’s presence in the country’s fintech market. The internet giant is reportedly planning to add Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment option on its payment services Naver Pay as well as Line Pay in Japan …

Crypto.com is now the latest cryptocurrency exchange and payment service to join the Visa network. According to a press statement issued on Wednesday, Crypto.com has inked a global partnership with the credit/debit card payment giant which includes becoming a principal member of Visa’s network in Australia. As part of the press release, Crypto.com revealed that the collaboration with Visa was in line with the company’s efforts to expand the reach of its crypto Visa card. Crypto.com’s Visa card is already used in more than 30 countries around the world, including the United States, Canada, as well as nations in Europe …