Weekly Flip Thru: More Retailers Eyeing Crypto Payment Options, Bitcoin ATMs Return to Japan After 4-Year Hiatus
We’re flipping excited over here – but there’s good reason for all the hoopla. For starters, a recent survey found that a majority of retailers have plans to accept crypto payments by 2024 (yay!) and bitcoin ATMs are staging a comeback in Japan for the first time in nearly four years (double yay!).
Catch up on the biggest stories in crypto for the week of August 8, 2022.
Poll finds 75% of retailers plan to accept some form of crypto payments in next 24 months (CNBC) A June 2022 survey conducted by Deloitte asked 2,000 executives from the retail industry to share their opinions on cryptocurrency payments. The survey concludes that most of the senior executives who participated in the survey do plan on accepting crypto payments in the next year or two. “The majority of merchants believe customer interest will increase over the next year,” the report says, “and nearly 75% reported plans to accept stablecoin payments and almost the same reported plans to accept cryptocurrency payments, both within the next 24 months.”
Robinhood’s crypto unit fined $30 million by New York financial regulators (Bloomberg) The New York State Department of Financial Services fined the cryptocurrency arm of the investment app Robinhood $30 million for violating anti-money-laundering and cybersecurity rules. According to the NYSDFS, Robinhood had used a manual transaction review system to monitor transactions while it was totaling more than $5 million in daily transaction volume in fall of 2019. Automated transaction monitoring is the industry norm for companies the size of Robinhood, according to the regulatory agency.
More reading: 3 reasons you should avoid PayPal and Robinhood when buying crypto
Solana wallets targeted in hack that resulted in $5 million loss (CoinDesk) Investors who held their Solana blockchain-based tokens in internet-connected wallets, also called “hot wallets” by some, awoke to distressing news last week. The exploit had reportedly hit at least 8,000 of those internet-connected wallets by the end of last week, resulting in more than $5 million in losses. Wallet security is once again in the spotlight following this latest security breach and theft, and it’s one more reason for investors to do their homework when it comes to choosing a self-custodial wallet to hold their crypto.
Bitcoin ATMs return to Japan for first time since 2018 (Cryptonews) Crypto buyers and sellers will finally be getting another lane for their transactions as bitcoin ATMs return to Osaka and Tokyo for the first time since the crypto winter of 2018. In addition to buying and selling select cryptocurrencies at the ATM, users will be able to quickly convert their crypto into cash (a major upside to crypto ATMs for the underbanked and unbanked). The Japanese operator of the bitcoin ATMs announced plans to have 50 machines in operation within the next year.
How crypto and esports fuel each other’s growth (Decrypt) The worlds of gaming and NFTs, DeFi, and crypto may seem like they have a good amount of overlap. After all, both crypto and competitive gaming, also known as esports, are two digital-first industries that are growing up alongside each other. This story looks at the relationship between crypto companies and esports teams, and how crypto firms looking for sponsorship opportunities that give them maximum bang for the buck might be more enticed by a deal with an esports league rather than sponsorship of a major league sport such as soccer or basketball.
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