Australian buy now pay later (BNPL) firm Afterpay believes that local merchants can slash payment costs by utilizing cryptocurrencies. In a submission to the Senate inquiry into “Australia as a Technology and Financial Center,” Afterpay stated that the use of blockchain-based transactions could cut the fees associated with traditional payment methods, including card issuer, network operator and banking fees: “Merchants stand to benefit considerably from the cryptocurrency model, as card network fees are entirely removed from the equation and the customer/payer bears the transaction costs.” Under the crypto model, the customer would front the cost of validating the payment on …

The banking capabilities of fintech have met cryptocurrencies in a new partnership between Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets and local neobank Volt. With a license to operate in Australia as an authorized deposit-taking institution since 2019, Volt will provide corporate cash management accounts for BTC Markets users to manage their Australian dollar funds. Those accounts allow real-time payments on the New Payments Platform, Australia’s national infrastructure for fast payments. “This means near-instant trading opportunities for our crypto clients, as they can rapidly fund AUD into their BTC Markets account,” BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bowler told Cointelegraph, adding that in the …

Welcome to the latest iteration of Cointelegraph’s decentralized finance newsletter. Just as quickly as the summer departed from our calendars, millions of funds were hacked from the wallets of Cream Finance. This has been another jam-packed week in the DeFi space. Here are some top picks for the biggest stories in what is my debut appearance as Finance Redefined’s newsletter writer. What you’re reading is the shorter, snappier version of the newsletter. For the full roundup of DeFi developments across the week delivered directly to your inbox, subscribe below. Cream of the crop This week’s cream-of-the-crop story (pun intended) was …

Standard Chartered, a United Kingdom-based multinational banking firm, has joined an alliance of fintech companies and banks aimed at accelerating the adoption of cryptocurrency best practices. In a Wednesday announcement, Standard Chartered said it would be joining crypto and digital finance industry membership body Global Digital Finance (GDF) Patron Board. As a member, the bank will help engage with international regulators and lawmakers as well as others in the industry to advocate for digital assets. According to the GDF, Standard Chartered is the first bank to join the group’s patron board, consisting of ten other members, including crypto exchanges Coinbase, …

Barbados-based fintech firm Bitt Inc will be working as the technical partner for the Central Bank of Nigeria for its proposed e-naira digital currency. In a Monday announcement, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it had chosen Bitt Inc based on the company’s “technological competence, efficiency, platform security, interoperability and implementation experience.” It also considered the fintech firm’s experience in the development of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s digital currency, DCash, which it launched in April. The partnership announcement comes the same day the CBN issued preliminary guidelines for its central bank digital currency, or CBDC, called the e-naira. …

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has shortlisted 15 “Global CBDC Challenge” participants to help build an in-house retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). An announcement shared by the MAS shows that the finalists include six companies from Singapore, four from the United States, and one each from Australia, Barbados, Germany, France and Switzerland, of which only three winners will be selected to deploy a retail CBDC in Singapore. Soon after the Singaporean central bank announced cash prizes for digital currency ideas back on June 28, the challenge reportedly saw the participation of over 300 fintech companies spread across more …

Crypto and blockchain investments continue to grow thanks to ever-rising investor interest, according to a new report from Big Four accounting firm KPMG. Titled “Pulse of Fintech H1 2021,” the study covers global investment activities in different financial technology verticals for the first half of the year. It details 2,456 investment deals worth $98 billion made between January and June. One of the top fintech trends for 2021 is the explosive growth in the crypto and blockchain investments, the report reads. The first six months of 2021 saw 548 investments activities, including venture capitals, private equities, and mergers and acquisitions …

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is making another step towards the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by partnering with a German currency technology provider. The BoG officially announced Wednesday that it signed an agreement with German banknote and securities printing company Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) to pilot a retail CBDC in Ghana, West Africa. As part of the agreement, G+D will provide its proprietary CBDC solution known as Filia to pilot the issuance of a digital form of Ghana’s national currency, the cedi. The digital currency will be tested in a trial with local banks, merchants, payment service providers …

Jamaica is aggressively progressing with the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) as the Bank of Jamaica, or BOJ, has minted the country’s first batch of CBDC. The BOJ officially announced that its dedicated CBDC division demonstrated the process of minting digital currency at a financial ceremony on Monday. The issuing process for a digital version of the Jamaican dollar (JMD) was carried out with participation from Jamaica’s finance minister Nigel Clarke, BOJ governor Richard Byles and a group of senior BOJ executives, as well as a management team from Irish technology firm eCurrency Mint. According to the announcement, the …

Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are known by the mainstream as digital assets that represent real-world objects such as art, music and fashion, among others. Yet, while most of the world may be enamored by the high selling prices of NFTs launched by celebrities, athletes and other famous individuals, nonfungible tokens are starting to pique the interest of corporations for business use cases. Enterprises embracing NFTs was a point discussed during the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, or EEA, anniversary event that took place virtually on July 29, 2021. During a keynote session, entitled “The future of Ethereum and Web3,” Joe Lubin, CEO …

Cash may be king when it comes to purchasing Bitcoin (BTC), as recent data states that there has been a spike in crypto ATM installations during 2021, showing a 71.3% increase from Jan. 1, 2021, until the time of reporting. Specifically speaking, there are currently over 24,000 crypto ATMs located across the globe. Data further suggests that crypto ATMs are being installed at a rate of about 52.3 machines per day. While growth is clearly underway for the cryptocurrency sector, the reason behind the surge in crypto ATMs may be due to a demand for using cash to buy Bitcoin. …

Women looking for a way to enter a male-dominated space like crypto and blockchain may be drawn in by nonfungible tokens, according to Women in Blockchain Talks founder and host Lavinia Osbourne. Though the ongoing pandemic has left people in many countries in financial trouble — whether by losing their jobs, being unable to physically go to banks, or other concerns — Osbourne told Cointelegraph the event may have pushed many women into crypto and blockchain once they were forced to move on from other careers. She said the recent surge and media coverage of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, had …