The Diem Association is progressing toward launch with a new technical upgrade that reportedly allows more financial institutions to connect with the payment network. Crypto security specialist Fireblocks and First Digital Asset Group, a Diem payment provider, announced Tuesday that they’ve developed a secure wallet and infrastructure that allows financial institutions to facilitate transactions on the Diem network. Founded in 2017, First Digital Asset Group enables merchants and other institutions to accept and process both Diem and stablecoin payments. The Diem network appears ready to begin onboarding new clients, provided they qualify as a Virtual Asset Service Provider, or VASP. …

The string of major payments companies allowing crypto features continues as BitPay announced today that BitPay card users can now connect to Apple Wallet and pay for goods and services using Apple Pay. "We have thousands of BitPay Wallet app customers using the BitPay Card who are always looking for new places and ways to spend their crypto,” said BitPay CEO Stephen Pair in a press release. “Adding Apple Pay and soon Google and Samsung Pay makes it easy and convenient to use the BitPay Card in more places from day-to-day items to luxury purchases.” Bitpay currently allows for payments …

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has proposed an official resolution that would see Bitcoin (BTC) become an acceptable payment instrument in various parts of the city's administration. Announcing the news on Twitter, the Mayor said that the city commission has supported the resolution, and is now taking next steps: “I wanna thank the city of Miami commissioners for supporting my resolution, which directs a city manager after analysis to procure a vendor to be able to offer our employees to get a percentage of their salary in Bitcoin; allows our residents to pay for fees in Bitcoin.” The resolution would also …

Residents of the United Kingdom will be the first people outside of the U.S. who are able to use PayPal for buying and selling crypto. According to journalist Carl Quintanilla, the payments platform is planning to expand its crypto offerings to the U.K. in the coming months. PayPal also plans to make crypto available for Venmo wallet holders before the end of Q2 2021. Other non-crypto services include expanding Venmo internationally before 2026 and a broader rollout of the app’s credit cards. * PAYPAL WILL ADD CRYPTO TO VENMO WALLETS IN FIRST HALF $PYPL (h/t @JohnSpall247) pic.twitter.com/ETsgKqXC6V — Carl Quintanilla …

American e-commerce giant Amazon is developing a new service that will allow its customers to shop using digital currency, according to the company’s job postings. According to an official job application on Amazon, the company is now building a tech team to enable a new digital currency service. Currently known as a “Digital and Emerging Payments,” or DEP, project, the service will initially roll out in Mexico, allowing local people to buy crypto with cash to spend digital currency while shopping. The job posting reads: “We are looking for a leader to help us launch a new payment product starting …

The Lightning Network has grown 75% in size over the past year, hitting a record high 8,900 nodes for the first time on Feb. 8, according to LN monitors at Bitcoin Visuals. A significant proportion of the increase occurred more recently, suggesting that some Bitcoiners are gravitating toward the layer-two solution, potentially as a means of escaping ever-increasing transaction fees. The total BTC locked in LN channels has remained in the 1,000 to 1,100 range since Aug. 2020 — however the total dollar value has risen 250% in the intervening months, translating to a record $42.72 million currently locked on …

Live streaming webcam platform Stripchat is among several adult websites experiencing a boom in crypto payments over the past year. The adult social streaming and entertainment platform revealed in a blog that cryptocurrency is rapidly becoming a preferred payment method for many users and performers on the webcam-based website. It is estimated that the platform has over 300,000 models and averages around 60 million visitors a month according to Stripchat stats for 2020. Using digital assets for adult entertainment is nothing new as they offer an additional layer of anonymity. However, Stripchat and other webcam sites saw significant growth in …

Mastercard has announced plans to support cryptocurrencies in 2021, paving the way for its nearly one billion users to spend digital assets at more than 30 million merchants. The firm believes this may open merchants up to new customers and build loyalty with existing customers who are already migrating to digital assets over traditional fiat options. “It’s about choice. Mastercard isn’t here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value” While the global payments giant noted it is planning to support stablecoins due to their “reliability and security,” …

The Monero community has posted a proposal to add XMR as a payment option on the Tesla website. Shortly after Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors hinted that they may start accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments its electric cars, the Monero community suggested that XMR could also be a good payment option. After posting a CCS proposal on Feb. 9, the Monero community has raised 890 XMR ($155,000) in a move to add Monero as a payment option for a new Tesla alongside Bitcoin. As part of the proposal, the community will strive to get Musk’s attention during a 21-day period starting on …

A Chinese banking institution has completed the development of a hardware wallet for the country’s central bank digital currency, the digital yuan According to a Feb. 7 announcement by Xiong’an authorities, the Xiong’an branch of the Agricultural Bank of China in Hebei has produced the first hardware wallet designed for the digital yuan. The product was developed by the Party Working Committee of the Xiongan New Area and the People’s Bank of China branch in Shijiazhuang. New areas in China are urban districts that are provided special economic support by the central government. They are divided into state, provincial and …

Crypto-payments processing firm Electrocoin is partnering with a local oil and gas company in Croatia to allow drivers to pay for a full tank using crypto. According to Croatian news outlet Poslovni Dnevnik, people needing to gas up their vehicles at any of the 46 Tifon stations in the country can now pay using Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Stellar Lumen (XLM), XRP and EOS. Tifon will integrate PayCek, a crypto payments platform from Electrocoin, into its existing payments systems to make this possible. Tifon chief financial officer Ana Lokas said the company expected that foreign tourists in Croatia would likely …

Stock and crypto trading app Robinhood has reportedly re-enabled instant deposits for cryptocurrency purchases after almost a week. Robinhood has removed the original update on its support page suspending instant deposits, and its website currently shows certain users once again have "instant access" to up to $1,000 to buy crypto. Many of the app’s users also reported on social media they were able to access the trading feature last night. The "instant buying" function is a paid feature that gives Robinhood customers instant access to funds from bank deposits and stock trades. Though users were still able to buy crypto …