Standard Digital Weekend Print + Standard Digital Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders. Pay a year upfront and save 20%. Global news & analysis Expert opinion FT App on Android & iOS FT Edit app FirstFT: the day’s biggest stories 20+ curated newsletters Follow topics & set alerts…
Bitcoin and crypto exchange Coinbase has integrated Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, enabling faster and cheaper BTC transactions for its users in the United States (with the exception of New York). As the largest Bitcoin exchange globally by users, trading volume, and custody of assets, Coinbase’s adoption of Lightning is a major win for the Bitcoin scaling solution….
Company Name: Unchained Founders: Joe Kelly and Dhruv Bansal Date Founded: October 2016 Location of Headquarters: Austin, TX Amount of Bitcoin in Treasury: Not disclosed Number of Employees: 107 Website: https://unchained.com/ Public or Private? Private Joe Kelly and Dhruv Bansal started Unchained with one main objective: to provide financial services to people like themselves —…
Relai, the Swiss-based Bitcoin app with a self-custody wallet, has announced a new partnership with Blockstream and Breez to integrate the Lightning Network into its platform, benefiting over 100,000 European users, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. The Lightning Network offers a scalable solution to facilitate fast and low-cost transactions, making Bitcoin…
Brave, a privacy-focused web browser with over 60 million users, has rolled out an update to its desktop version (1.63) that introduces support for Native SegWit Bitcoin wallets within its built-in Brave Wallet. Additionally, Brave Wallet now enables users to send and receive from all types of Bitcoin addresses, including Legacy, Nested SegWit, Native SegWit,…
A new development in the freelance industry has emerged with the launch of Plebwork, a dedicated marketplace where freelancers can earn Bitcoin for their work, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. Launched today, Plebwork offers a unique platform for freelancers to connect with Bitcoin companies and receive payment directly into their Bitcoin wallets….
The NFT platform said the wallet will be powered by Privy’s technology and fully integrated into its ecosystem for easy interactions. OpenSea, a prominent non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace within the Ethereum ecosystem, has unveiled a new functionality enabling users to create their Web3 wallets by simply using their email addresses. Through this feature, users gain…
Notcoin’s viral growth is heavily reliant on its referral system. Players sharing referral links with friends not only boost their earnings but also become ambassadors for this P2E Game on Telegram. Notcoin, a Play-to-Earn (P2E) game built on the TON blockchain, has achieved unprecedented success by amassing over 4.1 million users within just one week…
If the court approves the proposed plans from debtors, the FTX creditors could lose a huge sum of money considering the rally in crypto market this year. In a recent filing made on December 27 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, FTX debtors have unveiled estimates of the US Dollar…
Binance reported more than $1.2 billion in assets under custody for more than 170 million users in its 2023 performance report. Leading cryptocurrency exchange by daily traded volume and registered users, Binance Holdings Ltd., has continued to build the necessary infrastructure and products to enable the next phase of web3 mass adoption. Despite the former…
According to analysts at Bitfinex, crypto is undoubtedly gaining more traction globally. Moreover, considering the current state of the crypto market, especially with asset prices, it appears that even more global acceptance is on the way for crypto. Bitfinex analysts have made a bold prediction about the number of users that we might expect to…
The value proposition of RepubliK goes beyond mere token transfer as users can experience a full-blown social media content-sharing ecosystem that rivals what is on offer on Instagram and TikTok among others. SocialFi startup RepubliK has entered into a strategic partnership with The Open Network (TON) in a bold attempt to bring the dissimilar worlds…
Today, Bitcoin exchange River has unveiled its latest product, River Link, aiming to transform the way Bitcoin is sent and received on a global scale. River Link facilitates the seamless transfer of Bitcoin through text messages, offering users a straightforward and user-friendly experience that eliminates the complexities often associated with Bitcoin transactions. Traditionally, sending Bitcoin…
Binance surveyed 1,172 of its registered users in jurisdictions where it is allowed to operate and found that 45 percent rely on crypto to earn an extra income. Binance Holdings Ltd, the leading cryptocurrency exchange by daily traded volume and globally registered users, recently surveyed its registered users to understand top use cases for crypto…
Paxos received the in-principle approvals (IPAs) of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to offer USD-backed stablecoins among other crypto services. In a bid to expand its crypto-related services in the Middle East, Paxos Trust Company LLC has announced that it has received the necessary regulatory approval to…
Customers who have interacted with both Coinbase and Bybit reported receiving emails from Coinbase notifying them of the CFTC subpoena. Leading American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has issued warnings to an undisclosed number of users regarding a subpoena it received from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) about Bybit, another digital asset trading platform…
Critics have expressed concerns about the inherent risks of Blast’s model, particularly the practice of staking on the liquid-staking protocol Lido in exchange for Blast points Despite some skepticism from the crypto community, Blast, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain set to be live in March, has successfully garnered over $301 million in staked Ethereum (stETH) and…
Strike initially rolled out the BTC purchase feature for customers in the United States, allowing only users in the country to buy the crypto asset at no cost. Crypto payment company Strike has expanded its global services, allowing users in 36 countries, including El Salvador, Australia, and some African nations, to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) directly…
It’s now been six years that one of the largest financial players in payments has been supporting Bitcoin. Indeed, November 14, 2017, marks the date that Jack Dorsey‘s Square, now rebranded as Block, began letting customers buy and sell Bitcoin. The move came at a time when Bitcoin’s price was surging in the wake of…
Hashkey opened its retail crypto trading services in mid-August this year and has seen its trading volume scale to over $100 million in October. After Hong Kong unlocked its gates wide open for the cryptocurrency industry earlier this year, more investors have proliferated into the young market to tap into the Web 3.0 prowess. A…
Users subscribed to Character.AI’s $10 plan can now access the group chat for feedback and improvements, before public release. Chatbot startup Character.AI is launching a new group chat feature for subscribers. The firm, backed by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has introduced a group chat where the app’s users and friends can simultaneously converse…
The tool will use AI to provide users with information on goods around them through the Klarna app by simply pointing their phones at items. Swedish fintech startup Klarna has launched an image recognition tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Using AI, Klarna wants to help people identify goods they would like to purchase. The new AI…
The police confirm that all 11 victims, so far, have reported combined losses to the excess of $446,000. The Hong Kong police force has cautioned about a new phishing scam technique that bad actors are using to target Binance users in the region. According to a Monday post, no less than 11 users of the…
Assistant with Bard is still an early experiment. In the upcoming days, it will be available for early testers, so that Google can collect feedback before bringing the service to the public over the next few months. Google Assistant, Google’s AI-powered voice assistant for Android devices, is incorporating a conversational AI tool Bard. The new…
By securing the latest regulatory approval, Coinbase would be able to offer its eligible customers access to regulated perpetual futures contracts on the Coinbase Advanced platform. Coinbase International Exchange, holding a class F license granted by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), has disclosed that it has secured further regulatory clearance. This authorization now permits Coinbase…
Gemini said that the recent report from New York Post is quite misleading and “pure fantasy”. The exchange added that all the funds belonged to its Earn users. In August of the previous year, cryptocurrency exchange Gemini transferred $282 million from its Earn users’ funds to its liquidity reserve, as stated by the company in…
The global crypto exchange has been facing intense regulatory scrutiny. Most of its regulatory issues are in Europe Binance has urged customers in France to convert their fiat currency on the exchange to crypto. This comes on the heels of the crypto exchange losing its euro banking partner Paysafe. As part of the partnership, Paysafe…
Threads has lost nearly all of its initial momentum as the app is now struggling to attract new users and keep existing ones on the platform. Threads, the Twitter rival launched by Meta Platforms Inc, is going through its fair share of struggles as new users are no longer joining the platform. According to a Tuesday…
Along with the Contributor Program, Reddit has announced an update to Reddit Gold – a paid feature that allows users to personalize their profiles. American social news website and forum Reddit has announced a new program where qualifying users can be rewarded with money for their contributions. Within the Contributor Program, qualifying Redditors, including mods, can receive fiat…
OpenAI collaborated with different professional voice actors and used its open-source speech recognition software dubbed Whisper to enable a seamless experience for ChatGPT users. Leading generative artificial intelligence (AI) company that is backed by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) OpenAI has announced the addition of more features to the ChatGPT platform meant for paid users. According…
Individuals with compatible external wallets, as well as merchants who embrace PYUSD for payments, will be able to receive transfers from Venmo users. In the latest development, financial payments giant PayPal announced that its PYUSD stablecoin will be now available to users on Venmo. In its blog post on Wednesday, September 20, PayPal said that…
Celo’s inclusion with Opera’s MiniPay wallet augurs well for Africa’s expanding digital finance sector. Opera, the well-known web services provider, has announced intentions to integrate a non-custodial stablecoin wallet built on the Celo blockchain into its mobile web browser. This product, dubbed “MiniPay”, is intended to empower Opera’s enormous user base across the African continent by…
Although Bluesky crossed one million downloads a few months ago, not all users who downloaded the app had accounts as access is restricted. Social networking service Bluesky has now hit a million users. The app, which originally spun out of Twitter (now known as X), officially hit this milestone, according to a recent post. A…
The FCA announced in June that it would be classifying crypto as “restricted mass market investments”, which would require all crypto advertising and marketing media to contain clear warnings concerning the risks associated with crypto investments. Cryptocurrency exchange Luno will on 6 October temporarily halt some of its services in the UK, preventing some clients…
Today, advertising solution Slice announced a partnership with Bitrefill, a leading platform that sells gift cards for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, to give new opportunities for users to spend their bitcoin on everything from morning coffee to dream vacations, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. In 2023, humans spent 1.3 billion years browsing the…
MetaMask introduces the “fiat-off-ramp” feature on the platform by allowing users to convert their ETH holdings to fiat currency. On Tuesday, September 5, the popular cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask announced that it had launched a new feature that would allow users to sell ETH for fiat currency. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on September 5, MetaMask…
While on the surface, this may seem like an attempt to provide value to users, it highlights the ongoing tension between personalized experiences and the ethical use of personal data. X, the social media networking giant, formerly known as Twitter, has revised its privacy policy to incorporate the collection and utilization of users’ biometric information….
The Hopecard will allow users to seamlessly spend their digital assets for everyday transactions, just like they would with traditional fiat currency. Hope.money has stepped into the spotlight by introducing its newest innovation, the ‘HopeCard’, a holistic crypto solution designed to cater to individuals’ daily spending needs. A recent press release shared with Coinspeaker noted…
Coinbase noted that Tether’s USDT doesn’t meet their listing standards for Canada and thus they decided to suspend the stablecoin. By the end of this month on August 31, crypto exchange Coinbase has decided to suspend the trading of Tether’s USDT stablecoin along with DAI, and RAI, for Canadian users. The crypto exchange sent an…
In an announcement on August 16, the company said it had integrated its Ledger Live app with PayPal. Crypto security firm Ledger, known for its hardware wallets, has joined forces with PayPal, an online payment platform based in the United States, to provide on-ramp payment solutions to users. Through this integration, customers can purchase cryptocurrencies…
Tencent Music entertainment noted that users are more willing to pay for the premium features. In Q2, the company registered 20% surge in the total paying users for its online music streaming service. On Monday, August 15, Tencent Music Entertainment Group, China’s leading online music and entertainment platform, reported a surge in revenue for Q2…
Visa’s solution revolves around Ethereum’s ERC-4337 account abstraction standard and the utilization of a “paymaster” smart contract feature which allows off-chain settlements of gas fees. On Thursday, August 10, payments giant Visa Inc made an important announcement allowing users to pay the on-chain Ethereum gas fees directly in fiat currencies, either using a credit or…
Binance explained that they even have refused to conduct business in the Asian due to China’s cryptocurrency ban. On August 2nd, The Wall Street Journal published a report indicating that current and former employees of Binance observed internal transactions confirming that Chinese users traded around $90 billion in cryptocurrencies on the exchange for a month….
To continue serving its sign-ups and entice users to return to Threads, Meta wants to add more “retention-driving hooks.” Following its buzzy launch and recording over 100 million users within a week of rolling out Threads, the executives of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) are now working on boosting retention on the new app. The management…
According to a leak, LinkedIn is working on an AI tool to help ease the task of looking and applying for jobs on the professional social platform. New AI adoption by companies is no longer a shock to the market, as in the case of LinkedIn, which is reportedly working on an AI tool. It…