Digital payments giant PayPal reportedly plans to facilitate cryptocurrency trading through a new partnership with stablecoin operator Paxos. Industry news outlet Coindesk reported on Monday that PayPal plans to introduce crypto trading through Paxos’ new brokerage service. As of press time, it is unclear which crypto assets will be supported by PayPal. Cointelegraph reached out to Paxos for comment but has not received an answer as of press time. The report follows the July 15 announcement of Paxos’ launch of a crypto brokerage that enables other firms to integrate crypto trading functionalities. The service can be used through a simple …

Multinational banking giant Banco Santander and four Spanish banks have successfully finalized a proof-of-concept for payments using smart contracts. The PoC was coordinated with IberPay, the company that oversees the Spanish Payment System. Trial confirms blockchain’s feasibility for payments In a statement on July 15, IberPay said the PoC had “confirmed the feasibility of applying blockchain technology to the field of payments" and its successful connection to the national payment system. Using smart contracts automates the execution and settlement of payments once certain pre-conditions are met. Alongside IberPay and Banco Santander, the four banks involved were Banco Sabadell — Spain’s …

Thailand’s central bank has reportedly entered a new phase in the development of its central bank digital currency, or CBDC. The Bank of Thailand, or BOT, has reportedly deployed its CBDC, and has been using the digital currency for financial transactions with some large businesses, local English-language newspaper The Nation reports July 16. Thailand to roll out CBDC testing with the Hong Kong’s central bank in September The bank has entered the third phase in development of the digital baht and plans to expand to more businesses, BOT assistant governor, Vachira Arromdee, reportedly announced on Wednesday. According to the report, …

Canada-based fintech firm BlockCrushr has filed a lawsuit in New York accusing blockchain tech company ConsenSys of stealing trade secrets. BlockCrushr claims that ConsenSys launched an Ether (ETH)-based recurring payments platform called ‘Daisy Payments’ one day before the Canadian firm launched its own product. BlockCrushr was a participant in the Consensys Tachyon Accelerator program and accuses the elder firm of posing as an advocate and mentor before replicating the startup’s proprietary technology. “Defendants launched Daisy Payments by leveraging the trade secrets Burke and Redden disclosed during the Tachyon accelerator program,” the complaint asserts. BlockCrushr participates in accelerator The complaint asserts …

Sky Guo, founder of the Cypherium blockchain, predicts that central bank digital currency cross-border payments will happen “in the next couple years” or “even sooner”. In an interview with Cointelegraph on July 13, Guo said that CBDC development among central banks makes it likely that certain countries in European Union, China and America, will take the lead and experiment with cross-border payments sooner than expected. CBDC cross border challenges Countries around the world are experimenting with CBDC pilots domestically, such as ride-sharing giant Didi signing “a strategic partnership” with the Digital Currency Research Institute of The People's Bank of China. …

Ripple’s former chief market strategist, Cory Johnson, says that cross-border payments are where blockchain technology can bring the most change. Johnson claims that speculation around cryptocurrency has slowed down the adoption of blockchain technology in traditional finance. He stated: “Blockchain seemed like a technology that drew volatility and speculation and Lambos (...) That's not an environment that conservative businesses like, say, banks want to get themselves involved in.” Innovation is still happening, however — especially in the field of cross-border payments. This is where Johnson believes blockchain technology can find its maximum utility. He elaborated that moving money across borders …

Cryptocurrency travel platform Travala.com saw the number of rooms booked through its platform grow sharply after a recent integration with booking giant Expedia. According to Travala.com CEO Juan Otero, the firm’s booking revenue increased by 75% in the two weeks after partnering with Expedia. The overall number of bookings grew by 68% over the same period. Otero explained that the portion of bookings paid for with crypto assets has also sharply increased: “We’re also seeing a sharp increase in the number of bookings paid with cryptocurrencies, particularly in the native AVA token as the preferred crypto payment option after Bitcoin. …

PayPal has confirmed that it is developing capabilities in the cryptocurrency space, according to a letter to the European Commission. Originally submitted on March 20, the document was intended as a response to the European Commission’s public consultation on building a European Union framework for markets in crypto assets, whose feedback period lasted from December 2019 through March. In the letter, the payments giant admitted to “continuously monitoring and evaluating global developments in the crypto and blockchain/distributed ledger space,” stressing that it favors a “harmonized” regulatory approach that wouldn’t compromise innovation. Further, PayPal addressed its relationship with crypto assets, noting …

BitGo, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) transaction processors, is integrating a new API into its crypto wallet service to support the Financial Action Task Force’s travel rule. BitGo told Cointelegraph on July 14 that the company is the first wallet service to provide an in-house API solution for the FATF’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, known as the "travel rule." Specifically, BitGo is now extending its API endpoints to enable its clients to transfer additional transaction-related data required under the new rule. Intended to provide more transparency, the new tool is expected to enable the exchange of data about …

Singapore authorities announced today that their blockchain payments project, Project Ubin, is complete and ready for commercial launch. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, first undertook Project Ubin in 2017 with plans to first develop a digitized Singapore dollar (SGD). The next steps involved exploring blockchain and distributed ledger technology to build a system for the clearing and settlement of payments and securities using digital SGD. For the final phase of the project, MAS worked in collaboration with the Singapore-based investment company Temasek and the American investment bank JPMorgan. MAS had successfully completed the development of the payments network …

Central Bank Digital Currencies, or CBDCs, have been an increasingly popular topic in the cryptosphere and financial world as a whole, especially with the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. In the United States, the need for a universal electronic payment system for stimulus checks gave rise to a proposition for the creation of a digital dollar and its implementation. While members of the U.S. government move to create a CBDC on the back of the pandemic, it doesn’t end there. A recent report by the Bank for International Settlements has also revealed that the development of CBDCs may be accelerated …

This week’s headlines from Japan included real estate player Tosei and Tokyo Financial Holdings listing an asset-backed digital financial product, Cointelegraph Japan interviewing a former Japanese central bank staffer, Coinage registering as an exchange with Japan's financial services agency, and a life insurance company testing digital asset billing transaction. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. Tosei and Tokyo Financial Holdings launch a digital securities product Real estate outfit Tosei and Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, hold plans for a digital securities product. The pair "will list digital securities backed by the rental …