Incomm Payments, a global payments provider with over 500,000 points of distribution, has entered into a partnership with Flexa that allows merchants to start accepting cryptocurrency payments in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and dozens of other digital assets. Stefan Happ, Incomm Payments’ president, said the new partnership will enable merchants to capitalize on growing retail adoption of cryptocurrencies: “By integrating with Flexa’s comprehensive solution for digital currency acceptance, we’re helping to unlock powerful consumer spending opportunities for brands and further enrich the consumer experience.” Flexa co-founder Trevor Filter said his platform was designed to “make payments more efficient, accessible, and …

A crypto payments gateway says that it now makes it easy for online merchants in Africa to accept Bitcoin at the checkout. Paychant says its tool can be easily integrated into websites, WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop and an array of other online stores with a single line of code. This gives retailers access to a growing number of consumers who want to pay using cryptocurrencies. According to Paychant, its infrastructure is simple, secure and convenient — and is geared toward small and large businesses alike. Nonprofit organizations can also accept crypto donations with ease. Customizable widgets are offered that can be …

Aswath Damodaran, professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business, has reiterated his criticism of Bitcoin (BTC). Appearing on episode 10 of the Moneycontrol Masterclass program, the NYU professor doubled down on his longstanding repudiation of Bitcoin as currency. According to Damodaran, Bitcoin’s limited use in microtransactions flies in the face of claims that BTC is viable as a form of money, stating: “A good currency, in my view, is one that's used to buy coffee, buy your house, buy a car, and on that count, Bitcoin has failed, and not just failed, it's failed miserably.” For …

A private secondary school based near the Nigerian city of Kano has announced it will be accepting payments for school fees in cryptocurrency amid the country’s central bank banning financial institutions providing services to crypto exchanges. According to a Thursday report from local news outlet Kano Focus, the director of the New Oxford Science Academy in the Kano suburb of Chiranchi will allow students to pay for tuition fees in crypto. Sabi’u Musa Haruna, who started working at the school in 2017, urged the Nigerian government to embrace and regulate cryptocurrency, but seemed to imply he would not wait with …

Luxury auction house Sotheby’s will accept bids in crypto for a massive diamond scheduled to be auctioned in Hong Kong next month. According to a Monday Reuters report, Sotheby’s will offer a 101.38-carat pear-shaped diamond for bids in crypto and fiat starting on July 9. Buyers are expected to bid up $118 million HKD — roughly $15 million — for the stone. This amounts to more than 454 Bitcoin (BTC) at the time of publication at a price of $32,974. Sotheby’s has also accepted Ether (ETH) in previous auctions. The auction house seems to be marketing to crypto users in …

The Canadian Elite Basketball League will be allowing players from its seven teams to accept a portion of their salaries in Bitcoin starting next week. According to a Thursday announcement, the Canadian Elite Basketball League, or CEBL, has partnered with Toronto-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitbuy to convert part of basketball players’ existing salaries from Canadian dollars to Bitcoin (BTC) on request. The league said it will arrange for the funds to be delivered to the players’ personal crypto wallets. More than 70 players on the active roster from the Edmonton Stingers, Fraser Valley Bandits, Guelph Nighthawks, Hamilton Honey Badgers, Ottawa Blackjacks, …

Landon Cassill, a professional race car driver in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, will be receiving part of his salary in Bitcoin and Litecoin as part of a sponsorship with crypto broker Voyager. According to a Thursday report from the Associated Press, Voyager has finalized a 19-year agreement to sponsor Cassill starting this weekend at the NASCAR race at the Nashville Superspeedway. Cassill said the firm would pay for the deal entirely in crypto, with a "portfolio of various digital assets" that includes Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC). The NASCAR driver was reportedly already “very active” in the Litecoin market as well …

Rolando Castro, the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare in El Salvador has said that the government is discussing whether companies in the country should pay their employees in Bitcoin. According to local radio station 107.7 Fuego GMV, Castro has discussed the issue of employers paying their workers in Bitcoin (BTC) with officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy. His remarks come a week after the country’s Legislative Assembly approved the use of the cryptocurrency as legal tender. El Salvador’s 2001 Law of Monetary Integration, which provided the legislative framework to eventually replace the Salvadoran colón …

GoldConnect, a Latin American telecommunications wholesaler, announced Tuesday that it will allow customers to pay with cryptocurrencies through payment processor BitPay, marking another important milestone in the region’s embrace of Bitcoin (BTC). Crypto payments can be made directly through LatamConnect, a platform that connects directly with BitPay. Crypto payments made through BitPay are settled in local fiat currency. GoldConnect said its embrace of crypto payments reflects growing demand for such services across the 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries in which it operates. "As a disruptive telecom provider in the LATAM region, we must continuously embrace the latest technologies and …

Retail crypto payment acceptance in the United States continues to grow as Sheetz announces plans to allow the use of digital currencies in its outlets across the country. In a release issued on Thursday, the convenience store chain announced its partnership with digital payments provider Flexa to enable customers to pay for products and services with cryptocurrencies. As part of the announcement, Sheetz revealed that the crypto payment option was for both in-store items and gas pumps at their over 600 outlets across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia. Cryptocurrencies that will be accepted by the convenience …

A franchisee of many Domino’s Pizza locations in the Netherlands announced today that its workers would have the choice of being paid in Bitcoin. According to Immensus Holding, the franchisee behind 16 Domino's Pizza locations out of the more than 270 in the Netherlands, its employees will be able to choose between being paid in euros or Bitcoin (BTC) for all salary above the country’s minimum wage. BTC Direct, a Netherlands-based crypto firm with a fiat-to-crypto onramp, will handle the payments for any of the company’s more than 1000 employees who choose to participate. "We are a modern company, and …

A luxury yacht firm has announced it will begin accepting cryptocurrency for its services and expects to see an immediate 40% growth increase from Bitcoin (BTC) payments in the first year. In addition to accepting Bitcoin payments, the firm also announced that it would base its web and mobile services on blockchain technology as it provided more transactional security than any other system. The firm stated that it expects to see $6.5 million in revenue in the coming year, primarily from its yacht charter service and the bespoke experiences it hosts for clients. Co-founded by two Colombians and operational in …