payments Archives - The Block

Metacask and BitPay make investor-grade spirits available to wider crypto audience

Metacask, the online marketplace which allows users to buy, sell and collect investor-grade spirits using the blockchain, has teamed up with crypto payment processor BitPay in a partnership that will allow spirits collectors to buy and store premium casks and bottles more easily using cryptocurrency.

The partnership with BitPay, the world’s largest provider of cryptocurrency payment services, makes it simple and secure to use crypto currencies on the Metacask marketplace when...

18 September 2023 | Blockchain

OKX DEX Integrates with Linea Bridge and Orbiter

Vitalik Buterin calls Craig Wright a fraud

OKX has integrated Linea Bridge and Orbiter to provide better cross-chain trading for users.

By automatically finding the best trading route and cross-chain bridge, this integration allows OKX to provide industry-leading low prices and ease of use when swapping ETH to Linea.

Linea is a network that scales the experience of Ethereum. Its out-of-the-box compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine enables the deployment of already-existing applications, as well as the...

8 August 2023 | Cryptocurrency

Layer-1 blockchain company Shardeum raises $5.4m in funding

Shardeum, a scalable EVM-based layer-1 blockchain deploying dynamic state sharding, has closed a $5.4 million strategic raise with participation from Amber Group, Galxe, J17 Capital, JSquare, and TRGC, among others.

The team behind Shardeum aims to leverage the additional funding to further support the growth of the ecosystem in the lead-up to the mainnet launch later this year.

Founded in 2022, Shardeum is a highly-scalable EVM-based layer-1 blockchain deploying...

11 July 2023 | Blockchain

LBank launches global first unlimited crypto credit card

LBank, a cryptocurrency exchange, is soon to launch what it says is the world’s first unlimited cryptocurrency credit card, aiming to break down the barriers of cryptocurrency payments.

The card, available in both virtual and physical forms, allows users to make any consumer payments directly with cryptocurrency through LBank’s credit, and also supports local cash withdrawals.

LBank’s nearly 9 million users are expected to begin using this card in Q3 2023,...

5 July 2023 | Blockchain

Visa and Mastercard delay new crypto partnerships

Visa and Mastercard, the United States’ two largest payment processors, have delayed the launch of new crypto partnerships as bankruptcies and increased regulatory scrutiny continue to affect the industry.

The move, first reported by Reuters, comes after a period of improved cooperation between traditional payment firms and crypto companies.

Both Visa and Mastercard have been exploring using stablecoins like USD Coin for payments and transaction settlements in recent...

1 March 2023 | Banking

Visa will ‘actively contribute’ to web3 development

Visa refuses to become a dinosaur and will “actively contribute” to developing the web3 and crypto ecosystem.

Aside from maximalists, few experts believe that crypto poses an existential threat to fiat currencies. Legacy payment processors like Visa and Mastercard have increasingly been joining the web2-era disruptors like PayPal and Square in supporting the web3 and crypto ecosystem.

Greater public adoption of “crypto” will likely come through CBDCs (Central...

20 December 2022 | Altcoins

Ripple: Most financial institutions plan to use crypto within three years

A report by Ripple suggests that most financial institutions plan to start using crypto within the next three years.

Despite the bear market, financial institutions remain interested in the cryptocurrency space. Just this week, $10 trillion asset manager BlackRock launched a spot Bitcoin trust while saying that it’s also exploring “permissioned blockchains, stablecoins, cryptoassets, and tokenization.”

While BlackRock is exploring the potential financial benefits...

12 August 2022 | Altcoins

PayPal finally allows digital currency transfers to an external wallet

PayPal is finally allowing users to transfer digital currencies to an external wallet or exchange, nearly two years after the payments giant first opened up to cryptocurrency.

The feature is currently available to select users in the United States with plans to expand to the entire country in the coming weeks. It will initially support Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.

It comes at a time when other large fintechs have been making similar shifts in strategy...

8 June 2022 | Cryptocurrency

Daymak Spiritus will be world’s first electric car to mine cryptocurrency while parked

Daymak, a light electric vehicles (LEVs) manufacturer, has revealed its upcoming Spiritus electric car will include Daymak Nebula, Daymak’s patent-pending cryptocurrency infrastructure.

The Spiritus, launching in 2023, is the electric car offering in the Daymak Avvenire series, a lineup of EVs spanning e-bikes all the way up to flying electric vehicles.

Daymak is accepting Spiritus pre-order payments in a multitude of cryptocurrencies including Doge, Ethereum,...