Various Industries Accept Cryptocurrencies as a Payment Method Worldwide

Alexander Salazar
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Various Industries Accept Cryptocurrencies as a Payment Method Worldwide

Cryptocurrencies have become relevant for leading companies, and consumers have lost their fear of using that innovative technology. Crypto assets remove the threat of credit card number theft, as both parties involved must approve the transaction.

Over 2,300 US businesses currently accept Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method since adopting cryptocurrencies offers many financial benefits. The cryptocurrency has low to no fees per transaction and does not have a fluctuating exchange rate like the legal tender currency.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have a high processing speed, but transactions through traditional banks may take up to a day. The possibility of increasing the customer base and avoiding 2-5% transaction fees make crypto assets attractive for businesses.

Various industries have incorporated cryptocurrencies, and Spain might become a country with increasingly widespread use. Below is a brief description of some sectors that accept the use of crypto assets.

The Technology Sector Accepts Bitcoin as a Payment Method

Among the early adopters of Bitcoin is Microsoft, which has accepted the cryptocurrency as a form of payment since 2014. The company temporarily stopped Bitcoin transactions in 2018 since they saw it as an unstable currency. However, it currently allows its customers to use it for buying its products and services.

Apple is another technology company that accepts cryptocurrencies as payment for some of its services. Through an app, cryptocurrency holders can pay with funds from their wallets.

The above shows how relevant cryptocurrencies have become for some leading companies. That generates higher confidence among consumers, who lose their fear of using that innovative technology.

Fast Food Companies also Accept Payments in Cryptocurrencies

Fast food companies like Burger King have also tried incorporating cryptocurrencies into their payment system. In 2017, its Russian branch launched its Whopper Coin, powered by the Waves distributed ledger network.

In 2020, Pizza Hut Venezuela also announced it would accept Bitcoin as a payment method. The Coca-Cola Amatil company, responsible for distributing the drink in the Asia-Pacific region, is another pivotal player in the sector. They have enabled using Bitcoin as a payment option in more than 2,000 vending machines.

The next natural step in the cashless economy seems to be accepting cryptocurrencies. The step toward cryptocurrencies allows customers greater flexibility to pay with the method they think fits.

People Can Pay with Cryptocurrencies on e-Commerce Websites

Rakuten is among many other e-commerce stores that have incorporated cryptocurrencies into their payment systems. This year, its users can use its cryptocurrency wallet to exchange Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) for Rakuten Cash. They can use the latter to pay through an app or exchange it for a points credit card.

Likewise, the Canadian e-commerce website Shopify started accepting payments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin (LTC). Although the American e-commerce website Etsy has also adopted this payment means, it does not have a system for accepting cryptocurrencies. However, sellers can specify they accept Bitcoin by enabling the other method in the finance section of the store manager.

Those websites benefit considerably from accepting cryptocurrencies, as those assets remove the threat of credit card number theft. When paying, both parties involved must approve the transaction, guaranteeing additional customer security. Besides, crypto assets offer the possibility of accessing the international market because they remove foreign transaction fees.

By Alexander Salazar

Experts Predict Bitcoin Will Replace the US Dollar as the World’s Store of Value

Alexander Salazar
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Experts Predict Bitcoin Will Replace the US Dollar as the World’s Store of Value

If the adoption of Bitcoin becomes massive, its price could rise exponentially and turn it into the world’s store of value. Matthew Pines believes that BTC is a new neutral global reserve asset as no power can control it.

Various economic specialists recently predicted that the pioneering cryptocurrency could become a world store-of-value asset in the coming years. In that way, fiat currencies like the US dollar, the euro, and the yen would take a backseat.

Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings, believes that Bitcoin (BTC) is already a reserve currency nobody controls. He noted that it works as an ideal value asset whose use no one can prohibit or kill when confidence has decreased.

The executive said several countries would soon use BTC as a reserve asset and warned about the impact it would have. He estimated that Bitcoin would grow even more, and its adoption would continue to appear in all aspects of commerce.

Avik Roy, the president of the FREOPP, stressed that the medium of exchange is not what matters but the store of value. He clarified that the US dollar, the euro, and the yen lost their wealth as a store of value. That is due to inflation, although it has been low, and the policy of printing banknotes, which suggests a new economic world order.

Contrary to the Euro, the US Dollar, and the Yen, Nobody Controls Bitcoin

Roy summarized that the fiat currency system was the problem. The expert stated that the proportion of Treasury bonds from foreign governments and investors has decreased over the past 15 years. Meanwhile, the participation of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has grown.

He considers those curves might cross and that the Fed might become a leading holder of Treasury bonds in 10 years. Besides, he commented that the Latin American monetary policy is unsustainable and dangerous.

In that context, Bitcoin could transcend the US dollar, but it would be a challenging period with tremendous economic and social dislocation.

Bitcoin as a Store of Value Changes the Known Monetary System

Matthew Pines, a member of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, considers BTC a new neutral global reserve asset. In other words, no power controls it, but individual citizens are in charge of directing it. That is driving the biggest economic innovation engine that is changing the world.

Pines also highlighted that Bitcoin aligns with US values as it counteracts its adversaries, so the government should encourage it. He mentioned that China has tried to use its national currency for exchanging oil for years, supported by Russia.

That situation would force countries to keep reserves in their national currency to buy oil. That would devalue the US dollar as a world asset and change the monetary system. Researcher Lyn Alden clarified that it all comes down to understanding the properties of real money, and BTC seems a viable option.

Alden stated that Bitcoin could outperform gold, which large capital groups would realize when its price reaches several hundred billion US dollars. If that happened, it would become a significant part of the reserve assets of several countries, organizations, and individuals.

By Alexander Salazar

Bank of America Specialist Spoke about “Recession Shock” Is Looming and Crypto Could Outmatch Stocks

Jenson Nunez
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Bank of America Specialist Spoke about “Recession Shock” Is Looming and Crypto Could Outmatch Stocks

In a financial note, Michael Hartnett, a strategist at Bank of America, spoke to clients about a dark picture in the United States with the shock of an economic recession.

Bank of America (BofA) chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett detailed that the US economy could face an economic decline. The BofA expert expressed that digital assets could outmatch bonds and stocks.

The expert expressed that the US economy could have a crucial economic lousy time. Recently, inflation rates in the United States of America have reached high levels, and the Federal Reserve (FED) has needed to intervene and handle the issue.

The US Federal Reserve uplifted the standard bank rate in March, with the central bank counting on six more hikes this year. Reuters also revealed that Harnett warns that the macroeconomic panorama is getting harsher.

The specialist highlighted that the decay could start a recession in the United States of America. The Federal Reserve works hard to cool four-decade high inflation by strengthening its rules, and investors might receive a 50 basis point increase in the interest rate.

An Imminent Recession

With the macroeconomic environment facing a hard time, the Fed increasing rates, and the central bank cutting back on large asset purchases, the BofA specialist explained that the US economy could face a recession.

The BofA analyst’s mentioned following US bond markets and highlighted that an economic downturn is a forecast. This event occurred when the spread between the 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields suffered an inversion, revealing the problematic state of the US economic structure.

Digital Assets Would Save the Day

Hartnett’s note to investors further says that articles, cash, and crypto could easily outmatch bonds and stocks. The BofA note highlighted that the new market equity funds experienced more friendly market performances over the last ten weeks.

Following the recent BoFA interpretation, the bank needs the Federal Reserve to elevate the standard rate by 50 basis points for the meetings to come. Additionally, mortgage rates approached 5% in April. BofA has also reduced nine transportation stocks after revealing a decay in demand.

This expert is not the only analyst to recently compare crypto and the stock market. An analyst working for Bloomberg, Mike McGlone, highlighted that digital assets are “getting ahead” in the decreasing wave of inflation and a low stock market.

Bank of America and Digital Currencies

During the last few months, Bank of America opened up a lot about digital assets. In February, an expert expressed that Bitcoin should get labeled more like a risky asset than an inflation hedge, given its sudden volatility.

Another Bank expert stated in January that Solana could take market share from the current leader Ethereum and become the “visa” of the crypto environment. Earlier in December, the bank talked about digital assets being the currencies of the metaverse.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The Bank of Russia Rejects the Idea that the Government Uses Bitcoin to Evade Sanctions

Alexander Salazar
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The Bank of Russia Rejects the Idea that the Government Uses Bitcoin to Evade Sanctions

Ksenia Yudaeva considers that changing the existing provisions to prohibit using Bitcoin as a payment means is unreasonable. The State Duma debates the regulation and believes that Bitcoin will help citizens affected by the economic sanctions.

Anton Gorelkin, a representative of the State Duma from the ruling United Russia party, proposed using cryptocurrencies to evade the sanctions against the country. However, Ksenia Yudaeva, the first deputy president of the Bank of Russia, rejected that idea.

Yudaeva stated it was impossible to use crypto assets to circumvent the financial restrictions due to the conflict with Ukraine. She said the officials of the Central Bank believe that Russian companies cannot transfer large amounts of money in cryptocurrencies. The European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Singapore established measures to prevent Russians from relying on cryptocurrencies.

The institution also mentioned that many cryptocurrency exchanges have already restricted Russian investors and blocked their funds.

Ksenia Yudaeva recalled the provisions of the Digital Financial Assets Act, which prohibit using cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services. The Bank of Russia considers that it is unreasonable to change that regulation.

The State Duma Sees Bitcoin as a Lifeline for Millions of Russians

Anton Gorelkin advocates regulating the use of cryptocurrencies in Russia amid the conflict with Ukraine. He believes that Bitcoin can be a lifeline for the citizens affected by the economic sanctions.

In March, he told a group of blockchain and cryptocurrency experts that 12% of the Russian population uses crypto assets. The representative of the State Duma explained that this percentage represents millions of citizens.

Gorelkin said that they seek to protect people from the shadow circulation of cryptocurrencies, fraudulent activities, and the irregularity of platforms.

The ideas of the parliamentarian underpin some fears from the West due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. According to media outlets, President Vladimir Putin planned to evade economic sanctions with Bitcoin.

Some analysts do not believe that cryptocurrencies can solve international economic sanctions. The first deputy president of the Bank of Russia argues that digital currencies serve for fewer types of payments than traditional systems.

While Russia Wants to Regulate Bitcoin, the Central Bank Rejects It

The Russian Central Bank finds that evading the sanctions with Bitcoin is not very feasible. However, the institution keeps creating a legal framework for cryptocurrencies among the government priorities amid the conflict with Ukraine.

The State Duma has continued debating the regulation. Meanwhile, Pavel Zavalny, head of the Energy Committee, recognized the possibility of accepting Bitcoin as payment for energy resources.

Mikhail Mishustin, the Russian Prime Minister, said it was time to integrate cryptocurrencies into the economy of the Eurasian nation. He agrees with allowing the circulation of digital currencies in the Russian financial system.

However, the Central Bank of Russia strongly opposes legalizing cryptocurrencies by proposing to ban Bitcoin trading and mining. That raised considerable controversy in the Eurasian country and led the Ministry of Finance to give arguments for regulating the ecosystem.

The latter government agency introduced a regulation bill that requests cryptocurrency exchanges to operate in the legal sector. For that reason, they would require personal information from users through banks or authorized intermediaries.

By Alexander Salazar

The Greenpeace Environmental Campaign against Bitcoin Is a Failure

Alexander Salazar
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The Greenpeace Environmental Campaign against Bitcoin Is a Failure

The Bitcoin proof-of-work process consumes as much energy as the banking system and the entertainment industry, among other activities. As Greenpeace does not understand the principles of Bitcoin, they intend to make it change its way of issuing coins.

Greenpeace represents a community concerned about climate change and biodiversity protection in threatened regions. However, they use many questionable methods to express their ideas, as they demand that Bitcoin become decentralized and keep the transaction history intact.

The Sum of the Factors is Essential for Bitcoin

The Bitcoin Code does not belong to anyone, and it is possible to propose improvements through public and collective stake pool protocol. The free software concept serves as the basis for the network, and a growing number of programmers audit its development.

In addition to Bitcoin Core, some people develop other Lightning Network-like clients to run Bitcoin. Greenpeace could promote using the latter to make Bitcoin more ecological since it consumes almost no energy.

Owners of Exchanges and Mining Farms

The owners of exchanges, mining farms, or mining pools do not control Bitcoin either. If they wanted to use their power, they could manipulate the market with sell-offs or threaten miners to shut down their equipment. The repercussions on the price of Bitcoin could be disastrous in both cases.

It is absurd to convince them to turn off their valuable machines at the whim of a group that does not have enough arguments. Greenpeace cannot expect people to throw away their computers overnight.

Proof of work (PoW), criticized by that environmental group, reduces the possibility of harming the system. In general terms, this mechanism avoids the centralization of powers and allows the participation of anyone in Bitcoin mining.

Introducing the Bitcoin project, Satoshi Nakamoto had to explain how proof of work was better at preventing attacks on the system. The first objective of this mechanism is to regulate the activity of miners as transaction validators.

Proof of Work Is the Cornerstone of Bitcoin

Any miner has the same opportunities as the rest to control the issuance of cryptocurrencies. In other words, nobody can get unlimited Bitcoin, and the only way to get the rewards from the network is to invest in energy.

Proof-of-work mining uses electrical power as it is one of the few resources that does not come from a central authority. Someone wanting to attack Bitcoin would have to spend so much electricity that it would be economically unsustainable, not counting the necessary equipment.

As for proof of stake (PoS), the transaction validators who own the most coins earn the right to mine Bitcoin. This Greenpeace proposal seems contrary to the decentralized spirit of Bitcoin since it would privilege only those who have accumulated more cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Consumes Electric Power for Logical Reasons

Participating in Bitcoin mining is very hard with proof of work, but it facilitates communication between the nodes that validate transactions. For that reason, this mechanism causes the participants to consume a lot of energy, betting on the highest number of computational attempts.

Greenpeace argues that proof of work consumes a lot of energy, but several studies agree that the percentage does not reach 1%. The traditional banking system and the entertainment industry, among others, consume much more electricity for their operation.

By Alexander Salazar

Bitcoin-Based Tokens Deposited in DeFi Protocols Triple, Taking the Market Away from Ethereum

Alexander Salazar
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Bitcoin-Based Tokens Deposited in DeFi Protocols Triple, Taking the Market Away from Ethereum

More than USD 1.35 billion worth of Bitcoin, equivalent to about 77% of the total assets, is in DeFi protocols. That is possible through creating Bitcoin-based tokens on side networks like RSK, Stacks, and DeFiChain.

Since early 2021, the number of Bitcoin (BTC) tokens locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols has tripled. That stands out as Ethereum (ETH) and other networks providing facilities to develop smart contracts have always dominated that field.

However, the Bitcoin network and its sidechains are gaining ground in that arena. According to data from defillama.com, the total value locked (TVL) in the Bitcoin side networks RSK, Stacks and DeFiChain exceeds USD 1.35 billion.

That minor portion of the funds deposited in DeFi reached USD 234 billion in December, three times higher than in early 2021.

To further delve into that statistic, most of the funds are in decentralized exchanges, according to CoinGecko. Besides, DeFiChain is the sidechain with the largest TVL, about 77% of the total assets.

How to use Bitcoin in DeFi

A tokenized version of Bitcoin on side networks allows the introduction of the crypto asset into the world of DeFi. Those Bitcoin emulations monitor the cryptocurrency in real time, always maintaining parity with its market price.

It is necessary to block a deposit of Bitcoin in the sidechain to obtain the token in exchange. After that, it is possible to reverse that process to recover the locked BTC and destroy the issued tokens.

There are also tokenized bitcoins on other networks like Ethereum and the BNB Chain. Concerning Ethereum, the Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) token wraps units of the pioneering cryptocurrency to use covertly.

That and other similar methods allow using Bitcoin as if it were another ERC-20 token native to the Ethereum network. Data from btconthereum.com indicate that there is USD 15.408 million deposited for creating 335,249 tokenized bitcoins on Ethereum.

Bitcoin is trading at around USD 45,996 and has accumulated a 0.4% in the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 27.32 billion, and its market capitalization is about USD 874.10 billion, according to CoinGecko.

The Current Outlook in DeFi Protocols

DeFi protocols offer services like decentralized exchanges, stablecoins, loans, oracles, and derivatives trading. They are different from traditional finance in that they rely on automated methods through smart contracts run on distributed networks.

There is more diversification in decentralized finance, as Ethereum is gradually losing the dominance it used to have in that field. Other networks like Terra, BNB Chain, and Avalanche are positioning themselves better to compete with it.

Various competitors have threatened to take part in the market that Ethereum always had. Despite the bearish trend of the Bitcoin network in January, most failed to meet the expectations raised.

Bitcoin can take advantage of the information on what works and what does not, taking other chains as a reference. In that way, the growth achieved since 2021 will continue to strengthen.

By Alexander Salazar

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