Cryptocurrency
28 million merchants to be granted crypto usage on PayPal
PayPal CEO, Mr. Schulman recently hinted the company will allow the usage of crypto funding for 28 million merchants.
PayPal CEO, Mr. Schulman, recently hinted that the company would allow the usage of crypto funding for the 28 million merchants on its payments platform.
In a report credited to CNBC, the CEO of the payment juggernaut company elaborated further by saying, “Early next year, we’re going to allow cryptocurrencies to be a Funding Source for any transaction happening on all 28 million of our merchants and that will significantly bolster the utility of cryptocurrencies.”
READ: Why PayPal dropped 6% after posting its strongest earnings growth
The Chief Executive also disclosed that it was just a matter of time for digital currency to replace the old traditional forms of fiat currencies (paper money).
He said:
“As paper money slowly dissipates and disappears from how people are using transactions; Central banks, especially on the retail side, will need to replace paper money with forms of digital fiat currency.”
READ: Ripple emerges as fourth biggest fintech company globally, worth $10 billion
"As paper money slowly dissipates and disappears from how people are using transactions, central banks especially on the retail side will need to replace paper money with forms of digital fiat currency," says @PayPal CEO Dan Schulman. pic.twitter.com/pLuvc2RxPY
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) November 23, 2020
READ: NIPC releases its Q3 2020 report on Pioneer Status Incentive (PSI) applications
What this means
About a month ago, Nairametrics reported on PayPal Holdings Inc’s announcement that it would provide its users the opportunity to buy, hold, and sell cryptos directly from their PayPal accounts by early 2021.
It also hinted at a strategy to significantly boost its crypto’s utility capability, by making it readily available as a funding source for purchases with its 28 million clients globally.
READ: Unknown identity moves $117 million worth of Ethereum
In a press statement seen by Nairametrics, Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal, gave key insights on why the global payment company was going crypto:
“The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable, bringing with it clear advantages in terms of financial inclusion and access, efficiency, speed, resilience of the payment system, and the ability for governments to disburse funds to citizens quickly.”
Cryptocurrency
How to protect your Crypto assets from thefts, hacks and frauds
According to data released by CipherTrace Cryptocurrency Intelligence, crypto theft for last year stood at $1.9 billion in 2020, down from $4.5 billion in 2019.
It’s no longer news that Crypto assets are fast gaining traction in today’s world. The amazing word “Crypto” has completely altered the way we view global financial systems and money, revealing the power of blockchain technology. However, with great power comes great responsibility and part of that responsibility is knowing how to protect your crypto assets.
As a Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky recently affirmed, hacking of crypto accounts is on the rise. “We should expect more fraud, targeting mostly BTC, due to this cryptocurrency being the most popular one,” they stated.
Predictably, the popularity and surge in BTC prices and the upcoming Ethereum mean that virtual currencies often become a target for hackers that want to take advantage of these valuable and appreciating assets.
READ: Computers might steal Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin fortune
According to data released by CipherTrace Cryptocurrency Intelligence, crypto theft for last year stood at $1.9 billion in 2020, down from $4.5 billion in 2019.
In 2018, cryptocurrency crimes were about $1.7 billion in value, according to CipherTrace’s annual Crypto Anti-Money Laundering and Crime Report. This number surged by almost 165% year-over-year to $4.5 billion in 2019.
This data makes it crucial for you to protect your crypto assets and avoid falling victim to cyber hackers.
The most important process in securing your crypto assets is choosing a crypto wallet. This wallet works pretty much like a traditional wallet, save for the obvious fact that it is a digital wallet. Some popular examples are MetaMask, Trust wallet, Electrum, and Exodus.
READ: Crypto robber steals $15 million
A crypto wallet is used in keeping the private and public keys required to buy your crypto assets, thus enabling digital signatures to approve every transaction. It is safer to keep your crypto assets in crypto wallets as crypto exchanges can fall prey to cyberattacks and theft.
A private key (almost like a real key) unlocks your crypto assets from your crypto wallet.
You must also understand the power of your private key as losing such keys to cyber-attacks or carelessness will result in losing access to your funds. If someone else learns your key, they can spend those funds.
Seed phrases
It is also critical to understand that many crypto wallets have just one private key. They are hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallets, meaning they can hold a lot of different keys. All that is required of you is knowing the seed phrase, a collection of words that can be used to generate those keys. This may resemble the following:
story four mine sorrow many scare just fortitude amazing cast lie novice
Unless you intentionally prefer to use a single private key, you’ll probably be asked to back up a seed phrase when creating a crypto wallet.
To protect your crypto assets, ensure you work with reputable cryptocurrency wallets, exchanges, brokerages, and mobile apps and avoid sharing your secret key with others.
Crypto trading platforms like FTX derivative exchange provides multi-level security features for its users, as Google authenticator is available to protect your withdrawals on exchanges. Also, it’s very important to whitelist your withdrawal address to prevent loss of funds.
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin bounces as Ether hits new all-time high
Data from coinmarketcap shows bitcoin erasing almost all the previous day’s losses to trade as high as $57,939.36 in the last 24 hours.
New all-time highs for Ether after sell-off earlier in the week. Bitcoin (BTC) also gained 4.03% in the last 24 hours as cryptocurrencies recovered losses despite increasing turmoil in global stock markets.
BTC price bullish
Data from coinmarketcap shows bitcoin erasing almost all the previous day’s losses to trade as high as $57,939.36 in the last 24 hours. The move came amid concerns in tech stocks, fueled by problems in Taiwan which saw the country’s equities index post its biggest one-day loss in history.
Bitcoin and altcoins had sold off with tech stocks more broadly earlier in the week, but the latest macro dip failed to worsen their performance. “BTC is bouncing here and Altcoins are recovering strongly,” popular Twitter commentator Rekt Capital summarized on Tuesday as the United States Federal Reserve buoyed the crypto cause by refusing to suggest that economic interventions could be lessened.
READ: Crypto-Tsunami as over 247,000 investors lose $1.7 billion
Bitcoin is currently trading $57,122.96 as of the time of writing this report.
Ethereum keeps breaking all-time highs
In continuation of “altseason,” Ether led gains, touching new all-time highs while maintaining support at $4,000. Gas fees, however, remain a headache for traders and Ethereum network users. Due to the network congestion, Ethereum gas fees are as high as $700 during peak periods. This presents a significant concern for investors and developers on the network.
READ: Companies are now accepting Bitcoin payments – How does it affect Bitcoin exchange and trading?
Ether is currently trading $4,317.25 as of the time of writing this report.
Amid continued debate over “meme” coins, Dogecoin (DOGE) was flat, while Shiba Inu (SHIB) lost 23% to fall out of the top twenty cryptocurrencies by market cap. Weekly gains for the coin still stand above 1,500%.
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