Tag: crypto payments

BTC-Accepting Businesses Rose by Over 170 Percent in 2023, Some Also Identified in India: Report

The number of vendors and businesses accepting payments through Bitcoin spiked by a whopping 174 percent last year. The most expensive cryptocurrency in existence, Bitcoin went through a notable slump in 2023 after several market shaking incidents like the collapse of FTX and Terra left investors high and dry. For most of the year, Bitcoin was trading around the mark of $30,000 (roughly Rs. 24.9 lakh) before finally shooting up over $40,000 (roughly Rs. 33.2 lakh) at the end of 2023.

Bitcoin-accepting restaurants, bars, shops, and services reached the figure of 6,126 by the end of last year, showed data from tracker BTC Map. To put the spike in perspective, BTC Map also showed that the number of businesses that were accepting payments via BTC at the start of 2023 stood at just 2,207 merchants.

BTC Map identifies regions where BTC is being used for daily transaction purposes through OpenStreetMap where people and merchants can tag these pro-crypto vendors and merchants. BTC Maps showing a rise in the number of pro-BTC merchants also indicates that more people are actively tagging spots where crypto payments are being accepted.

The regions of Central and South America alongside those in the US and Europe showed larger clusters of BTC-accepting businesses. Over 1,000 BTC-accepting businesses were tagged in Italy and 380 were marked in South Africa.

In India, data by the BTC Maps managed to identify BTC-accepting vendors in Surat, Mumbai, Gaya, Delhi, and Chennai. There were no tags identified in China and Russia.

With regulatory challenges starting to sort out gradually around the world, more brands could also open crypto payments in the times to come.

One of the biggest brands that started accepting payments in BTC was Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari. In October 2023, Ferrari decided to accept payments in the form of Bitcoin, Ether, and USD Coin in the US.

Fashion label Ralph Lauren, McDonald’s, and Gucci are among other brands that have opened crypto payments in select regions.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2024 hub.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Ferrari Goes Pro-Crypto, Decides to Accept Bitcoin, ETH, USDC Payments for Its Cars

Ferrari, in a bold pro-crypto move, has decided to accept payments for its luxury cars in the form of Bitcoin, Ether, and USD Coin in the US. The Italian automaker analysed market demands and dealer requests that resulted in this development. The brand is also looking to engage with a younger generation of buyers, many of whom are exploring investments in digital assets, by allowing crypto payments. In the coming months, Ferrari could begin accepting crypto payments in Europe as well.

Enrico Galliera, the chief marketing and commercial officer of Ferrari, confirmed the development over the weekend in an interview with Reuters.

BitPay, an app that lets merchants accept crypto payments, has been chosen by Ferrari as its payment gateway that will convert crypto payments into fiat currencies for Ferrari dealers in the US. The platform will also analyse the paid cryptocurrencies to detect if they originated from illicit activities like theft, scam, or tax evasion.

The carmaker is also not looking to levy any extra charges for people choosing to pay for their car purchases via cryptocurrencies. Ferrari’s pro-crypto move has ignited a frenzy among members of the global crypto community on X.

As of now, the automaker has not specified if all models of Ferrari or just select models will be available for purchase via crypto.

This, however, is not the first time that a high-end, luxury car company has opened payments in crypto.

In early 2021, Elon Musk’s Tesla was accepting Bitcoin payments for select products and services. Musk had also discussed about opening payments in DOGE for the EV at the time. Tesla soon discontinued its Bitcoin payments owing to the harmful impact on the environment that Bitcoin mining entails.

In fact, Ferrari also has a link to crypto assets. In a bid to engage with new-age fans and reward loyalists with digital souvenirs, Ferrari had partnered with blockchain firm Velas in 2021. The deal however, fell out in January this year due to lack of participation from the carmaker, and because of the crypto slump that had struck Velas in the belly of its business at the time.

In India as well, the Mahindra and Mahindra company is considering BTC payments in the coming times, CEO Anand Mahindra had revealed in April 2023.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Elon Musk’s X Acquires Currency Transmitter License, Could Introduce Crypto Payments: Report

Elon Musk’s X has acquired a currency transmitter licence for the microblogging platform in a US state, suggesting that the social networking platform formerly called Twitter could soon support processing payments in crypto as well as fiat currencies. This licence gives a company the right to facilitate custody, transfer, and exchange of digital currencies. Musk, who acquired X last year, has said he wants to transform it into an “everything app”. The billionaire envisions the X as a platform that would let users communicate, share, and also process payments in the future.

According to a CoinTelegraph report, X has acquired a currency transmitter licence in Rhode Island. The currency transmitter license is a legal requirement for money transfer companies in the US, as per the report.

It is said that the payments feature on X may initially only allow payments in fiat currencies. In the later stages of its upgrade, however, the feature could allow the transfer and exchange of cryptocurrencies as well.

The crypto market responded positively on Wednesday. The valuation of the crypto sector spiked overnight by four percent, to bring its value to $1.09 trillion (roughly Rs 90,07,269 crore), according to CoinMarketCap.

Musk’s favourite altcoin — Dogecoin — also spiked in value by over three percent in the backdrop of this news to trade at $0.066 (roughly Rs. 5.42). Strangely enough, Musk himself has not posted anything about the company acquiring the license.

It is notable that Rhode Island is not the only US state to have granted this money transmitter licence to X. Earlier this year, Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire among other US states also approved the licence for X, making Rhode Island the seventh state to have done so, according to the CoinTelegraph report.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Mastercard Plans to Expand Crypto Payment Card Programme With New Tie-Ups

Mastercard will expand its cryptocurrency payment card programme by seeking more partnerships with crypto firms, the company’s head of crypto and blockchain said, even as the sector comes under closer scrutiny from regulators and banks grow wary.

Mastercard has already partnered with crypto exchanges including Binance, Nexo and Gemini to offer crypto-linked payment cards in some countries. The Binance cards allow users to make payments in traditional currencies, funded by their cryptocurrency holdings on the exchange.

“We have dozens of partners around the world who offer crypto card programmes and they continue to expand,” Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard‘s head of crypto and blockchain, told Reuters on Thursday.

“Providing access to crypto in a safe way is also part of our value proposition and we’re continuing to do that.”

Banks have become wary of crypto clients after a number of big crypto firms collapsed last year, including the bankruptcy of major exchange FTX. Meanwhile, US regulators are increasingly cracking down on what they say is a lack of compliance in the market.

In March, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance, accusing the world’s largest crypto exchange of operating what the regulator called an “illegal” exchange and a “sham” compliance program.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the complaint contained an “incomplete recitation of facts”.

Dhamodharan declined to comment on Binance specifically, but said any card programme “goes through full due diligence” and is continuously monitored.

Some banks, including Santander and NatWest, limit the amount of money UK customers can transfer to cryptocurrency exchanges to protect consumers from scams and fraud.

In November, rival Visa severed its global credit card agreements with FTX. American Express — which had said in 2021 it would consider using crypto as a possible option to redeem reward points — said in February that it did not see crypto replacing its main payment and lending services in the near term.

Asked if Mastercard is considering imposing restrictions on the amount of money that could be transferred to crypto exchanges using its payments network, Dhamodharan said, “We’re not here to pick winners. We’re not here to pick which transaction should happen or shouldn’t happen.”

He added users of Mastercard’s network go through a number of compliance checks, adding that the company has invested in crypto analytics technology.

Mastercard is “really quite enthusiastic” about the underlying blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies, Dhamodharan said.

“We think more and more regulated money will come to this,” he said.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

EU Imposes Complete Ban on Cross-Border Crypto Payments to Russia

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which started in February, still does not quite seem close to any end. In the midst of the ongoing tensions between the two nations, the European Union (EU) has imposed a complete ban on all cross-border crypto transactions directed towards Russia. On the orders of President Vladimir Putin, Russia waged a full-fledged military attack on Ukraine in the backdrop of prevailing geo-political tensions. Criticising Russia’s violent approach to the issues, several nations around the world have imposed sanctions, restraining Russia from accessing funds from oversees accounts that could have added more fuel to the fire.

“The existing prohibitions on crypto assets have been tightened by banning all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet (previously up to EUR 10,000 (roughly Rs. 8 lakh) was allowed),” EU said in an official post.

As per the EU regulators, this 8th phase of sanctions against Russia intends to deprive the Russian military and industries of key components.

EU’s decision comes just days after the Russian government allowed the use of virtual digital assets for cross-border payments.

Back in September, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev has said that the central bank has agreed to let Russians send and receive cross-border payments using crypto.

“Now we have a bill in this part already agreed with the Central Bank on the output… It generally describes how to acquire cryptocurrency, what can be done with it, and how it can or cannot be settled with it in the first place in cross-border settlements,” Moiseev had said at the time.

According to Russia’s Ministry of Finance, the country’s approach to cryptocurrencies will remain relaxed, as the infrastructure they plan to launch is too rigid for crypto.

In July, Russia’s financial monitoring agency, Rosfinmonitoring had said that it was using software to track cryptocurrency transactions with the hopes of improving its capabilities.

Meanwhile, the country is also maintaining a strict oversight over the crypto sector, ensuring that Russian residents are not exposed to financial risks.

This week itself, Russia’s Roskomnadzor media monitoring agency has alleged that the website of OKX crypto exchange has been spreading fake financial information and exposing people to monetary risks.

As a result, the OKX website has been deactivated. Founded in China in 2017, OKX is now headquartered in Seychelles.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Bengaluru’s Crypto-Friendly Tea Seller Admits to Seeing No Profits on Earnings

Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India, is a safe haven for techies and entrepreneurs looking to make it big in their respective industries. One of the biggest hosts to crypto-related firms and projects in India, Bengaluru now has a tea seller, who has begun selling ‘chai’ in return for crypto payments. Shubham Saini, a 20-something in Bengaluru has recently made headlines for his unique crypto-friendly tea stall in Bengaluru’s Marathahalli area. In conversation with Gadgets 360, Saini admitted that at this point, he is not seeing any profits on his crypto earnings.

Indians have to pay a 30 percent tax on all crypto earnings and profits. Back in July, Indian crypto exchanges recorded a nosedive in trading volumes after the one percent TDS rule on each transaction went live on July 1. The average daily transaction volume on Indian exchanges WazirX, CoinDCX, BitBNS, and Zebpay had dipped to $5.6 million (roughly Rs. 44 crore) at the time. Up until June, this volume was around $10 million (roughly Rs. 80 crore).

Well, Saini is not looking at reap-in real-time benefits by holding crypto assets.

“If I convert this transacted crypto into Indian Rupee now, I am not seeing any profits. But I believe in the certain future and that’s why I hold these crypto assets in my wallet considering a long term, more gain purpose,” the young entrepreneur told Gadgets 360.

Priced Rs. 20, the stall-owner also accepts payments in dollars. Pictures of his tea stall, that have emerged on Twitter, show boards placed on the stall showing Dollar to Rs. conversions to make calculations easier for crypto payers.

“I am getting three to four crypto payments everyday. I am using multiple exchanges depending on whatever the customer is comfortable paying with,” Saini told Gadgets 360.

Saini dropped out of his BCA semister and dived right into crypto trading around 2020 when his investment portfolio of Rs. 1.5 lakh jumped by a 1000 percent and swelled to 30 lakh. In a market crash that followed however, Saini’s portfolio crashed majorly and left him with just around Rs. 1 lakh.

That’s when he decided to open this tea stall named ‘Frustrated Dropout’ in Bengaluru. In order to be linked with the crypto world, Saini opened payments for refreshments from his stall via cryptocurrencies.

The stall that offers free tea to personnel from India’s defense forces, is looking to expand into the world’s most green café chain.

“Our vision is to become the world’s largest green company as well as cafe chain, which will use only product made from our soil, through which we can also save our environment and give employment to more and more people,” says the official website of Frustrated Dropout.

Meanwhile, despite numerous appeals from members of India’s crypto community, the country’s finance ministry did not amend the tax laws that were enforced on the virtual digital assets (VDA) sector this year.

The government is also not looking to incentivise workers in the sector, a subject that drew strident criticism in the country around March.

In recent market surveys, India has failed to grab a spot among world’s most crypto-friendly nations. Hong Kong topped the list.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently called for global cooperation in regulating the crypto sector.

Over seven per cent of Indians owned digital currency in the form of cryptocurrency in 2021, according to the United Nations trade and development body UNCTAD, which said the use of cryptocurrencies globally, including in developing countries, has increased exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic. India found itself at the seventh spot.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article. 

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version