04.08. [News of the day] • Binance brings BTC payments to Shopify through a new partnership • and more articles

Welcome to today’s overview of crypto news:

MARKETS

BTC  broke the $ 40,000 mark in the siuth on Monday and continued to decline to just over $ 38,000 yesterday. The situation has worsened in the last 24 hours, although BTC has tried to break through $ 38,500. Subsequent rejection of the cryptocurrency drove them south again. As a result, the price dropped to $ 37,650. He has gained some traction again since then, but is still below $ 38,000.

ETH reached a seven-week high of $ 2,700 over the weekend, but the bears regained control and pushed it south. The price of ETH thus fell below 2,500 USD and remained there even today.

Cryptocurrencies

Google will allow crypto ads as the new policy takes effect

Crypto exchanges and wallets can now be advertised in Google ads if they have registered with the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN). However, ads for ICOs, IDOs, and loans, among other topics, are still prohibited.

Google has lifted the ban on cryptocurrency-related ads on its platform. The company’s new financial products and services policy, first announced in June, entered into force on August 3. Crypto exchanges and wallet providers can now advertise their products and services on Google as long as they meet certain requirements.

The company fulfilled its promise and met the deadline of August 3 stated in the original announcement.

Cardano’s creator rejects skepticism about the upcoming launch of smart contracts

IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson has again hit those who say Cardano will not run smart contracts.

In a scathing tweet, he promises to start a fund to pay for the therapy of his critics.

It’s extraordinary to me the level of skepticism about our upcoming smart contract launch. It’s not something like SCs will be underwhelming, but rather it simply won’t happen. The critics say it with biblical level certainty. We should start a fund to pay for their therapy

– Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) August 4, 2021

According to the previously announced plan of the IOHK, the largest proof-of-stake blockchain should introduce smart contracts at the beginning of September. However, most Polymarket users believe that the era of Cardano Goguen will not begin until October 1, and are betting on this issue against Hoskinson.

Banks, crypto exchanges, companies

Binance brings BTC payments to Shopify through a new partnership

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, continues to actively expand into the crypto payments industry through a new integration of crypto payments.

On Tuesday, the company announced a partnership with Alchemy Pay’s hybrid crypto-phiata payment platform, which will enable peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency payments to more than 2 million global merchants through its Binance Pay payment application.

The new integration will allow users and merchants to pay and receive payments using 40 supported cryptocurrencies, such as BTC and ETH, in the 18 countries where Alchemy Pay operates. Binance Pay users will be able to pay at Alchemy Pay partner merchants, including e-commerce giant Shopify, software technology company Arcadier, mobile payment provider QFPay and more.

Quiznos sandwich shops will soon offer BTC payment options

Quiznos, an international chain of restaurants specializing in sandwiches, is on the verge of accepting BTC payments at select locations in Denver.

Quiznos customers in the Denver area will soon be able to pay cryptocurrency. The food chain has announced that in cooperation with the payment provider Bakkt, Quiznos will start accepting payments with digital assets as early as August.

A pilot BTC payment program will be launched in Denver, Colorado, and is associated with incentives to test the payment system. Each customer who uses the Bakkt app to make a purchase in Quiznos will receive a $ 15 BTC thank you. The platform also allows the purchase of gift cards and the Bakkt application has a built-in loyalty rewards program.

CBDC, Regulation

Cryptocrime in China: still at the top of the list of illegal activities, but crime is declining

A new report by Chainalysis found that although China’s share of global criminal cryptocurrency flows has been declining since the third quarter of 2019, the country still accounts for a disproportionate amount of money laundering and fraud activities.

In its August 3, Cryptocurrency and China report, Chainalysis said that between April 2019 and June 2021, more than $ 2.2 billion in cryptocurrencies were sent from Chinese wallets to illegal activity-related addresses.

More than $ 2 billion worth of digital money related to unfair activities, such as fraud and darknet marketplaces, also came to China’s addresses. Despite this (according to the report), crime has dropped significantly. [4a]

The FBI has joined forces to liquidate the largest crypto fraud in South Africa – Mirror Trading

The US authorities have joined the investigation into Mirror Trading International (MTI), one of the largest crypto companies based in South Africa.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is working with MTI’s liquidators to protect the interests of several U.S. and local investors who have lost money.

Mirror Trading International had approximately 260,000 members worldwide in November 2020 and also held a total of 23,000 bitcoins, which are now worth approximately $ 885 million. MTI was finally wound up in June 2021 and identified as Ponzi scam by South African financial officials, and was considered the biggest crypto scam of 2020 in a chain analysis report.