Russia could soon be taking a cue from Iran by using cryptocurrencies for imports, according to comments from the Russian prime Minister. The adoption of digital assets is necessary as a “safe alternative” for cross-border payments, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin declared at a strategic session on the development of the domestic financial system on Tuesday. The prime minister added that digital assets provide a good opportunity to ensure uninterrupted payments for imports and exports. Mishustin also pointed out the importance of ensuring tech infrastructure independence and cybersecurity of financial institutions, stating: “We need to intensively develop innovative areas, including …

In another shift toward widespread crypto adoption in Argentina, citizens from the Mendoza Province can now pay government fees and taxes using cryptocurrencies. In an Aug. 27 statement, the Mendoza Tax Administration (ATM) described the new crypto payment service as fulfilling "the strategic objective of modernization and innovation," giving "taxpayers different means to comply with their tax obligations." The service officially began operation on Aug 24., but at this stage, it will only accept stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) for tax payments. Citizens can pay through the portal on the ATM website using any crypto wallets like Binance, Bybit, and …

Founder and CIO of crypto-focused fund Cyber Capital Justin Bons have called Bitcoin “technically one of the worst cryptocurrencies,” and a “purely speculative asset without utility” in comparison to other cryptocurrencies due to its lack of technological progress. Bons added his two cents in an 11-part Twitter thread on Aug. 28, stating that Bitcoin and BTC’s value proposition has long deteriorated due to a broken long-term security model, comparatively weak economic qualities, and lack of capacity, programmability, and composability. 1/11) BTC is unique in that it is technically one of the worst cryptocurrencies It has a broken long-term security model …

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggests the superiority of cryptocurrency for payments is often "underrated" compared to fiat, pointing to the convenience of international payments and payments to charities as key examples. Buterin made the comments in a Twitter thread on Aug. 24, explaining that it's not just resistance to censorship, but also convenience that makes cryptocurrencies "superior" when it comes to international business, charity, and even payments within countries. People continue to underrate how often cryptocurrency payments are superior not even because of censorship resistance but just because they're so much more convenient. Big boost to international business and charity, …

Bitcoin (BTC) changed the world as a decentralized and non-governmental form of currency that can facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions that transcend national borders. But, despite this functionality, Bitcoin’s role as a payment mechanism has been called into question due to its low transaction throughput. The Bitcoin blockchain can handle up to seven transactions per second, which means that network demand has seen the average transaction fee on the network reach an all-time high above $62 during specific periods. In order to address low throughput and high transaction fees, developers made the Lightning Network — a layer-2 scaling solution that allows …

Is there a possibility of a refund like traditional banks? If an ETH transaction fails or someone mistakenly sends it a wrong address, is there a provision of a refund? Ethereum does not refund gas costs for failed transactions. The fundamental design of an open blockchain like Ethereum renders such a provision improbable. Fees paid by the sender for adding transactions to blocks are paid directly to miners on Ethereum network, the status of the transaction as successful or failed notwithstanding. In case of a failed transaction, the Ether the person attempted to send is returned to the wallet. However, …

Ripple’s XRP token is set to be used to facilitate fast and cost-effective cross-border transactions in Brazil, after the launch of RippleNet's On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) with forex company Travelex. Digital payment network Ripple announced on Aug. 18 that foreign exchange company Travelex will utilize RippleNet’s ODL to facilitate cross-border payments between enterprises by utilizing Ripple’s XRP token. It also noted that Travelex Bank is the first bank approved by Brazil's central bank to operate exclusively in foreign exchange. Bom dia! Brazil is open for Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity with Travelex—our first LATAM bank partner—and the first bank approved by the Central …

Government controlled “programmable money should terrify you”, says social media influencer and TV Host Layah Heilpern, who sees central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a way for banks and governments to reign control over their people. In an interview on Aug. 19 with British news outlet GB News, Heilpern, who also released Undressing Bitcoin: A Revealing Guide To The World's Most Revolutionary Asset in September 2021, said the widespread rollout of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) from nation states is on its way, and that it could lead to the financial censorship of citizens in the future. Heilpern stated …

Convenience store and petrol station brand On The Run (OTR) has launched crypto payment support across all 175 of its petrol stations and convenience stores across Victoria, South Australia (SA), and Western Australia (WA) as of Aug. 18. As previously reported, the move is part of a collaboration between OTR, Singapore-based exchange Crypto.com, and DataMesh, a Sydney-based payment systems provider. The exchange has provided its Pay Merchant service as a payment settlement layer, while Datamesh has provided the point of sale terminals. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Crypto.com’s Asia & Pacific General Manager Karl Mohan noted that it only took “eight weeks …

Major Brazilian payment application PicPay is moving into cryptocurrencies by integrating a crypto exchange service allowing users to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The firm officially announced on Wednesday that PicPay clients can now buy, sell and store two major cryptocurrencies, BTC or ETH, directly on its app. PicPay pointed out that its choice was due to the real use cases provided by these digital assets, including security and many other benefits. The firm stated: “Blockchain technology, which is behind coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, is already used in the real estate sector, the insurance industry and even the …

After moving away from Bitcoin (BTC) payments years ago, online forum Reddit now seems to be inching closer to embracing cryptocurrency payments via a new partnership with the FTX exchange. Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX and Reddit announced in a joint statement on Tuesday that the platform intends to integrate Reddit’s Community Points in the United States, the European Union, Australia and other markets. The partnership features the integration of FTX Pay as a payment and crypto exchange solution to unlock new crypto-enabled perks for Reddit Community Points. Introduced in May 2020, Reddit Community Points are a measure of reputation …

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has argued that crypto payments will once again “make sense” as transaction costs will soon fall to fractions of a cent due to layer-2 rollups. The Cointelegraph team currently on the ground at Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) quoted Buterin as stating that the final hurdle to getting transactions down to fractions of a cent at scale is blockchain data compression. He pointed to “solid work happening” with roll-ups at the moment such as Optimism’s layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, which has worked to get the size and cost of data in blockchain transactions down by introducing …