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Norwegian Air Set to Accept Cryptocurrency Payments

Amazing times ahead for travelers as Norwegian Air, one of the largest in Europe, is set to accept the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payments for booking flights.

During an interview with a local business newspaper, published on Feb 20, Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) CEO Stig Kjos-Mathisen declared that his cryptocurrency exchange platform had successfully set up a payment infrastructure that will enable customers of Norwegian Air to purchase tickets using digital assets.

In the interview, Kjos-Mathisen also said NBX objectives are to roll out the new feature to customers sometime later in the year most likely to be introduced during the spring.

Kjos-Mathisen is well known as the son-in-law of founder and CEO of Norwegian Air Bjorn Kjos, he is said to have been a vital part of NBX’s success since its inception in 2019. Throughout the interview, he revealed that there has always been a plan in place by the exchange to make use of cryptocurrency to purchase tickets from the airline.

NBX and its foraging outside the crypto space

Worth noting is the fact that this is not the first partnership that the renowned exchange has had with none cryptocurrency bodies. In September, one of the oldest banks in Norway acquired a 16.3 percent in NBX at a cost of $1.6 million. The exchange opened beta testing and to users and is now open to general customers for the business.

At the time of this report, the digital assets that will be supported on NBX or for ticket payments are still unknown. Though speculation abounds around NOKs as the founder’s son, Lars Ola Kjors, is rumored to have bought 3.5 million NOK ($404,000) of BTC in 2017 before the cryptocurrency hit its all-time high.

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Venezuelans to Bypass Hyperinflation with Bitcoin-Backed Synthetic US Dollars After Years of Extreme Economic Crisis

A cross-border remittance startup based in Colombia, Valiu has released a new Bitcoin-backed US dollars for Venezuelans to bypass the hyperinflation that has been tormenting their national economy.

To tackle the Venezuelan inflation, Valiu has partnered with a Colombian food delivery app, Rappi, to offer a larger user base to help with adoption when it is fully launched later this year.

Valiu will be launching synthetic Bitcoin-backed US dollars stored and available through a smartphone wallet application, which could be sent between Venezuelans without any fees. These synthetic US dollars are backed by Bitcoin, and users will be able to use this ‘cryptodollar’ without any prior knowledge of any crypto news, blockchain news or understanding of crypto payments or Bitcoin price. Venezuelans can simply deposit cash at Valiu’s accessible remittance partners in Colombia and buy and transfer cryptodollars.

Venezuela crisis: The emergence of the Petro crypto

Venezuela’s inflation started in November 2016, due to the country’s ongoing socio-economic and political crisis. The Venezuela inflation rate reached 800 percent in 2016, over 4,000 percent in 2017, and 1,700,000 percent in 2018. The Central Bank of Venezuela, Banco de Venezuela (BCV) estimated that the inflation rate increased to 53,798,500% between 2016 to April 2019. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also estimated that the inflation rate would reach 10,000,000 by the end of 2019. As of 2014, Venezuela’s GDP was 482.4 billion.

The country’s President Nicolas Maduro announced in December 2017 that Venezuela will issue a state-backed cryptocurrency, also known as the ‘Petro’ in an attempt to get the country back on its feet. Due to the falling value of the Venezuela currency, the Venezuelan bolivar, the Petro would be backed by oil, gasoline, gold, and diamonds from Venezuela’s reserves. US President Trump prohibited transactions in any Venezuelan government-issued cryptocurrency including the Petro by any American citizen or person in the US, back in March 2018. This was due to the allegations of the cryptocurrency being used to evade US sanctions.

According to an economist for the American Institute for Economic Research, Venezuela’s Petro could help stimulate the country’s economy. William Luther, the director of the Sound Money Project of the American Institute for Economic Research believes that while it might marginally improve the country’s economy, there may be consequences of strengthening an authoritarian regime.

Could the cryptodollar be a solution to hyperinflation?

The inspiration behind the cryptodollar was the inflow of Venezuelan migrant workers into Colombia. Popular remittance companies including Western Union and Moneygram have been increasingly subject to capital controls, therefore many Venezuelans have heard the news and turned to the black market for remittances.

Although the Colombian startup has already been offering fiat-based remittances to Venezuela’s citizens for over half a year, recipients of the remittances have ended up with fewer bolivars during the time it took to arrive. The startup further stated that due to the coronavirus pandemic, dollars cash hardly make it across borders during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro still keen on Petro adoption

Blockchain.News previously reported that Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro has announced a new campaign aiming to help the medical staff in his nation by airdropping one Petro to each actively working doctor amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Venezuelan government is determined to take the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to boost the adoption of its national cryptocurrency in the country. The government announced this new campaign through its social media accounts, as a token of appreciation of efforts of the nation’s doctors to combat COVID-19.

The Patria System, introduced by the government, will be used to distribute the special bonus of a Petro for the “Doctors of the Motherland.” The platform was created to support the socio-economic conditions of the population and distribute subsidies and bonuses with its cryptographic token without going through the traditional banking system.

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Bitpay Announces the First Large Online International Furniture Brand to Go Live

Beliani, a European online home accessory and furniture seller, has secured a partnership with BitPay, a US-based bitcoin payment service provider, to allow buyers make purchases using cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ripple, Ether, and Bitcoin Cash, as well as dollar-pegged stablecoins like USD Coin (USDC). According to the release shared with Blockchain.news, this approach will enable shoppers to save 2-3% on every crypto transaction made compared to other payment methods.

Crypto payment gaining traction

Through this strategic collaboration, buyers will have the opportunity to spend cryptocurrencies on over 100,000 high-quality and on-trend pieces presented by Beliani. This payment option is intended to entice crypto enthusiasts, as was witnessed a while back when over 100 car dealers started accepting crypto payments in the United Kingdom.

Beliani has stamped its authority in the European market as it has at least 1 million customers spread across sixteen countries, such as France, Austra, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the UK, and Italy.

Stephen Pair, Bitpay co-founder and CEO, noted, “It’s great to see Beliani accept crypto adding new furniture options to BitPay users who are looking to spend bitcoin and opening new market opportunities to Beliani.”

By welcoming crypto payments channeled via Bitpay, Beliani seeks to boost its international presence by eliminating risks like chargebacks associated with traditional credit cards.

Decentralized ecosystem

According to Stephan Widmer, Beliani CEO, “In today’s economic climate it’s easy to see the value BitPay adds by opening up our products to new consumers, and by being an early adopter of a payment technology that’s on the verge of exploding into mainstream adoption.”

Bitpay will facilitate crypto payments by monitoring, confirming, and validating client transactions on a blockchain-based decentralized ecosystem.

Recently, Harvard Blockchain Lab praised Fight to Fame Model for its true realization of a decentralized network in the entertainment industry that has proven to be a hard nut to crack.

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MoonPay Looks to Fuel Global Expansion With $555M Funding

Crypto payment company MoonPay has raised $555 million in its first-ever Series A funding round, earning the firm a unicorn valuation of $3.4 billion.

The funding round was led by high-profile investors, including Tiger Global Management and Coatue, with participation from Blossom Capital, Thrive Capital, Paradigm, and NEA. According to the firm, the new capital injection will be used to fuel its global expansion while hiring world-class talents.

MoonPay offers the infrastructure that industry stakeholders can bank on to buy digital assets quickly, cheap, and secure.

The platform is integrated with a number of digital assets brokerage, including Bitcoin.com, Trust Wallet, ABRA, and ZenGo, it is also one of the major partners servicing OpenSea NFT Marketplace. With the funding, MoonPay is keen on developing its infrastructure to make good on its promise to onboard the following 1 billion users into the crypto industry.

“MoonPay is the world’s largest provider of crypto payments infrastructure that enables any organization to bridge traditional finance and crypto,” said MoonPay co-founder and CEO Ivan Soto-Wright. “We set out to democratize access to the crypto economy by providing the tools for businesses to onboard new users with magical product experiences.”

MoonPay has already hit good performance numbers since its inception. Per data on its website, it currently boasts of more than 5 million customers and has facilitated over $2 billion transactions since its inception. The platform has grown by more than 1,700% as the adoption in the industry continues to soar.

Venture capital funding is becoming a common trend in the crypto industry of today. Mainstream investors are particularly keen on becoming a major part of the industry that many have projected will shape global finance in the coming decade.

Polish Crypto Payments Firm Ramp Network Raises $52.7M in Series A Funding

Ramp Network, a Polish-born crypto payments service provider has concluded its Series A funding round, attracting high-profile investors who pumped $52.7 million into the startup.

As reported by Sifted, the funding round was led by Balderton Capital, and also enjoined participation from existing investors including NFX, Galaxy Digital, Seedcamp, and Firstminute Capital, as well as angels Taavet Hinrikus from Wise and TrueLayer’s Francesco Simoneschi. It’s an impressive roster of investors.

Funding for Protocol Development

Ramp facilitates payment for businesses looking for ways to tag along with the evolution in the digital currency ecosystem. The startup eases the ease of entry for platforms that would have otherwise spent a lot of money and time developing their own payment infrastructures. With the plans to transform into the Stripe of the blockchain ecosystem, Ramp wants to trim the time to integrate its payment infrastructures into any platform from days or weeks to a matter of hours.

The firm says these visions can now be actualized using the newly secured capital, with additional plans to continually build its team.

“We raised to be able to speed up our development even more. Our first priority is to have more payment rails around the world,” says Szymon Sypniewicz, Ramp co-founder and CEO

Founded in 2017, Ramp Network has partnered with more than 400 developers around the world including the likes of Axie Infinity, Mozilla, Opera Browser and Dapper Labs, and is the exclusive on-ramping partner for Sorare.

Beyond these partners, Ramp Network is also looking to onboard more global brands like Facebook as well as mainstream game developers looking for avenues to enter into the crypto ecosystem.

Positioning for a Web3.0 Future

A number of companies are positioning for a Web3.0 driven future in many ways ranging from venture capital funding to direct engagement in the space. The blockchain world has seen a lot of funding this year with FTX Derivatives Exchange, and Palm NFT Studio amongst the primary beneficiaries of this funding from investors who want to tag along and be positioned for the Web3.0 future.

Image source: Ramp.network

Bulgaria to Introduce Crypto Payment Options

For a country currently not in the Eurozone, Bulgaria plans to introduce a government-backed digital currency payment initiative “in short to medium term.”

According to a Bloomberg report, citing Assen Vassilev, Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister for EU Funds and minister of Finance, the government is currently in discussion with industry stakeholders and the Bulgarian National Bank concerning the crypto payment initiative.

With the European Central Bank (ECB) planning to develop the Digital Euro Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for the countries using the Euro, Bulgaria will not be beneficial from this CBDC use in the short term. However, the country currently has the pact to join the Eurozone in 2024, during which it will switch from its currency, the Lev, to Euros. The government is taking more proactive steps to bolster its financial ecosystem with the crypto payment program.

Bulgaria is not really amongst the most popular and renowned crypto-focused countries. Still, it ranks as one of those with the largest Bitcoin assets under custody. Back in 2017, the country seized 213,519 Bitcoins from an underground crime network at the time of the bull run that year. With little known about the seized funds, no one knows for sure if the country has auctioned these coins or is still HODLing them.

Many countries are embracing Bitcoin and digital currency initiatives in diverse ways. While China has succeeded in banning all crypto-related transactions from its shores, El Salvador is all bullish on digital currencies. It has been accumulating the digital currency at every opportunity of a price dip.

The move by Bulgaria to implement crypto trading in the short to medium term will likely push the Balkan nation to favor Bitcoin and altcoins usage across the board. Whatever the scope of its crypto program is, the country will likely have to fast-track its plans before it joins the Eurozone in 2024.

Portsmouth City Now Opens to Pay Taxes in Crypto

Portsmouth, a port city and naval base on England’s southern coast, has announced that its residents can now pay their taxes and other fees in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies supported on the Paypal payments app.

Per a report from Seacoastonline, the move was fueled by City Mayor Deaglan McEachern, who has been building his interest in the nascent asset class for quite some time.

“There’s waves of new things that are going to affect us in terms of our future that use the type of technology used in cryptocurrency,” McEachern said. “I want to make sure Portsmouth is not waiting around to see how this is going to affect us in the future because it’s already affecting us.”

With Paypal’s access, residents can pay their taxes in cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), and according to Nancy Bates, a revenue administrator/tax collector for the city, the received funds are swiftly converted to fiat in order to wade off the impacts of volatility.

“City customers who have cryptocurrency stored in their PayPal account can now make payments to the city using that cryptocurrency when they choose PayPal as their payment method,” she said in a memo to City Manager Karen Conard. “This new payment method has no impact on the city’s financial practices as the cryptocurrency is converted to U.S. currency by PayPal before it is sent to our payment processor.”

Paypal started accepting digital currencies as a service in the United Kingdom back in February 2021, a couple of months after it launched a related service in the United States. While the embrace of cryptocurrencies by Portsmouth should be commended, it is not the first of its kind as the U.S. State of Colorado, under Governor Jared Polis, has backed the acceptance of crypto payments which will come into full force later in the summer.

The growing embrace of crypto by government officials showcases that many elected officials are getting to know more about the revolutionary potentials of the increasing class of assets.

Luxury Fashion Firm Farfetch Begins Accepting Crypto Payments

British-Portuguese online luxury fashion retail platform, Farfetch has announced it will begin accepting cryptocurrency payments for its goods and services in the next couple of months.

The company, currently trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange said the crypto payments feature will first be introduced to its private clients in the next couple of months.

Expansion of the crypto payments flexibility will be expanded to all customers before the end of this year with immediate access to customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Other countries will follow shortly afterward.

The London-headquartered company said initial payments will be in seven major digital currencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB) amongst others.

The crypto payments capabilities will be made possible with the active partnership with Lunu, a global crypto payments platform that will provide POS terminals at all of Farfetch’s locations as well as the payment gateway for those shopping online.

“FARFETCH launched cryptocurrency payments in two very distinct environments – the mono-brand boutique, with Off-White, and the multi-brand boutique, with Browns. This was a crucial step to test and learn, and we are excited to share our technical and service know-how with our community,” José Neves, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, FARFETCH. “As a platform company, we are continually innovating to serve as the bridge for the luxury industry to new technologies and environments where the luxury customer is today, and where they’ll be tomorrow. With this move, we look forward to empowering our incredible boutique and brand partners to embrace cryptocurrency.”

Farfetch will not be the first, nor will be the only luxury fashion brand to embrace crypto payments. Gucci made the plunge back in May when the company confirmed it has started accepting crypto payments beginning with customers in its North American stores. Gucci had a slightly more expanded range of crypto it accepts including Shiba Inu and Dogecoin.

Florida Warns Residents About the Rise of Auto Warranty Scammers Asking Crypto Payments

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The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has issued a notice warning local residents to take caution against fake auto-warranty calls that trick them into scams.

The regulator, which is an executive department of the government of Florida, on Friday warned local residents on how they can identify robocall scams marketing auto warranties.

In the recent past, consumers have raised complaints against increasing robocall scams — wherein scammers use pre-recorded calls to market and sell fraudulent services. Such cases prompted the Federal Communications Commission to order phone companies to stop letting scammers use their telecom networks for auto-warranty scams.

Such auto-warranty scams often trick consumers into giving up their personal information and executing fraudulent deals.

Some fraudsters pretend to represent auto manufacturers or car dealers, but in the real sense, they are not. And they claim to offer extensive “bumper-to-bumper” coverage, which turns out to be far more limited than what they are saying.

· Many drivers have fallen victim to “auto warranty” scam robocalls. Sometimes, callers can sound legitimate because they know the age or make and model of a customer’s car.

· Irrespective of the methods used by scammers to contact potential victims, the FDACS issued a newsletter that highlighted five red flags that indicate scams.

· Immediate action required: a call or letter says it is urgent for a customer to take immediate action to continue his or her car’s warranty coverage.

· False claims: an outside company offers to extend the factory warranty, something only the vehicle’s manufacturer can do.

· Imposters: scammers may imply they work for a particular vehicle manufacturer for a prominent or trusted company.

· Request personal information: requests for a customer’s social security number, driver’s license, or credit card information are signs of scams.

· Payment type: if a user is asked to pay with a gift card or cryptocurrency, it is a scam.

Besides asking Florida residents to avoid making crypto payments, the regulator emphasized that no government officials would ask for personal information like their Social Security or credit card numbers.

The FDACS added: “Only scammers will require one of those kinds of payment, and once you send the money, you probably won’t get it back.”

Regulators Enforcing Cryptocurrency Crackdowns

Scammers impersonating well-known companies or prominent individuals like Elon Musk have been on the rise.

Last year, impersonators of Tesla CEO Elon Musk stole at least $2 million from crypto investors in so-called giveaway scams.

The theft was part of a so-called giveaway scam, whereby con artists pose as celebrities or known figures in the crypto world. They promise to multiply the cryptocurrency that investors send, but pocket the funds instead.

Crypto scams have been on the rise as Bitcoin’s popularity attracts new investors eager to profit. In the recent past, state regulators launched cracking down on fake crypto investments.

In November last year, attorneys general in Massachusetts and New York issued fines and cease and desist orders to stop bogus crypto firms from conning customers.

The Texas State Securities Board also issued a cease and desist order against a fake company that the regulator said was fraudulently offering crypto mining investments.

BigCommerce Partners with BitPay & Coinpayments to Enable Crypto Payments for Merchants

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BigCommerce on Thursday announced a strategic partnership with cryptocurrency providers BitPay and CoinPayments to deliver crypto payment solutions to BigCommerce merchants in select countries.

With BitPay and CoinPayments, a NASDAQ-listed e-commerce platform can accept a variety of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Shiba Inu, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, XRP, and five US dollar-pegged stablecoins such as Binance USD (BUSD), Dai stablecoin (DAI), Gemini dollar (GUSD), USD Coin (USDC), and Pax Dollar (USDP).

By expanding its crypto ecosystem, BigCommerce opens up opportunities for its merchants to offer more payment options, widen its market share, tap into a new customer base, and accelerate international growth through innovation.

Marc Ostryniec, Chief Sales Officer at BigCommerce, talked about the development: “Expanding our crypto ecosystem to include trusted best-of-breed partners is just one step towards driving innovation and growth for our merchants. A new era of consumers are passionate about transacting using crypto, and we’re helping them do it.”

Helping Retailers Navigate a Changing Payment Landscape

E-commerce platforms accepting cryptocurrency are steadily increasing, a piece of evidence which shows that the crypto market is continuing to grow. The use of cryptos for online shopping has shown parallel expansion.

BigCommerce has joined a number of other e-commerce platforms that have been adding crypto payment capabilities over the past few years.

In May this year, Shopify expanded crypto payment options through a partnership with Crypto.com so its merchants can accept cryptocurrency payments from customers through Crypto.com Pay.

Last month, a Shopify Competitor called Launch Cart enabled its merchants to accept Bitcoin payments using OpenNode and the Lighting Network.

With the growth of global acceptance of cryptocurrency, many online merchants have adopted crypto payments to remain in the trend.