Digital asset custodian First Digital Trust has secured funding to bring crypto-asset payment services and upgrades to the Asia-Pacific region. The Hong Kong-headquartered company has raised $2.15 million in a convertible note funding round led by private investors including Asian venture studio Nogle. The total funding for the firm is now over $5.2 million, according to Crunchbase, which reported two prior funding rounds. The firm stated that the funding will allow it to launch the first debit and credit card rail that will enable its digital-asset clients to accept card payments seamlessly. Companies will be able to accept digital assets …

Australia’s leading point-of-sale technology provider Eftpos Australia has revealed ambitious plans to roll out blockchain-powered autonomous vehicles and smart cities in Australia built using Hedera’s Hashgraph. Speaking on Tuesday as part of the Australian Blockchain Week, Robert Allen, deputy chair of Blockchain Australia and Eftpos’ entrepreneur in residence, discussed the firm's intention to use distributed ledger technology for advanced infrastructure, among other applications: “We're going to be looking at smart cities. [...] We're going to be looking at autonomous vehicles and things that we haven't even thought about yet. All of this needs new infrastructure, and Eftpos needs to be …

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 …

Payments app Square made headlines — and dollars — when it integrated Bitcoin trading into its mobile platform back during the crypto bull market of winter 2017. Now, rival payments firm Venmo, owned by PayPal, is following suit by launching cryptocurrency trading for four major coins: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Beginning on Tuesday and set to be widely available within the new few weeks, Venmo’s 70 million+ customers will be able to buy, hold and sell crypto directly within the Venmo app. The launch is offering users access to in-app guides to help them …

American online electronics retailer Newegg has added Dogecoin (DOGE) as an official payment method amid the ongoing parabolic surge of the meme-based cryptocurrency. Newegg announced Tuesday that the company added the option through crypto payments platform BitPay. The firm said that the new feature was introduced in conjunction with Doge Day — a community crypto holiday pushed by DOGE proponents to be celebrated on April 20. According to online reports, Dogecoin advocates apparently hope to see DOGE hit $1 today. We become LEGENDARY today. #DogeDay pic.twitter.com/jYEaNHE3p6 — DogeCoin (@OnIyDOGE) April 20, 2021 Newegg senior brand manager Andrew Choi said that …

In partnership with Crypto.com, a leading digital currency platform, Time Magazine is now accepting one-time crypto payments for its 18-month digital subscription. Users who elect to pay with Crypto.org Coin (CRO) will receive up to 10% cash back on their purchase. The digital subscription is valued at $49. The option to pay with cryptocurrency is currently only available in the United States and Canada, with a global rollout scheduled for July 2021. Keith Grossman, president of Time Magazine, said the partnership with Crypto.com represents further innovations that will allow his publication to build on its existing community of 2.3 million …

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 …

It was a relatively quiet week in China’s blockchain space as events were overshadowed by the surge in the BTC price and the Coinbase direct listing in the U.S. Many locals reacted with surprise to the news, showing that exposure to cryptocurrencies is still relatively isolated in the world’s most populous country. Many netizens responded skeptically to the Coinbase story, with news aggregation account “Jiemian” on Weibo calling Bitcoin a scam, highlighting its connection to terrorists, and encouraging investors to stick to China’s A-shares. (For a quick comparison, the Shanghai composite index is down 2.13% this year, while Bitcoin has …

A Miami-Dade County commissioner is backing a new resolution to allow residents to use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) to pay local taxes. According to a Thursday document acquired by the Miami New Times, County Commissioner Cohen Higgins has brought a resolution to Miami-Dade’s Infrastructure, Operations and Innovations Committee calling for the establishment of a 13-member crypto task force. The task force would examine the feasibility of allowing residents to pay their county taxes, as well as pay for fees and services, using digital currencies including Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC). According to the document, crypto payments have the “potential …

As the price of Bitcoin continues to reach new all-time highs, major corporations with existing crypto offerings in place are beginning to discuss grand plans for the future. Most recently, Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, hinted at future developments for PayPal’s crypto offering during Forbes’ “2021 Blockchain 50 Symposium: Crypto Goes Corporate,” an online event that took place on April 13. During a fireside chat with Michael del Castillo, associate editor at Forbes, Schulman mentioned that the financial system will undergo more changes over the next five years compared to the progress that has been made in the previous 30 …

The European Central Bank has published the results of a public consultation on a potential digital euro as the institution inches closer to deciding whether to formally study such an initiative. According to a Wednesday announcement, the ECB received more than 8,200 responses to its public digital euro consultation — a personal record for the bank regarding participation in a public consultation. Of the total responses, 47% came from Germany, with a significant amount also coming from Italy and France, accounting for 15% and 11% of total responses, respectively. The majority of respondents said that privacy was the most desired …

A nightclub in Miami is set to return from a COVID-19-related shutdown of over a year by accepting Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. Luxury nightclub E11even Miami announced Tuesday that it will soon start accepting cryptocurrency as payment for tables, drinks, merchandise and other services. According to the official announcement, the list of supported cryptocurrencies will include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE). In order to provide the new payment method, E11even has partnered with a major cryptocurrency processing company, but did not specify the name of the payment processor. “With the tremendous …