Visa to Start Settling in Crypto
REUTERS
Monday started off with massive news for both USD Coin (USDC) and the Ethereum network when Visa announced that they’ll start settling transactions on their payment network in USDC. Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa, said: “We see increasing demand from consumers across the world to be able to access, hold and use digital currencies and we’re seeing demand from our clients to be able to build products that provide that access for consumers.”
PayPal Integrates Payments in Crypto
THE VERGE
PayPal started allowing users to buy cryptocurrency directly through their platform at the end of 2020 but now all US users can “Checkout with Crypto” using Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin (which then gets converted back to US dollars). Expect to see this service roll out to it’s 377 million users around the world over time (PDF).
Goldman Sachs the Next Domino to Fall
DECRYPT
After Morgan Stanley announced they would allow investors with over $2.5m on the books to get exposure to crypto, Goldman Sachs has followed suit for their high net worth individuals. “There's a contingent of clients who are looking to this asset as a hedge against inflation, and the macro backdrop over the past year has certainly played into that," said Mary Rich, Goldman Sachs’ Global Head of Digital Assets.
BlackRock’s Been Buying Bitcoin Futures
FORBES
We heard before that BlackRock was "dabbling in bitcoin.” After an SEC filing earlier this week it became clear that they held 37 futures contract from the CME that expired at the end of March. It’s safe to assume this was just a test run, one in which they made a little over $360k. BlackRock happens to be the world’s largest asset manager with over $8 trillion under management.
Shark/Whale Mark Cuban Owns Bitcoin and Ethereum
CNBC
Cuban disclosed that his portfolio was “60% bitcoin, 30% Ethereum and 10% the rest." He went on to say that Bicoin is "a better alternative to gold, and it's going to continue [to be]... That's why I own bitcoin and why I never sold it."
