Tag Archives: Payments & Commerce

Photo: ShutterstockWhen Facebook announced it is going with its own cryptocurrency Libra back in June, the CEO of Ripple Labs Inc., a US-based technology company, Brad Garlinghouse, was one of its first open supporters.Actually, he was so thrilled by the whole project and all the ‘fuss’ it had gathered in the crypto community that he decided to send the champagne to the Zuckerberg & Co.Be it as it may, a hard times has come to Libra, even before it actually came to circulation. As we had...

Apart from its ongoing antitrust investigation as put forward by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Facebook is also having a rough time regarding its proposed digital currency, the Libra. A few months ago, Facebook announced its plans to float its own cryptocurrency and also released a whitepaper to the effect.As part of the announcement, a Libra Association was announced, an association made up of several big companies including Uber, Mastercard, Visa, eBay, Spotify and many other...

Although Apple is making an aggressive move in the fintech and global payments industry, the tech giant has no plans to step in the crypto space for now. Apple Inc’s chief executive officer Tim Cook recently said that his company has no plans to launch its own digital currency.During an interview with French financial newspaper Les Echos, Cook said that matters related to currency should remain in the hands of countries and their respective governments. He added:“I really think that a...

IKEA, the world’s largest multinational furniture retailer based in the Netherlands, has successfully settled an invoice, receiving payment for goods bought by Iceland’s Nordic Store, using Monerium’s programmable digital cash. The initiation and completion of the transaction were carried out via Tradeshift – a global leader in the supply chain financial sector – on the Ethereum blockchain. The digital cash used in this transaction is a direct virtual form of the Icelandic official currency...

There has been a lot of negativity surrounding the launch of Facebook Libra over the last few months. Global regulators and banking institutions have showered severe criticism over the project. However, despite several kickbacks, the Libra Association is proceeding ahead with its plans of mainnet launch.Recently, the Libra Association has published a new roadmap that highlights 4 major milestones to be attained before the launch of the Libra network. The Calibra team says that the first...

Since its launch on June 18, 2019, Facebook’s Libra project has encountered mixed reactions. Now, four payment companies that had joined the social media giant as founding members of the Libra Association are hesitant. They have developed cold foot over whether to formally sign on to the crypto project. The issue was explained by people familiar with the matter.According to a new Bloomberg report, MasterCard, Visa, Stripe, and PayPal are allegedly stalling at officially joining the...

Photo: ShutterstockWell, if the regulatory scrutiny on Facebook‘s Libra cryptocurrency was not enough, even bankers have jumped in to pull down the Libra project. Recently, the United States Federal Reserve had asked some of the largest banking institutions in the country about their stand on Libra.Responding to it, the bankers have expressed risks posed by Libra like a potential decline in the deposit accounts as well as the banks’ payment volumes. As per the Bloomberg report, the banks...

Facebook has been having a tough battle dealing with regulators and government agencies since the launch of its Libra cryptocurrency. In the recently leaked audio recordings obtained by The Verge, Mark Zuckerberg threatens to take the U.S. government to the courts if the Democratic Party presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren comes to power and tries to break big companies like Facebook into smaller entities.Note that breaking Big Tech is one of the major promises of Elizabeth Warren’s...

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro openly admitted that his policy is definitely pro-crypto – especially regarding Bitcoin and Ethereum. He said Venezuela’s government will use cryptocurrencies as a “method for free national and international payments.”Let’s not forget that the U.S. imposed sanctions that have largely isolated the country from the global financial system, causing one of the world’s most severe economic crises and forcing statesmen and executives to use a whole new network...

The People’s Bank of China (PoBC) announced they are nit against PayPal’s desire to acquire a 70% equity state in GoPay (Guofubao Information Technology Co. [GoPay], Ltd.). With this step, Paypal is becoming the first international entity that will be offering its online payment solutions in China.GoPay mostly works as a provider of a number of payment products for various industries including cross-border commerce, aviation, tourism, etc.According to the information revealed by the company,...