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Crypto Markets News

Bitcoin (BTC) Exchanges And Crypto-Related Companies In The Philippines Outperformed Traditional Financial Services

Bitcoin (BTC) exchange platforms and cryptocurrency-related companies in the Philippines surpassed traditional financial platforms in both customer activity and popularity during 2018, so far.

As CCN reported yesterday, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), a government-supported economic center in the north of the Philippines, will embrace up to 25 cryptocurrency exchange platforms and operators which will enjoy friendly crypto regulations and fiscal policies.

In order to work within CEZA, cryptocurrency exchanges will be subjected to a stringent and thorough check conducted by local financial authorities and CEZA before they receive any regulatory benefits. The Director of CEZA, Raul Lambino, highlighted that exchanges inside the before-mentioned economic center would have to prove their potential to invest a minimum of $1 million within CEZA and to construct new offices in the region.

We do not want the Philippines to be a haven for scammers, even if these scams are taking place abroad. So, through our integrity and probity control, we can determine if your transactions are designed to attract unsuspecting people to invest in Bitcoin or any other cryptographic currency that is a fraud.

Raul Lambino, Director of CEZA

Bitcoin (BTC) exchange platforms and cryptocurrency-related companies in the Philippines outperformed traditional financial platforms

Among the first governments in the world to describe cryptocurrency as a real form of money, be it digital, there was the Philippines Government which even legitimated the crypto sector within the country. On the same page with its government, the Philippines Central Bank stressed out back then that, although it’s not its intention to invest or use Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies, they recognize cryptos as digital money and as a method of digital payments.

From then on, regional startups, Coins.ph, for instance, have grown to become part of the significant cryptocurrency exchange platforms and cryptocurrency-related enterprises in Asia.

Coins.ph, Rebit, Bitbit, BuyBitcoin, Keza, Prepaid Bitcoin and Bitmarket.ph are just a few of the numerous cryptocurrency exchange platforms and cryptocurrency-related companies that have prospered in the blockchain sector in the Philippines.

 

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Crypto Markets

Lightning Network Makes Bitcoin (BTC) Payments Faster And Cheaper – Here Are 4 Platforms That Support It

iDue to the increase in transactions and the congestion of the Bitcoin (BTC) network, Lightning Network was developed, a technology that allows you to use BTC as a cryptocurrency payment method instantly and at lower fees. Here you can see the best 4 platforms that have integrated this technology – OpenNode, GloBee, BTCPay, and CoinGate.

OpenNode

The Open Node cryptocurrency payments processor allows payments to be made with the Lightning network. This platform, launched last May, announced that its system “is designed for companies of all sizes and shapes.”

All out tools and features are built around the idea that using Bitcoin (BTC) should be easy and empowering for both merchants and customers alike.

Open Node

Masen.io Lightning Network platform

This platform is developed by Masen.io, a company dedicated to Bitcoin (BTC) technology and ecosystem, based in Los Angeles, USA.

Via its website, Masen.io points out that its work aims to “close the gap between BTC and the general public through the development of applications that focus on people and their daily lives.”

GloBee

Another platform that allows payments through Lightning Network is GloBee, a global provider of cryptocurrency payments that enables you to accept or send payments in Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), or Ethereum (ETH), among others.

Also, GloBee payments platform can be integrated into websites through WooCommerce, Magenta, OpenCart, and other services, which extends the reach of Lighting Network and can increase cryptocurrency adoption.

BTCPay

BTCpay, an alternative open source project to BitPay, also enabled the option to make payments with Lightning Network last March, as well as CoinGate, which stated that “this technology will eventually make Bitcoin (BTC) faster, lighter and more efficient.”

Lightning Network is a network that operates outside of Bitcoin (BTC) main blockchain and processes transactions through payment channels created between its nodes. As a result, transactions are made immediately and with minimal fees, opening up the possibility that BTC can be adopted as a payment method on a global scale.

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Crypto Markets News

UTRUST And Pundi X, The Largest Crypto Payment Platforms, Teamed Up To Increase Cryptocurrency Adoption

UTRUST and Pundi X, the world’ s largest crypto payment platforms, are teaming up to develop the offline XPOS crypto payment platform for widespread cryptocurrency adoption. The two companies, Pundi X and UTRUST, have concluded an arrangement to encourage cryptocurrency payments in shops and to safeguard them with customer protection measures.

In the first stage, the world’ s leading point-of-sale (POS) provider, Pundi X, is presently in the production phase of the platform, but on a trial scale, and in the next few weeks it will begin dispatching the product to Singapore, Japan, and Switzerland markets where the platform will support retailers to receive offline cryptocurrency payments.

UTRUST, on the other hand, is the world’s leading cryptocurrency payments platform and the first one to deploy customer-centered cryptocurrency payment services, covering the buying and selling of cryptos.

UTRUST and Pundi X deal benefits both parties to the maximum

Following the terms of the deal the two companies concluded today in Singapore, UTRUST is pledging to purchase 1,000 units of Pundi’s XPOS technology, a point-of-sale device that allows merchants to conduct transactions, buy, and sell in multiple cryptocurrencies. Pundi X, for its part, will be deploying UTRUST as a liquidity supplier for the purchases on its terminals and will be using its technology to validate accounts.

Besides, the deal signed today with UTRUST takes the quantity of Pundi X technology devices ordered for use by its worldwide retail clients to over 25,000, out of the 100,000 devices the company targeted to sell in three years.

UTRUST, based in Switzerland, will handle the transactions’ protection mechanisms to guarantee that the crypto coins are safely transacted within a protected context and also to ensure a trustful buyer-seller experience.

Partnering with UTRUST as our commercial payment settlement portal is a substantial addition to Pundi’s XPOS and gives us a trusted provider of liquidity, but also for customer security.

Zac Cheah, CEO and co-founder of Pundi X

From the other party, Nuno Correia, UTRUST CEO, declared the that the UTRUST and Pundi X partnership is “a partnership of two leading blockchain cryptocurrency payment projects with benefits that flow into the entire cryptocurrencies ecosystem.”

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Crypto Markets

London Block Exchange Ready To Deal With ClearBank, An UK-Based Bank

London Block Exchange is the largest cryptocurrency provider in the UK, and now it looks decided to team up with ClearBank, also an UK-based bank.

ClearBank is a new and innovative UK-based clearing bank which set the goal to come up with modern standards regarding transparency and market competition. In this regard, its clients can transact faster, more cost-efficient, and more transparent, in comparison to the traditional banking systems. ClearBank works with e-payments, liquidity controlling, agency banking, and transactions banking.

The concept of clearing banking is somewhat new and, according to InvestorWords, a clearing bank is “a commercial bank that is part of a network of banks that can clear checks for its clients regardless of whether or not the check originates from the same commercial bank.”

Recently, in a report published by Reuters, two sources close to London Block Exchange and ClearBank affirmed that the two firms met up and are ready to partner up to merge the cryptocurrency payments with clearing banking.

London Block Exchange is ready to deal with ClearBank, an UK-based clearing bank

“This will make it easier for British customers of the exchange to buy and sell cryptocurrencies by making transactions faster and cheaper,” the Reuters report reads, citing one of the sources.

If this partnership will eventually happen, then it would be the first partnership between a cryptocurrency provider and a regulated bank, be it a clearing bank one. Typically, banks are ditching blockchain technology from the start, fearing of the possible frauds and money laundry both characteristics describing a big part of the crypto-verse, unfortunately.

On the other hand, the possible London Block Exchange partnership with ClearBank would benefit the British customers, whether they are crypto enthusiasts or not. Accordingly, that is beneficial because would speed up the transactions and reduce the fees.

Last but not least, this movement would benefit the cryptocurrencies market because the crypto adoption might increase.

 

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Crypto Markets

Ethereum (ETH) Is Not Security, According To William Hinman, Director Of The SEC’s Corporate Finance Division

A high-ranking official at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that Ethereum (ETH), the indigenous cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, is not security according to the federal directives.

Ethereum (ETH) will not be ruled as a security

Addressing the Yahoo Finance All Markets: Crypto Summit on Thursday, William Hinman, the head of the SEC’s Corporate Finance Division, stated that, at least “as currently structured,” Ethereum (ETH) is not going to be ruled as a security by the SEC.

“When we think about how the ether is operating today, at least, we see a highly decentralized network, not the kind of centralized actor that characterizes the supply of securities,” stated William Hinman.

“In its current state, we don’t see value regulating it,” the Director of SEC’s Corporate Finance Division added.

The Ethereum (ETH) tokens sold during the initial ICO lost their potential to be designated as securities

William Hinman also pointed out that, in spite of the manner in which the Ethereum (ETH) cryptocurrency had originally been emitted, namely, employing a massive ICO-style bulk sell-off, the Ethereum blockchain had been adequately decentralized.

Accordingly, Ethereum Foundation is no longer holding any part, and that assets that had originally been sold as securities can get rid of such a potential denomination in the future.

Before that, SEC’s Chairman Jay Clayton had stated that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) are not securities, even though the agency had not yet finally designated any other cryptocurrency to be regarded as currency and not securities.

Although this declaration is not yet an official act to rule out the designation of Ethereum (ETH) as a security, it is good news for the ETH and the Ethereum blockchain, as well, because it clearly indicates that the SEC is thinking to exclude ETH from its list of cryptocurrencies that will be nominated as securities, sooner or later.

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