Payments and cryptocurrency platform, Crypto.com, announced a broad European launch of its MCO Visa cards. The cards will soon ship to 31 countries in the region, according to the company’s blog post, published May 15. The company’s European presence now covers all 27 EU member states, as well as Switzerland, the UK, Iceland, and Norway. The firm claims to have “the most widely available crypto card in the world” as a result of this expansion. Prior to this, it had already been offering services in Asia and the US. When asked how difficult it was to get the green light …

Cambodia’s central bank will launch a distributed ledger technology (DLT) network to enable greater interoperability in the country’s payments sector and to take on the almighty greenback. Consumers will be able to make near instant payments via the platform, using a mobile app and QR codes. During Consensus: Distributed on May 11, the assistant governor and director-general of the National Bank of Cambodia, Serey Chea, revealed the primary goal of the DLT network was to undermine the popularity of the U.S. dollar. “Cambodia is probably the most dollarized economy in the world. The whole financial system or actually our whole …

Proton, a new delegated proof-of-stake blockchain from crypto payment solution Metal Pay, allows digital asset and fund transfers across multiple channels. "It's a Blockchain that's integrated into your bank," Metal Pay CEO Marshall Hayner told Cointelegraph. "It's a universal network for payments." As long as payment platforms integrate the Proton blockchain, customers can send payments across non-native platforms, according to Hayner. Proton allows compatibility across platforms At present, aside from Metal Pay, payment platforms often run as siloed entities, facing difficulties when users want to interact across services. If, for example, one person wants to send money to a friend …

Crypto.com launched a payment plug-in for Ecwid, an e-commerce platform similar to Shopify or WooCommerce. The plug-in allows merchants to accept crypto for their products. Crypto.com announced the partnership on Monday. The plug-in, called Crypto.com Pay Checkout, lets buyers pay with crypto for their products on e-commerce websites running on Ecwid, which the company claims are more than 1 million. The merchants can choose which currency they want to accept as settlement. While they can receive the cryptocurrencies directly, they can also avoid exposing themselves to volatility by letting Crypto.com convert the money to United States dollars or euros. The …

In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Albert Isola, Gibraltar’s minister for digital and financial services, argued that every country that respects contract laws recognizes crypto payments in the absence of regulation that prohibits them. On the question of whether Gibraltar legally recognizes crypto-asset payments, Minister Isola stated: “Yes. [T]he transfer of crypto assets and crypto payments [are] already happening.” “On the question of whether they are recognized, I don't believe there is a law on this planet, other than those that have specifically excluded it, that will not recognize the validity of the transfer of digital assets because the law …

On May 6, Square released its filings for the first quarter of 2020. The filings publicized revenue for Square’s Cash App, a majority of which came from Bitcoin. The numbers for Q1 and Bitcoin’s role $306 million of Cash App’s $528 million revenue for the first quarter of the year came from Bitcoin. Despite those numbers, Bitcoin composed a small fraction of Cash App’s profit, only $7 million of $183 million total profit. The company explained why it separated Bitcoin revenue as being more of a core mission: “We deduct bitcoin revenue because our role is to facilitate customers’ access …

During an earnings call for Q1 2020, MoneyGram chairman and chief executive, Alexander Holmes, revealed that it was a “quiet quarter” regarding the firm’s partnership with blockchain payments company Ripple (XRP). Ripple first announced its “strategic partnership” with the Nasdaq-listed money transfer company during June 2019. The partnership’s initial term was set at two years, with Ripple providing a capital commitment of up to $50 million over 24 months in exchange equity. The announcement was also slated to see Ripple act as MoneyGram’s “key partner for cross-border payment and foreign exchange settlement using digital assets.” Ripple Partnership ‘Quiet’ During Q1 …

Asian fintech company Omise Holdings, now goes by the name SYNQA. "Forging into 2020, this new corporate identity reinforces their position as a holding company with a portfolio of companies and as the go-to partner in Asia for all fintech and innovation matters," an April 30 statement from SYNQA said. OmiseGo conducted its ICO in 2017 Omise, under Omise Holdings, garnered significant funds for its OmiseGo payment solution during the great crypto boom several years back. The company's ICO ran during the summer of 2017, raising roughly $25 million from selling Ethereum-based OMG tokens. At a press time price of …

Cryptocurrency Visa card platform Swipe announced a partnership with Samsung Pay on May 1. The integration allows Samsung Pay users to make payments from their Swipe Visa card balances using Samsung Pay-enabled devices. The firm claims to have become the first digital wallet platform to provide multi-national support for both Google Pay and Samsung Pay. The integration allows Swipe cardholders in the United Kingdom and European Union to make payments from their crypto balances at over 50 million locations globally. Swipe COO John Khenneth, told Cointelegraph that the firm’s relationship with Samsung was formed through mutual issuing bank Contis Financial. …

Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) payments network tripled in transaction volume over the last quarter according to the just released Q1 2020 XRP Markets Report. The dollar value transacted using ODL increased by more than 294%, which is good news for token holders with the report describing XRP liquidity as the “lifeblood of Ripple’s [ODL] for cross-border payments.” In further good news, Ripple has again reduced its total XRP sales from $13.08 million in Q4 2019 to $1.75 million in Q1 2020. The company had been criticised for propping up its balance sheet with XRP sales. The report also notes the …

Sygnum Bank, the first crypto bank licensed by FINMA, announced on April 30 that Ripple’s XRP tokens are now available through its banking services platform. Users can access deposit, exchange, and credit services using the popular digital currency. Based in Switzerland, the bank will now allow the third most capitalized digital token behind Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to be used by clients seeking to diversify their direct investments in digital tokens, in conjunction with other asset management products offered. Sygnum customers can use deposits in traditional currencies, such as the Swiss franc, the Euro, the Singapore dollar, and the …

In a fresh move to revive Facebook-backed digital currency project Libra, the Libra Association has onboarded another member. British payment startup Checkout.com has joined the Libra Association, becoming the 24th member engaged with the mission of building a better global payment network, Libra tweeted on April 28. Tech advancements would fail without necessary regulatory frameworks Guillaume Pousaz, Checkout.com founder and CEO, officially announced the news in a company statement on Tuesday. The executive outlined that Checkout.com joins Libra’s efforts to not only promote technological advancement but contribute to the formation of necessary regulatory framework to drive mass adoption of better …