September 21, 2020
- Philippine Central Bank to Explore CBDC
- US Aircraft Company Accepts Bitcoin Payment
- Wirex Partners Mastercard to Launch Multi-Currency Crypto Card
- Bitcoin ATMs Surged 87% and Have Surpassed 10K Units Worldwide
Philippine Central Bank to Explore CBDC
The Philippines is soon jumping on the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) radar as it recognizes the benefits a digital token can offer. Digital tokens not only reduces the use of fiat currencies but also improves the operations of financial services.
Governor of Philippine central bank Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Benjamin Diokno, states:
Digital tokens “expand reach and lessen costs of financial services,” and reduce the use of fiat money.
The study of the Philippine CBDC will first look into the feasibility of use-cases and potential policy implications. The Philippines has earlier adopted blockchain and launched a blockchain-powered platform to distribute government-issued bonds.
As Cointelegraph reported recently, not only CBDCs can digitally be publicly distributed, CBDCs also cut costs and decreases countries’ reliance on clearinghouses when monetary policies have been implemented.
Source | Cointelegraph
US Aircraft Company Accepts Bitcoin Payment
A New Jersey-based aircraft sales company, Aviatrade Inc, has begun to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method for its sale of luxury planes worth millions.
President of Aviatrade, Philip Rushton, revealed that fiat transactions for its extravagant luxury planes are subject to stringent governmental restrictions. Simultaneously, BTC, which is not managed by a central authority, counters this pain-point. Rushton expects the restriction-free trait of BTC to attract more global high-flying customers.
Rushton states:
“The reason we are doing it (accepting BTC payments) is because there are countries such as Brazil, Saudi Arabia, anywhere in Asia, especially China…that don’t have easily accessible currency and they have cross-border currency transfer issues,” ,
“We see this blockade. There are ways to bring money out of China but it’s not always easy and, of course, the buyers of these aircraft don’t want to be transparent. So we can move the money out via bitcoin….We are aware that last year alone China spent $54 billion of BTC buying assets – apartment buildings, boats, houses etc – we are jumping onto that bandwagon and offering the same opportunity for buyers of these jets at the high end”
Aviatrade will partner with an unnamed BTC payment services provider who converts cryptocurrencies to fiat to launch the BTC payment service.
Source | Bitcoin.com
Wirex Partners Mastercard to Launch Multi-Currency Crypto Card
As the first cryptocurrency platform to be granted a Mastercard principal membership, London-based crypto payment processor, Wirex is soon to release a new multi-currency crypto card.
Wirex is licensed by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority to issue crypto cards in Europe. The multi-currency card will be linked to 19 crypto and fiat currency accounts in the Wirex app, supported by Mastercard.
To encourage the mass adoption of cryptocurrency, Wirex will upgrade its rewards program, “Cryptoback”, with an increased cashback amount from 1.5% to 2% of BTC for each in-store and online transaction, with an added annual 6% reward on customers’ Wirex Token balance.
Wirex, who has hit over 3 million active users, is also partnering with payment solutions company, LHV, to launch new app features to include five new currencies – the Coration Kuna, Czech koruna, Polish złoty, Romanian leu and Hungarian forint. Using an existing dedicated Visa card and mobile app, Wirex allows in 130 countries to spend their crypto and fiat currencies.
Source | Cointelegraph
Bitcoin ATMs Surged 87% and Have Surpassed 10K Units Worldwide
A surge in the number of Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs is seen in 2020 and the total number of units have now surpassed 10,000 globally.
AksjeBloggen, a Norwegian financial services company, reported that in the past year, the number of BTC ATMs have risen 87% from 5336 in September 2019. CoinATMRadar, a monitoring resource, reports that there are 10,014 ATMs in 71 countries that allow uses to buy and sell BTC and altcoins for fiat.
Currently, the United States (US) is leading the BTC ATM market globally, making up almost 80% of 10K units worldwide, with Canada taking second place at 10%. However, many countries like Austra have been unable to take crypto adoption to the masses due to regulatory restrictions.
Crypto holders can purchase and withdraw major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Dash (DASH), Litecoin (LTC), Zcash (ZEC), Monero (XMR), Dogecoin (DOGE), Tether (USDT) and XRP – Depending on each machine’s availability.
Source | Cointelegraph
