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Coinbase will allow remittance recipients in Mexico to withdraw cash in local currency

Coinbase, a major US-based exchange, has announced that it will now allow remittance recipients in Mexico to withdraw funds received through its local currency service. This marks the company’s first foray into the remittance business in Mexico, allowing customers to withdraw cash at more than 37,000 convenience stores and other locations across the country.

Coinbase Allows Mexicans to Withdraw Cryptocurrency Remittances in Pesos

Popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced this week that it was making its first foray into remittances in Mexico. While the exchange previously allowed customers to send cryptocurrency to any other Coinbase user in the world, it will now offer remittance recipients the option to withdraw funds in local fiat currency, in this case, the Mexican peso.

Coinbase announced that it organized the exchange of these remittances at more than 37,000 convenience stores and other locations across the country. Remittance recipients will be able to carry out transactions by generating a unique redemption code in the app. The move is a result of Coinbase’s quest to remove friction from trading cryptocurrencies for fiat currencies.

Coinbase hopes that this use of cryptocurrency will allow the company to be competitive compared to traditional remittance alternatives already on the market. The use of this tool will be free until March 31, 2022.

Remittances and Fees

However, after the mentioned date, Coinbase will start charging fees for these services. The exchange announced that it will charge “a nominal fee that is still 25% to 50% cheaper than traditional cross-border payment solutions.”

The exchange says it recognizes that remittances are a global problem, suggesting a possible future expansion of this service to other countries. In this regard, the exchange stated:

While we started in Mexico, over time we will see other regions where customers face similar challenges.

The US/Mexico corridor remittance business is a multi-million dollar enterprise. According to data from the World Bank and Banco de Mexico, Mexican households received $42.17 billion in remittances during the first ten months of 2021, most of which came from US money orders and wire transfers.

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Brent and Matt, two men from Texas, made millions mining BTC

Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh are two young men from Texas who have already made millions mining bitcoin and other forms of cryptography. The two worked hard to establish a new company called Giga Energy Solutions, which mints bitcoins from natural gas.

Brent and Matt Chose to Follow Bitcoin

Both Brent and Matt come from oil families and were met with skepticism when they first announced three years ago that they wanted to enter the mining industry. However, his bitcoin obsessions became too big to handle. Therefore, they ignored the advice they received and decided to follow their hearts. Today, the money they have earned through their company proves that they made the right move.

The company works not only to mine cryptocurrencies, but also to address all the environmental concerns that people seem to have with them. Giga places a container containing crypto mining computers in an oil well. From there, the natural gas is diverted to generators. This gas is then converted into electricity which is used to mine cryptocurrency drives. This reduces carbon emissions by more than 60%.

Brent grew up in the oil fields and saw his family in action. He saw a lot of environmental debris and wanted to address concerns around the health of the planet. In an interview he explained:

I've always seen flares, just being in the oil and gas industry. He knew how wasteful it was. It is a new way not only to reduce emissions, but also to make gas profitable.

At this time, the duo has signed contracts with approximately 20 separate oil and gas companies, four of which are publicly traded. They’re also talking to equity funds, which means the company is growing faster than anyone could have predicted. The company currently employs 11 people, but the duo plans to add six more staff before the end of February.

Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, says he is very impressed with the work they both have done. He commented:

They are generating revenue for their customers by mining idle energy bitcoins and solving the environmental challenge with flared gas at the same time.

Both men are also natural believers in bitcoin. They love the fact that it is an autonomous currency that no government can control. Matt explained:

Nobody controls it and you don't have to ask permission to use it. That's really what attracted me to Bitcoin... Bitcoin mining is innately linked to power, and the purpose of energy is to create power, so I think you'll see a lot of semantics and how they are interrelated.

Giving people monetary freedom

Brent couldn’t agree more. He trusts that Bitcoin has the power to give people the financial independence they’ve always wanted. He mentioned:

It wasn't as focused on price as it was on adoption. I thought this was a great thing for humanity. 
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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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American Express Sees Cryptocurrency As An Asset Class – Says Not A Short-Term Commercial Threat

American Express (Amex) views cryptocurrency as an asset class, according to CEO Steve Squeri. He added that at this time, the company does not see cryptocurrency as an immediate or medium-term threat to its business.

American Express CEO Discusses Crypto Strategy

American Express (Amex) President and CEO Steve Squeri answered some questions about cryptocurrencies during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

Squeri said, “When it comes to cryptocurrencies, we look at cryptocurrencies… We think across the spectrum of digital currencies. We think about cryptocurrencies. We think about stablecoins. We think of central bank digital currency [CBDC].” The CEO continued:

At this particular time, we see cryptocurrency more as an asset class.

Regarding the use of cryptocurrencies as a currency for payments, he said, “it’s kind of hard to use that way.”

The American Express executive further noted, “And when it comes to blockchain, we have investments in blockchain companies… We constantly look at blockchain and ask ‘are there use cases for us?'”

Commenting on stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Squeri said, “As far as stablecoins and NFTs and things like that, obviously we are partnering with the NBA and Top Shot. And we will look for ways to get involved.”

However, the CEO revealed, “We are probably not going to offer a cryptographic card.”

He also opined:

We keep an eye on the cryptocurrency if it becomes more stable. But at the moment, I don't see this as an immediate or medium-term threat to our business. 
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The Federal Reserve may reveal a national cryptocurrency

Many analysts are working to find out why Bitcoin suddenly had such a nasty drop in price. The world’s number one digital currency by market cap has fallen below the $40,000 mark after hovering there in recent weeks, and it looks like it could be because BTC is in line to face stiff competition from the Fed. Federal.

The Federal Reserve wants to issue a new cryptocurrency

The Fed released a statement explaining that it is looking into the possibility of issuing a national central bank cryptocurrency. The Federal Reserve has made it clear that it has no plans to go ahead with issuing the currency unless it has the backing of Congress and the White House. However, he is putting the situation out in the public and asking for comments.

The Federal Reserve is now involved in a study that aims to discover the benefits of these bank-issued currencies, and according to a new report, the benefits are pretty strong. More than anything though, the situation puts the US in a rather unique position, mainly because it seemed like the country would never go down that path given how loyal and dedicated it is to the US dollar.

Until this point, it was clear that only China was willing to enter the route of issuing a national form of cryptocurrency. In 2019, the country pulled back the curtain on the digital yuan, a virtual version of fiat currency that everyone uses to shop. The currency has been through a period of severe testing and has caused some people to wonder what, or even if, other nations would do the same. It looks like the United States could be next in line.

However, while the news is interesting, it appears to have produced some unpleasant results for BTC, which is down over $2,000 after the announcement. The report detailing the study says:

The Federal Reserve does not intend to proceed with issuing a CBDC without clear support from the executive branch and Congress, ideally in the form of a specific authorization act.

What will this do to the industry?

The situation is a bit confusing, as while that route may be unavoidable for many developed countries (after all, we’ve heard for years that cryptocurrencies are the way of the future), it’s possible that many true digital currency traders don’t be. intrigued by the idea of ​​a bank issuing a national cryptocurrency as this goes against everything crypto stands for.

Digital currency was initially designed to take power away from financial institutions and give it back to the people. These assets were built to give people a little more say in their lives and financial decisions. If these currencies are suddenly issued or controlled by banks, we can expect these freedoms to begin to dissipate, and the world of cryptocurrencies could become as centralized as traditional finance.