Cryptocurrency exchanges and financial services companies will soon likely no longer be able to accept transactions completed with many major credit cards following the companies ceasing operations for Russia-based users. On March 5, Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal announced they would be suspending operations in Russia following the country’s military actions in Ukraine. Visa called Russia’s actions an “unprovoked invasion” while Mastercard said its decision was aimed at supporting the Ukrainian people. The following day, American Express made a similar announcement, saying it would stop operations in both Russia and neighboring Belarus. Apple Pay and Google Pay reportedly have restricted services …

New research has found that the annual transaction volume on the Bitcoin network surpassed that of some well-known card networks, such as American Express (AmEx) and Discover, during 2021. The NYDIG Research Weekly’s Jan. 29 report stated that Bitcoin processed $3 trillion worth of payments during 2021, placing it above popular credit card networks American Express ($1.3 trillion) and Discover ($0.5 trillion). The report authors, NYDIG Global Head of Research Greg Cipolaro and Research Analyst Ethan Kochav, also found that the Bitcoin network had settled more transaction volume in Q1 2021 than “all credit card networks combined for the entire …

American Express credit card holders may one day be able to redeem points for cryptocurrencies, but the company has no immediate plans to issue a crypto-linked credit card. In a Tuesday interview with Yahoo! Finance, Amex chief executive officer Stephen Squeri said credit card holders were “probably not gonna see a Amex crypto-linked card anytime soon” but the company was already involved in using cards for stablecoins, and monitored for central bank digital currency developments from the U.S. government. The CEO said he considered major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) as “more of an asset class” like gold, but did not …

Crypto-focused enterprise payment platform Tribal Credit has concluded a $40 million debt offering that was funded through fiat and stablecoins — giving the company additional capital to expand its business services in Latin America. The so-called hybrid debt round was financed by Partners for Growth, a California-based investment firm, and Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), which is a non-profit organization supporting the growth of the Stellar blockchain. Tribal said it will use the capital to fund receivables from its customer base throughout Latin America, particularly Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Tribal COO Duane Good explained to Cointelegraph that funding receivables …

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced Thursday that it will acquire the remaining outstanding shares of Swipe, a prominent crypto Visa card provider. Users of Binance will be able to spend their coins at over 70 million locations worldwide as a result of the acquisition. On July 6, 2020, Binance initially announced the purchase of a majority stake in Swipe, stating that the new collaboration would help to further advance cryptocurrency adoption by bridging fiat and digital assets. Binance's acquisition of Swipe will allow it to compete with other retail crypto providers like PayPal and Mastercard that provide similar …

Payments giants Visa is launching new consulting and advisory services in a move to help its clients navigate the world of cryptocurrencies. The firm said on Dec. 8 that its crypto advisory practice, housed within its consulting and analytics division, will offer advice to financial institutions, retailers and other firms on everything from rolling out crypto features and exploring nonfungible tokens, to developing wallets for central bank digital currencies. According to Visa, part of banks' interest in cryptocurrencies is in remaining competitive. Citing a recent in-house study, Visa said that “40% of crypto owners surveyed report they would be likely …

Credit card giant Mastercard made a big splash in the digital asset market on Tuesday by announcing the launch of crypto-linked payment cards across the Asia-Pacific region. In partnership with three cryptocurrency service providers, namely Amber Group and Bitkub in Thailand and CoinJar in Australia, Mastercard will offer crypto-funded payment cards that enable users to instantly convert their digital assets into traditional fiat money. “Rather than directly transferring cryptocurrencies to a merchant, cardholders will now be able to instantly convert their cryptocurrencies into traditional fiat currency which can be spent everywhere Mastercard is accepted around the world, both online and …

Major credit card company Mastercard has announced it is preparing to integrate cryptocurrencies into its loyalty program offerings for United States-based banks, merchants and fintech firms on its payment network. In a Monday announcement, Mastercard said it would be working with digital asset platform Bakkt to allow its customers based in the United States to buy, sell and hold digital assets through custodial wallets. The partnership will also enable cardholders to earn and spend rewards in crypto rather than using loyalty points and accruing or redeeming tokens for purchases. “We’ll not only empower our partners to offer a dynamic mix …

Bitcoin (BTC) turned out to be a far more attractive prize than airline miles or other cashback rewards, new data from BlockFi suggests. It’s been three months since the New York-based crypto loans startup launched its Visa-backed Bitcoin rewards credit cards, BlockFi Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card, to customers. The card offers rewards in Bitcoin instead of using a more traditional points system. According to the company, if the average Bitcoin rewards card owner continues the shopping habit seen in these first three months, they'll be on track to spend more than $30,000 per year on average. This is almost …

Paypal-owned payments firm Venmo has launched a new crypto "cash back" feature that includes zero transactions on crypto purchases. According to the Tuesday announcement, Venmo’s “Cash Back to Crypto” service went live yesterday that enables credit card customers to spend their cash back rewards on digital assets hosted on the platform. Say hello to Cash Back to Crypto with the Venmo Credit Card, rolling out to eligible cardholders over the coming weeks. Learn more → https://t.co/zvQfMxIZl5 pic.twitter.com/wcroWuaapW — Venmo (@Venmo) August 10, 2021 Venmo offers its credit card holders between 1% and 3% cash back on select purchases, and the …

The cryptocurrency market has shown a new level of resilience on Aug. 9 as a majority of tokens have managed to maintain recent gains and Bitcoin price hit a new 3 month high at $46,293. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were IoTeX (IOTX), CyberVein (CVT) and Swipe (SXP). IOTX/USDT IoTeX (IOTX), a platform focused on the decentralized internet of things, has been the best performer over the past 24-hours with a gain of 27%. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of IOTX rallied 53% …

Traditional card networks are vying to ensure their services remain at the center of new developments in digital assets, whether they be central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or private sector stablecoins. In an earnings call on Thursday, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach discussed recent developments in crypto and CBDCs, making the pitch that the company was well-positioned to remain a linchpin of intra- and international value flows: "What we believe we do is bring a perspective to the market as a multi-rail payment provider. We have to be in this space because people are looking for answers." Mastercard has been highly …