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Uber CEO Recognizes Possible Integration of Crypto Payments

Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently made statements that the ride-sharing company will accept cryptocurrencies in the future as the industry becomes “environmentally friendly” and less expensive.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Khosrowshahi said that the company “at some point” will accept cryptocurrencies, but acknowledged that he still has reservations about it because the “cryptocurrency exchange mechanism is expensive”, adding that such a method is also “not good for the environment”. .”

Khosrowshahi says Uber is still evaluating integrating cryptocurrency payments for its ride-sharing services, which have a global presence.

“Will Uber accept cryptocurrencies in the future? Absolutely. At some point. This is not the right time, but we will.” Khosrowshahi notes.

The executive noted that Bitcoin, along with other cryptocurrencies, has become valuable over time. Khosrowshahi is known as one of the early advocates of Bitcoin. During his 12-year tenure at Expedia, a travel booking platform, Khosrowshahi made the platform one of the first major merchants to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment in 2014.

“I think now what we see with bitcoin and some of the other [cryptocurrencies] is that they are quite valuable as a store of value,” Khosrowshahi said. “As the exchange mechanism becomes less expensive and more eco-friendly, I think you will see us leaning a little more towards cryptocurrencies.” he adds.

Uber has not made any definitive statements on the matter, other than those mentioned by its boss. Since its inception, Uber has not made any moves in the crypto space. Notably, however, Uber co-founder Oscar Salazar moved into the cryptocurrency industry by founding Voyager, a cryptocurrency exchange, in July 2018.

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PayPal Establishes Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Advisory Board

“We believe it is crucial to engage with the world’s best leaders to better understand the industry’s most compelling opportunities and complex challenges,” said José Fernández da Ponte.

Leading US payment processor PayPal has assembled a team of industry experts to act as advisors on crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies.

In an announcement Tuesday, PayPal said that adding six members to its Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Digital Currency advisory board would help support its current and future products, as well as its goal of creating a more inclusive digital financial ecosystem. Fortress Investment Group Co-CEO Peter Briger, Georgetown University Law Center Professor Chris Brummer, Weizmann Institute of Science Professor Shafi Goldwasser, Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman, Timothy Massad, MIT Sloan School of Management Professor of Finance Antoinette Schoar, and the director of the MIT Digital Currency Initiative. Neha Narula will join the PayPal initiative.

“We believe it is crucial to engage with the world’s best leaders to better understand the most compelling opportunities and complex challenges in the industry,” said José Fernández da Ponte, senior vice president and general manager of blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital currencies at PayPal.

All six advisors have years of experience in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space from a business or regulatory perspective. Briger would have been responsible for advising Softbank Group founder Masayoshi Son to invest millions in Bitcoin (BTC) before the 2017 bull run. Goldwasser was part of a group of MIT researchers who proposed the zero-knowledge proof as an encryption scheme long before the advent. of cryptography.

During her time with the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, Narula was responsible for an initiative to help the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston build a digital currency intended to scale for consumer use. Brummer would have been a CFTC presidential candidate before President Joe Biden officially nominated Rostin Behnam. Massad, who served as CFTC chairman from 2014 to 2017, argued after leaving his post that regulators should approve an exchange-traded fund offering exposure to BTC.

It is unclear whether the advisory group is aiming to expand PayPal’s foray into cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. The payments app announced in October 2020 that it would allow US-based customers to purchase crypto through the platform, later expanding that offering to include crypto payments at millions of its global merchants. The company plans to launch its own stablecoin called PayPal Coin.

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Jumaane Williams: New York Should Not Be Involved In Cryptocurrency Mining

Jumaane Williams, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate seeking a seat in New York, says he wants to end much of the cryptocurrency mining taking place in the Big Apple. While he’s not entirely against cryptocurrency mining, he says he wants most facilities to shut down so they can have time to reassess all the energy they’re using.

Williams wants NY to take a ‘mining break’

Williams made the announcement at a warehouse in the Finger Lakes, where the Greenidge Generation plant recently opened its facilities for a bitcoin mining project. He worries that cryptocurrency mining uses a lot of electricity and believes that the sand is leading the planet into a dark hole that it is unlikely to come out of in the future.

In an interview, Williams said:

We have to have the will to force these companies, if that's what they're going to do, they have to do it in a more climate-friendly way.

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is how Eric Adams, the newly elected mayor of New York City, will take this news if Williams becomes governor of the state. Adams has shown himself in recent weeks to be a big fan of cryptocurrencies, converting several of his municipal checks into bitcoin and Ethereum through Coinbase.

He often jokes online with Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, about which city is the most promising for the future of cryptocurrencies. Adams also stated that he wants bitcoin and blockchain technology to be taught in New York public schools so that children can be prepared for the future of payments.

With such a strict ban on cryptocurrency mining and related activities, Adams could face a political enemy within his own party.

But to be fair to Williams, he has a lot of people on his side, including mega-industry bosses like Tesla’s Elon Musk. About a year ago, the South African businessman shocked the world by announcing that he would allow the purchase of electric vehicles with bitcoin. From there, the coin rose to around $57,000 per unit, the highest in history, with many convinced that a new crypto threshold had been crossed.

End of BTC payments for car buyers

Sadly, things didn’t last, as just a few weeks later, Musk claimed that he was rescinding the decision because he wasn’t sure bitcoin miners were using their energy well and didn’t want to be responsible for the destruction of the planet.

Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” fame was also quick to join the conversation. He said that he would no longer buy bitcoins mined in China, as the country was not known for employing environmentally friendly mining methods.

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Saudi Princess Reem Al Faisal launches ‘first’ Saudi NFT collection

Reem Al Faisal, the photography-loving princess of Saudi Arabia, recently announced the launch of her first collection of Saudi Arabian non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Opensea and an art gallery in the metaverse.

photography career

Saudi princess Reem Al Faisal launched her first NFT collection, called “Mekkah and Medina”, on the Opensea marketplace, as well as an art gallery in the metaverse. The NFT collection features the Saudi shrine, Al Kabbah, while six Saudi artists are featured in the art gallery.

According to a post on her Instagram account, the Saudi princess says the launch of the NFT collection adds yet another chapter to her long career as a photographer that she started in her childhood. She is quoted by Unlock Media as explaining:

Today we made history with the first appearance of Saudi NFTs on Metaverse. I've been photographing my whole life, since I was a kid, so I don't consider it a career as much as a part of me. It's as natural to me as talking or breathing.

Reem Al Faisal added that photography is another way of expressing his faith and a way of showing “man’s relationship with his creator”.

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Belarus moves to allow investment funds to acquire crypto assets

Belarus, a crypto-friendly nation, is gearing up to allow investment funds to put money into digital currencies. A proposal for this is part of a package of legal changes needed to attract these institutions to the country.

Ministry of Finance takes steps to facilitate investments in cryptocurrencies in Belarus

The Ministry of Finance has published amendments aimed at attracting investment funds to Belarus for public consultation. Despite having a regulatory framework for collective investments, so far no fund has been registered in the country, the department said in the reasons for the initiative.

One of the main reasons for the absence of these funds is that they are currently barred from investing in crypto assets, representatives from professional circles pointed out. The market for “digital tokens”, a legal term used to describe cryptocurrencies, is growing rapidly, the Ministry of Finance acknowledged.

To lift the restrictions, the ministry drafted a resolution amending its own decree on stock market activities belonging to investment funds. It plans to allow the funds to operate simultaneously as securities brokers and residents of the Belarus High Tech Park (HTP). The latter administers a special legal regime established to facilitate the country’s digital economy, including the cryptocurrency sector.

Another concern expressed by professionals is the absence of long-term guarantees from the government regarding the existing tax cuts for the sector. To address the issue, the Ministry of Finance has introduced new provisions that will extend tax exemptions for entities working with collective investments until January 1, 2031.

Belarus opened its doors to cryptocurrency companies with a decree “On the development of the digital economy” that took effect in the spring of 2018. The document, signed by President Alexander Lukashenko, introduced tax breaks and other incentives for companies managing digital assets. . .

Despite Lukashenko hinting at a possible tightening of regulations last March, Belarusian officials more recently indicated that Minsk officials have no intention of adopting stricter rules for the crypto space, even as the country’s closest ally, Russia, is in discussions. a proposal to ban a variety of cryptocurrency-related activities.

Although the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment is prohibited in Belarus, HTP residents can issue and exchange coins and tokens, and the country’s largest bank offers a service that allows users to buy and sell digital currencies. Chainalysis’ cryptocurrency adoption index ranks Belarus third in Eastern Europe after Russia and Ukraine due to strong peer-to-peer activity.