Jack Dorsey’s cryptocurrency-friendly digital payments firm Square is expanding competition with global payments giants like PayPal by acquiring a major Australian lending company. Square announced Sunday that the firm has entered into a scheme implementation deed to acquire all of the issued shares in fintech company Afterpay in a $29-billion deal. The transaction is based on the closing price of the Square common share and is expected to be paid in all stock in the first quarter of 2022. The acquisition enables Square to further accelerate its strategic plans for payment ecosystems as the company is looking to integrate Afterpay …

Bank of America, one of the nation’s largest financial institutions based on total assets, believes El Salvador could have a lot to gain with its latest foray into Bitcoin (BTC). In a report published last week, analysts at the bank said El Salvador’s decision to recognize BTC as legal tender could streamline remittances, promote financial digitization, provide consumers with greater choice, and open up the country to American firms and digital currency miners. The bank noted that remittances account for a staggering 24% of El Salvador’s gross domestic product, but a sizable chunk of that goes toward transaction fees. “Using …

Global payments provider PayPal is in the process of recruiting for several cryptocurrency-related positions at its Ireland offices, further highlighting the company’s ambitions in the rapidly growing digital asset market. The Dublin-based Irish Independent reported Sunday that PayPal is looking to fill various crypto-focused roles in compliance, Anti-Money Laundering and business development for its Dublin and Dundalk offices. Related: PayPal set to launch crypto trading in the UK and may embrace DeFi PayPal launched a dedicated crypto and blockchain business unit earlier this year to support its foray into cryptocurrencies, which initially began in October 2020 by allowing customers in …

Charity fundraising risks being left behind in the shift to online activity. But taking inspiration from the COVID-19 pandemic trends, and new payment technology, could open doors. Change comes whether you’re ready or not, but being ready means you can seize the opportunity. The past year has accelerated the pace of digital transformation dramatically — sure, personal contact was already moving online, and contactless payments were slowly replacing cash, but the pandemic did not so much push as shove the world faster and farther than anyone expected. This creates specific challenges for the nonprofit sector — and with those, some …

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. …

A crypto protocol says that it delivers fast and feeless transactions that will boost blockchain adoption and open the door to micropayments. Stealth’s native cryptocurrency is based on a Bitcoin-type UTXO ledger that allows it to deliver multi-signature transactions, something that’s essential for custodial applications. The project aims to stand head and shoulders above what it describes as “hundreds of projects that fail to offer acceptable user experiences.” Presently, all of the major crypto networks suffer massive levels of congestion, hiking up costs for everyday users. Stealth aims to solve this problem with an efficient chain that improves Bitcoin’s throughput …

Payments provider company PayPal said its users may not have much longer to wait to have greater crypto functionality through the platform. During PayPal’s Q2 2021 investor update call on Wednesday, CEO Dan Schulman said the initial version of the company’s super app wallet was “code complete.” The PayPal CEO said the company planned for the wallet to be fully ramped in the United States in the next several months. The super app wallet will feature high yield savings, early access to direct deposit funds, messaging capability, “additional crypto capabilities” and more. Schulman said each wallet would be “unique, driven …

International payments giant Mastercard continues focusing on the digital asset industry by welcoming a batch of major cryptocurrency startups in its fintech accelerator. The company announced Tuesday a new startup engagement program as part of Mastercard Start Path, an accelerator program for fintech startups, aiming to support companies working with digital assets, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The program has added seven new startups, including digital wallet and trading platform Uphold, crypto storage firm GK8, American investment platform Domain Money, blockchain oracle startup SupraOracles, blockchain infrastructure provider STACS, digital asset firm Taurus, and Mintable, a marketplace for issuing and trading nonfungible …

Dash has announced the launch of DashDirect — a consumer app that allows users to spend the DASH cryptocurrency in stores across America. In an announcement released on Tuesday, Dash revealed that the new customer-focused app will offer up to 12% in savings on purchases by users. Detailing the rebates and discount features, Mashall Greenwald, DashDirect Founder and CEO of CrayPay told Cointelegraph: “After you enter the exact amount of your current purchase in the app, an immediate discount of up to 12% is applied,” adding: “This allows anyone to spend Dash for everyday purchases as easily as using USD, …

Last month, Bitcoin was adopted as legal tender in El Salvador, joining the U.S. dollar. The country's new Bitcoin Law, which will be enforced starting Sept. 7, will allow Salvadorans to use Bitcoin (BTC) as a currency to purchase goods and services, as well as to pay taxes and debt. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has stated that Bitcoin adoption will hugely benefit the 70% of the local population that lacks access to banking services. He also believes that it will attract investments and create new jobs. However, the Bitcoin Law has raised multiple concerns. Skeptics say the cryptocurrency's high …

Amazon has refuted recent speculation it may be readying to support Bitcoin (BTC) payments, asserting it currently has no plans for BTC. According to a Reuters report on Tuesday citing a spokesperson from the firm, Amazon remains interested in the crypto industry but has no specific plans to onboard digital assets for payments just yet: “Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true.” However, the spokesperson did not deny that Amazon is researching crypto payments, adding, “We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers …

An anonymous source within Amazon has reportedly told London business newspaper City A.M. that the e-commerce giant is planning to start accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments by the end of 2021, possibly setting the stage for broader mainstream acceptance of crypto transactions. “This isn’t just going through the motions to set up cryptocurrency payment solutions at some point in the future — this is a full-on, well-discussed, integral part of the future mechanism of how Amazon will work,” the source told City A.M., according to a report published on Sunday. Related: Bringing the crypto payments ecosystem around the world: Ray Youssef …