Federal Deputy Luizão Goulart, a Brazilian congressman, proposed a bill to legalize crypto payments as a mode of payment for public and private sector workers. Goulart’s proposal seeks a new law that allows all Brazilian workers to have an option to request employers for remuneration in cryptocurrencies. However, the bill warrants crypto payments to be made only after selling a mutual agreement between the workers and the employer. According to the translated version of the bill: “The limits of the percentage of payment (remuneration) in cryptocurrencies will be of the worker’s free choice. Any imposition by the employer will be …

American grocery store chain Kroger is accepting cryptocurrency payments ahead of the holiday season. According to an official announcement on Nov. 5, the major retailer will accept Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at all of its stores — Baker's, City Market, Dillons, Fred Meyer, QFC and others — as well as for online purchases. Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO, said that the initiative was spurred by increased demand for cashless payments: “Throughout the pandemic, cashless payments have been thriving, and we see cryptocurrency as a natural progression of the trend to deal less with physical money.” In 2018, Kroger had broken …

Crypto payment gateway Bitfinex Pay has integrated with MetaMask, the popular browser and wallet extension powered by ConsenSys, potentially opening the door to tens of millions of users. The integration, which officially went live on Friday, gives Metamask’s more than 10 million active users access to Bitfinex Pay. By logging into their wallet, MetaMask users will have the ability to send and receive cryptocurrency payments directly through the payment gateway. Merchants wishing to accept payments through Bitfinex Pay must first register an account and verify their identity with Bitfinex, the parent company of the payment platform. Once verified, merchants can …

Businesses that don’t accept cryptocurrency as a payment method will quickly be left behind. Consumers are already talking about digital currencies worldwide, with current predictions estimated at around 300 million users. As a result, over 2,300 businesses in the United States alone accept the digital currency Bitcoin (BTC). Some of the most notable include Microsoft, an early adopter of Bitcoin since 2014; Overstock, an American internet retailer primarily in the furniture selling business and Whole Foods, one of the first big retailers to accept the digital currency. Other companies like CheapAir, have arisen to fill specific market spaces, in this …

The rollout of the world's second central bank digital currency, or CBDC, is off to a rocky start. Last week, Nigeria rolled out its eNaira CBDC after the Bahamas became the first country in the world to launch theirs, known as The Sand Dollar, the year prior. In a statement quoted by local news outlet The Nation, Central Bank of Nigeria, or CBN, Governor Godwin Emefiele said "overwhelming interest and encouraging response". Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari estimates that the eNaira could generate an additional $29 billion in economic activity over the next decade, citing the possibility of direct government welfare …

Major online retailer Amazon’s IT service management company may be considering driving adoption in the digital asset space among its customers. According to an Oct. 30 job posting, Amazon Web Services’ New York office is hiring a Financial Services Specialist who “understands the overall cryptocurrency and digital asset ecosystem,” with experience in blockchain and distributed ledger technology. The company said the position would work with regulators, financial institutions, and capital market operators to explore how they might benefit from digital asset adoption. The prospective employee would encourage those in senior positions at major global financial institutions to “transform the way …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions have already proved they are better alternatives to traditional finance, arising from the need for an open, secure and transparent financial system. With DeFi, users can take advantage of lower transaction rates, higher interest rates or an opportunity to diversify investments. Therefore, there are few surprises regarding decentralized finance emerging as an alternative to today's financial system for these reasons. The bottom line is that while blockchain technology ensures the network's security, it is at the cost of users’ inconvenience. Unfortunately, like other promising technologies, the blockchain is prone to challenges that may impact its usage. …

Bitcoin (BTC) investment firm, New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), has announced the acquisition of United Kingdom-based micropayment service Bottlepay for an estimated fee between $280 million and $300 million. NYDIG had previously participated in the company's $15.4 million seed funding round in February 2021, a raise which was led by British billionaire investor Alan Howard and saw the company valued in excess of $50 million. Utilizing the Bitcoin Lightning Network, Bottlepay’s mobile application service enables users across the U.K. and Europe to transfer small amounts, known as micropayments, of Bitcoin (BTC) and traditional fiat currencies such as pound sterling …

Since the release of the Bitcoin white paper exactly 13 years ago, blockchain technology has revolutionized several industries with multiple use cases, including facilitating money transfers, automated legal contracts, and providing traceability to the supply chain. And a blockchain project advised by the co-inventor of blockchain technology, Dr. Scott Stornetta, has decided to launch their mainnet on this very day. Jax.Network positions itself as an extension of the Bitcoin (BTC) network, fixing the scalability problem of the latter. Through many years of research, the Jax.Network team believes they have found a solution to the Blockchain Scalability Trilemma. Jax.Network brings this …

AMC Entertainment is in the process of updating its technical infrastructure to allow consumers to pay online with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE) for movie tickets. But it doesn't stop there. In a Twitter post early Friday morning, Adam Aron, the company's CEO, asked if users would be potentially interested in paying with Shiba Inu as well. At time of writing, 97,582 Twitter users had already taken part in the poll, with approximately 85% of voters choosing "Yes". The iconic theatre chain has taken a growing interest in crypto as of late. Last week, its CEO …

U.S.-based cryptocurrency brokerage firm Voyager Digital announced a $75 million investment from cryptocurrency quantitative trading firm and liquidity provider Alameda Research on Thursday. Founded in 2018, Voyager Digital offers more than 60 digital currencies for trade on its mobile app, which also includes services such as yield farming. According to the company’s website, Alameda Research was founded in 2017 and now manages $1 billion in digital assets. In addition, the firm claims to trade anywhere between $1 billion to $10 billion worth of major cryptocurrencies, altcoins, and crypto-derivatives each day. The company has taken an active interest in decentralized finance, …

Cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex is preparing to test out a new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) tool on its platform. The firm announced Wednesday that it will be testing a new solution designed for complying with the “Travel Rule,” an AML/Counter Financing of Terrorism regulation for financial institutions introduced by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2019. Bitfinex partnered with compliance startup Notabene to implement its software-as-a-service solution to identify virtual asset accounts, track cross-border transactions and comply with other broad obligations of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The integration will supposedly allow the firm to ensure privacy while collecting and managing …