Billionaire investor Mark Cuban will not be following in Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s footsteps in withdrawing support for Bitcoin (BTC) payment. Tweeting in response to Musk on Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks owner remarked that the Mavs will continue to accept Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) as payment means for tickets and merchandise items. We at https://t.co/VUydpLFzGh will continue to accept BTC/Eth/Doge because we know that replacing Gold as a store of value will help the environment https://t.co/bs7NvnJY8A and https://t.co/ELhbuLOBRV shrinking big bank and coin usage will benefit society and the environment https://t.co/zu08F0STEQ — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 12, 2021 …

Major online marketplace eBay will be pursuing crypto payment options for its customers along with exploring ways to introduce nonfungible tokens on the platform. In an interview with CNBC today, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said the company will "continue to look" at payment options like crypto. In addition, he said eBay will be "exploring opportunities" to enable nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, on the platform "in an easy way," comparing the digital offerings to collectibles. “One of the great things about eBay is when there’s a new trend, it just shows up on eBay,” said Iannone. “That’s what we’re seeing in …

Many chain restaurants operated by parent company Landry's will begin to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for meals. In an interview with CNBC yesterday, Landry's chair and CEO Tilman Fertitta said “80% to 90%” of the company’s restaurant brands — including the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Morton’s The Steakhouse, and Mastro’s — would accept Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in the next 90 days. Fertitta said the move was a step towards bringing crypto into the mainstream. “It’s amazing how simple [a crypto] transaction is, and it is here to stay. This is where it is, and it’s …

The more than 5,000 residents of an island that forms a part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines can use crypto as a means of payment. According to a report from Euronews, both residents and visitors to the island of Bequia can use Bitcoin (BTC) to pay for goods and services ranging from property to food at one of the local eateries. The One Bequia project, backed by entrepreneur Storm Gonsalves, is building luxury villas on the island for sale in BTC. Gonsalves said the move to accept crypto was aimed at solving the issue of traditional financial systems abandoning …

A luxury hotel in Lagos, Nigeria will reportedly accept Bitcoin (BTC) as a form of payment and adopt the digital asset as its primary reserve currency as concerns about inflation continue to grip Africa’s largest economy. George Residence confirmed its intent to begin accepting Bitcoin this weekend, according to 1st News, a Nigerian news publication. George Residence, which offers luxury hotel and premium apartment suites, will accept BTC through Coinvest Africa, a regional cryptocurrency brokerage. "We have allocated around 50% of our cash reserves to Bitcoin. [...] We hope to increase that as time goes on,’’ said ‘Yanju George, the …

Coworking space giant WeWork is the latest company to announce plans to hold cryptocurrencies on its balance sheet. The SoftBank-owned commercial real estate firm announced its plans via a statement on Tuesday. WeWork’s crypto balance sheet will come from the company adopting cryptocurrencies as a payment method. According to the announcement, WeWork has partnered with crypto payment service platform BitPay to accept digital currency payments for its workspaces. WeWork will reportedly accept Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and stablecoins USD Coin (USDC) and Paxos (PAX). The company’s crypto adoption drive also includes paying landlords and other partners with cryptocurrencies as well …

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 …

A public university in the Romanian city of Sibiu in Transylvania has said it will allow students to pay for their admission fees in crypto. According to an announcement from Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu on Wednesday, the institution plans to implement crypto payment methods for its more than 11,000 students starting in July. Students will reportedly be able to pay for admission fees — tuition is roughly $1,000 per year for undergraduates — using Elrond (EGLD), which the university will then convert to Romanian leu. “Our university has been and will continue to be a supporter of the community …

Major financial institutions are expanding their cryptocurrency services, with Bakkt launching its digital asset payments application for the general public. Bakkt was launched by Intercontinental Exchange in 2018, with the firm offering Bitcoin futures contracts to accredited investors exclusively. The Bakkt App is the firm’s first retail-facing crypto initiative. Bakkt’s app was trialed by 500,000 users invited to participate in its Early Access Program in late 2020. The firm is also conducting a $1 million giveaway to encourage people to download the platform. Launched on March 30, the payments app allows users to manage Bitcoin and other digital assets, including …

A Scottish music school will begin accepting cryptocurrency for tuition payments following demand from students, it was announced this week. The Morningside School of Music in Edinburgh said it was responding to suggestions from adult pupils in the school, many of whom now work in the city’s burgeoning fintech sector. Morningside’s director, Linda Boyd, said the school had previously used cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) to make business purchases and could see the utility in accepting it as a form of payment. She said, “We sometimes use things like Bitcoin to pay for goods for the school, so we know how …

The Kessler Collection, an American luxury hotel brand, has begun accepting Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies as a payment option. According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the hotel chain has partnered with crypto payment gateway service BitPay to begin accepting Bitcoin. Other cryptos adopted include Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) as well as four stablecoins — USD Coin (USDC), Paxos Standard (PAX), Binance USD (BUSD), and Gemini dollar (GUSD). The Kessler Collection now becomes the latest luxury brand to partner with BitPay to enable crypto payments for their products and services. For Fravy Collazo, the company’s chief financial officer, adopting …

On Wednesday, British cryptocurrency mining company Argo Blockchain revealed that CEO Peter Wall is now the first executive of a publicly traded company to take their entire salary in Bitcoin (BTC). In a February operational update, the company — which trades on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker ARB — said that as of Monday, Wall began taking his salary in the cryptocurrency and that “Any other Argo team members may choose to be paid in Bitcoin for part of or all of their salaries.” In an interview with Cointelegraph, Wall said that the decision was an obvious one …