European Central Bank bets on CBDCs over BTC for cross-border payments
A recent study conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB) on identifying the ultimate cross-border payment medium crowned central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as the winner against competitors, including banking, Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins, among others. ECB’s interest in identifying the best cross-border payment solution stems from the fact that it serves as the central bank […]
Bitcoin Lightning Network Capacity charges through 4,000 BTC
There’s cause for celebration from the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The Lightning Network hit the 4,000 Bitcoin (BTC) public capacity milestone, meaning $120 million in value is ready for peer-to-peer payments. The Lightning Network first broke the 1,000 BTC barrier in August 2020 and the 2,000 BTC barrier in July 2021. The capacity has doubled in […]
1inch Network adds a P2P feature to facilitate secure crypto swaps
The decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch Network introduced peer-to-peer, or P2P, order functionality within the 1inch decentralized application, or DApp. This feature allows users to specify the person or wallet that will fill the other side of the trade, as opposed to over-the-counter or OTC payments where 1inch matches the order with a taker. 1/ It’s time to […]
How are Afghans using crypto under the Taliban government?
After the Taliban took full control of Afghanistan in August last year, many international non-governmental organizations and services stopped operating in the country. Among them were payment services like Western Union and Swift. Many Afghans subsequently began to learn about cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology to — at the very least — receive remittances […]
Upcoming Apple iPhone feature to give merchants a way to accept crypto payments
Apple announced plans to launch Tap to Pay for iPhone, a new feature that effectively turns the smartphone into a point of sale (POS) device for businesses and merchants. So, what’s in it for crypto? The announcement explains that with Tap to Pay, iPhone-owning merchants receive contactless payments by using their mobile devices as a […]
Crypto firms ignore Africa at their peril as continent set for major adoption
Even though the digital asset market seems to be witnessing a bit of a lull at the moment, the adoption of crypto-centric tech has continued to move forward with a full head of steam globally. Africa, in particular, is a continent where a growing list of mainstream financial entities have continued to make their presence […]
P2P exchange Paxful integrates Lightning Network
Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange Paxful has integrated Lightning Network into its platform, giving its 7 million users access to near-instant Bitcoin (BTC) transfers. The new feature gives users the ability to send and receive BTC from their Paxful Wallet in a matter of seconds and with much lower fees than existing blockchain transactions, the company announced […]