The share price of the Intercontinental Exchange-backed crypto services company Bakkt ($BKKT) has surged as it unveiled two partnerships with major global payments firms. On Monday 25 Oct., Mastercard announced it would be working with digital asset platform Bakkt to allow its customers based in the United States to buy, sell and hold digital assets through custodial wallets. On the same day, global payment provider Fiserv also announced a strategic collaboration with Bakkt to offer merchant-facing digital asset services. The news drove a bullish day of trading for BKKT, with the stock rallying by more than 50% outside of regular …

Cryptocurrency-to-fiat infrastructure provider XanPool continues expanding operations in the Asia-Pacific region by securing fresh funding. The Hong Kong-based startup raised $27 million in a Series A funding round led by Valar Ventures, a venture capital firm co-founded by PayPal co-creator Peter Thiel. Other participating investors included crypto-focused venture capital firm CMT Digital alongside angel investors such as TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, XanPool announced Friday. Running operations in 13 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, XanPool is looking to further consolidate its presence with new funding. Jeffery Liu, CEO of XanPool, told Cointelegraph that the startup operates in countries like India, Hong …

United States fintech giant Stripe is hiring a new blockchain team to enable crypto payments for its users. The $100-billion company is returning to the crypto sector three years after it pulled back from offering Bitcoin (BTC) support due to its slow transaction times and rising fees. According to a job listing page on Stripe’s website, the firm is looking for four “Staff Engineers” with experience in the crypto sector. Guillaume Poncin, the head of engineering, stated on Twitter on Tuesday that he’s looking for engineers and designers to “build the future of Web3 payments.” The listing outlines that the …

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom, Lord Philip Hammond, has joined cryptocurrency custodial group Copper as a senior advisor with the ambition of “promoting the UK as a global leader in digital asset technology.” The London start-up firm, which provides custodial and infrastructure services in the digital asset sector, reportedly facilitates over $50 billion in transaction value per month for in excess of 400 institutional clients. During his administration as chancellor between 2016 and 2019, Hammond was commended for expanding the nation's financial technology sector as well as fostering a capitalistic environment for start-up businesses. Speaking on …

Bill Miller, a seasoned Wall Street investor and founder of Miller Value Partners, advocated for the rise of Bitcoin (BTC) during a recent conversation with author William Green but voiced skepticism around many of the altcoins birthed during 2017. Miller subscribes to the well-documented thesis that Bitcoin portrays digital gold, and unlike many of his financial contemporaries — Warren Buffet being the most prominent — he has been a keen investor in the digital asset space. Back in early 2016, Miller dedicated 30% of his portfolio to the leading crypto asset Bitcoin at an average value of $500 and has …

To compare Bitcoin (BTC) to the Dutch tulip bulb bubble is to perpetuate a fallacy. Technology evolves more rapidly than nature, and decentralized networks have more financial utility than a bouquet. Bitcoin is a technology, tulips are plants, and no discerning person would take the comparison much further. Tulipmania, a 17th-century market bubble in which the price of the flower bulb increased due to speculation by Dutch investors, resulted in a major crash. Prices exceeded the average annual income of the time by six times. The rarest of bulbs became among the most expensive items on the planet. Even though …

What’s next for the green movement of the industry? Considering the environmental consequences of blockchain technology has led to recent innovation in the crypto space. It has encouraged networks like XDC to empower sustainable alternative technological solutions for digital currencies and enterprises wishing to operate with digital assets such as Ledgermail, StorX, GoPlugin, Blockdegree, TradeFinex, stable coins and many more in the future. As more and more developers begin to use cryptocurrencies to integrate with blockchain technology, XinFin is helping to reduce the environmental impact. Learn more about Xinfin Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this …

Arab Bank Switzerland announced Tuesday that it will integrate staking, trading and custody services onto the Tezos blockchain’s native token (XTZ) in a bid to provide a digital asset environment for institutions, corporations and high net-worth individuals. The 50-year old establishment partnered with Tezos in the hope of benefiting from the ecosystem's inherent focus on energy conservation, low-gas fees and fast upgrades. Managing Director of Arab Bank Switzerland, Rani Jabban commented on the institution’s ambitions following the announcement: “Digital Assets are a cornerstone of our strategy, requiring strong agility while complying with the highest security standards. Our mission is to …

With venture capital funding seemingly prioritizing emerging technology, the blockchain industry experiences a significant influx of capital from corporate backers. According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021 published on Wednesday, blockchain-based businesses account for 10% of startups worldwide. The figure is part of a more significant trend that has seen emerging technology become a fast-growing sub-sector in terms of early-stage funding. The report divides startups into growing, matured and declining sub-sectors. Unsurprisingly, blockchain technology is in the first group, where the average growth rate is 107%, along with agriculture technology (agtech) and new food, advanced manufacturing and robotics, artificial …

PayPal has announced the release of a new app billed to be a one-stop-shop for all of the digital payment needs of the company’s customers. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman stated back in July that the company’s super app was ready for a rollout in the United States. According to a release issued on Tuesday, the new PayPal app will enable users to access all of the company’s digital financial products. The new app covers both crypto and non-crypto use cases with a wallet tab to manage cryptocurrency payments and high yield savings. Indeed, the PayPal …

Something is brewing, and those with finely tuned noses can smell it. As traders have come to expect, Bitcoin (BTC) is doing “Bitcoin things” by bouncing around between the usual “key” support and resistance levels, and to be honest, it’s all starting to feel a bit boomerish. Bitcoin’s long-awaited “moon” depended on institutional investor buy-in, breaking the previous all-time high at $19,000 and a set of other firmly held beliefs. Well, all that happened, and the run to $64,900 exceeded many investors’ wildest dreams. But despite this, the entire BTC situation just feels predictable and boring if you are of …

Welcome to the latest edition of Cointelegraph’s decentralized finance, or DeFi, newsletter. In a week where the crypto market bears returned for blood, DeFi enlisted an army of lobsters to fight its feuds. While we ponder a feasible battleground for that mammalian–invertebrate combat, feel free to scroll on and read the top choices for the week’s most impactful stories. What you’re about to read is a shorter, more succinct version of the newsletter. For a comprehensive summary of DeFi’s developments over the last week — delivered to your inbox quicker than a food delivery order in lockdown — subscribe below. …