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WeWork to Begin Accepting Payments in Cryptocurrencies

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According to the latest announcement, WeWork, the office-sharing giant, will start accepting payments in cryptocurrencies. In collaboration with Coinbase Global Inc and payment app Bitpay, the leading space provider WeWork, will expand its flexibility by employing cryptocurrencies for inbound and outbound transactions.


As per the announcement, WeWork will hold the cryptocurrency on its balance sheet and pay landlords and third-party partners in the form of cryptocurrencies using Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency trading platform. Also, WeWork announced that Coinbase would be its first member company to use digital payment as payment for its membership.

WeWork mentioned that it will accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin, Paxos and others as payment for its offerings and memberships.

WeWork is Offering an Innovative Payment Option to its Customers  

As a part of the announcement, WeWork chief executive Sandeep Mathrani mentioned that the company needs to adapt to the needs of its expanding membership in the fintech industry and to service this “new economy.”

BitPay CEO Stephen Pair also mentioned that WeWork is providing a cheaper, more accessible, and innovative payment option compared to those of credit cards and taps a community valued at over $2 trillion. 

WeWork Chairman and Softbank Group International CEO Marcelo Claure believes that WeWork’s announcement to start accepting cryptocurrencies indicates the company’s commitment to innovation and being a globally-focused business. He seems glad regarding the steps that WeWork is taking to recognize the value this technology can provide to its current and future members.

It was recently announced that the shared-office provider WeWork is expected to merge with a SPAC called BowX Acquisition Corp.

WeWork’s move is similar to Elon Musk’s Tesla, where the entrepreneur announced that people can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin, whereas people outside the country can buy a Tesla with bitcoin later in 2021. As cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular as a form of payment, Venmo also announced that customers can now buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly within the Venmo app with as little as $1.

To get instant updates about blockchain certifications and become a blockchain expert, check out Blockchain Council. Get the clarity in blockchain technology that you are looking for.

WeWork to Begin Accepting Payments in Cryptocurrencies

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Top Cryptocurrency Payment Apps That You Should Know

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Top Cryptocurrency Payment Apps That You Should Know

Are you a crypto enthusiast? Want to perform crypto transactions using a user-friendly payment app? Want to know which are the best options that are available? This article has got you covered. 

Table of Contents 

  • What is Crypto Payment App?
  • Best Crypto Payment Apps of 2021 
  • Apple Pay To Be Used to Spend Bitcoin: Recent Announcement 
  • Concluding Lines 

What is Crypto Payment App?

Cryptocurrency payment Apps allow businesses and individuals to accept cryptocurrencies from any country as a form of transactional payment from clients and other participating parties customers in exchange for goods or services. The main purpose of such apps is to promote the widespread adoption of varieties of cryptocurrencies.

Since cryptocurrencies are backed by Blockchain technology, they facilitate easy and confidential transactions and, most importantly, eliminates banking fees.

Want to know more about cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology? Get started today with the best cryptocurrency and Blockchain certifications now! 

Best Crypto Payment Apps of 2021 

Let’s explore some of the top-rated crypto payment apps of 2021.

If you want to take control of your crypto, turn crypto into dollars, leverage multi-sig security, and manage funds across platforms, go for Bitpay. It is known to be one of the world’s largest providers of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services. It helps you manage and secure your funds with multi-signature and key encryption. Moreover, one can also keep track of their funds by receiving prompt email and push notifications related to payments, transfers, and proposals and spend all around the world. 

The BitPay Wallet app supports various cryptocurrencies such as Ether, Bitcoin Cash and many dollar-pegged stable coins. 

eToro is one of the leading trading platforms that is home to around 12 million traders across the globe. One can invest in a wide category of digital assets on this platform without spending any markups, ticketing, or management fees. Moreover, there are no restrictions on trading volume as well. 

Cryptopay is another popular platform that enables individuals to easily access cryptocurrencies across countries. With Cryptopay, one can buy BTC, ETH, LTC, and XRP with their credit card or debit card and enjoy the economical rates and flat fees. Talking about crypto transaction fees, it’s just charge 1% for the currency exchange. 

  • Coinbase 

Coinbase provides the easiest way for users to buy, sell, and manage their cryptocurrency portfolio. It offers a variety of advanced features that make it the ideal platform to start trading for beginners and experts as well. It allows android users and iOS users as well to keep track of cryptocurrencies and manage their assets securely. It also allows individuals to store their funds in a vault with time-delayed withdrawals.

  • Electroneum 

This is a unique, UK-based cryptocurrency app that is centered on empowering people to offer a mobile-first payment solution. Due to its popularity, it now has more than millions of users around the globe. 

Electroneum (ETN) is helping all those who have no visa, no MasterCard, no PayPal, etc., to pay for goods and services, both in-store and online. Electroneum app lets anyone hold and transfer value in terms of ETN immediately at a minimal cost. 

Apple Pay To Be Used to Spend Bitcoin: Recent Announcement 

According to the recent announcement, Apple Pay can now be used to spend Bitcoin. The news statements read that the US cardholders of the BitPay Prepaid Mastercard can add their card to Apple Wallet and spend in stores, in apps, and online through Apple Pay. 

As BitPay continues to improve its global blockchain solutions to make paying with cryptocurrencies faster and safer, apart from Apple Pay, Bitpay also plans to add support for Google Pay and Samsung Pay by the end of next month. Bitpay intends to empower customers to manage and spend Bitcoin and also turn it into dollars and pay with the BitPay Card.

Please note that these are not the only crypto apps. There are many others, and we have just listed a few of them. 

Concluding Lines 

Have you used any of these crypto payment apps? Which, according to you, is the best one? Let us know in the comment section below. 

If you want to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of Cryptocurrency trading right from scratch, you can get enrolled in one of the Cryptocurrency certification programs and become a Certified Cryptocurrency Trader. 

To get instant updates about Blockchain Technology and to learn more about online Blockchain Certifications, check out Blockchain Council. 

Top Cryptocurrency Payment Apps That You Should Know

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Will Bitcoin Reach All-Time High of $100K in 2021?

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Will Bitcoin Reach All-Time High of $100K in 2021

Are you a Crypto enthusiast? Wondering whether BTC will beat all records and reach $100k this year or not? Well, you have landed on the right page. This article talks about the history of Bitcoin, from where it all started, reasons that accelerated its price, and finally analyzing whether BTC could really hit $100K

Table of Contents 

  • From Where It All Started: The Rise of Bitcoin
  • Reasons That Accelerated Bitcoin’s Price
  • Could Bitcoin really hit $100K?
  • Concluding Lines 

From Where It All Started: The Rise of Bitcoin

Bitcoin, the first-ever example of decentralized digital currency, came into existence in 2009 under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. Initially, in January 2009, the Bitcoin network was introduced with the release of the first open-source bitcoin client and the issuance of the first bitcoins, with Satoshi Nakamoto mining the first block of bitcoins ever. The first price rise happened in July 2010, when the value of a single bitcoin rose to $0.08, and the next year in 2011, its price rose from $1 in April. After two years, in January 2013, it was seen that BitPay exceeded 10,000 transactions, and in November 2017, the price surged to $10k. Since its introduction, Bitcoin(BTC) has seen significant ups and downs. In 2018, Bitcoin saw the most critical crash to $3,200, but next year in 2019, its price stayed above US $3,190. After its lowest drop in this year, in mid-June, the price rose to the US $10,000, and again in December 2019, the same price fell to the US $7,112.73.  

However, the end of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 indicates a remarkable rise in Bitcoin’s price. In December 2020, BTC touched $10K. In January 2021, Bitcoin price rose to $40K, and on 16 February, the price further surged to $50,000, recording an all-time high. And finally, on 13 March 2021, it was announced that the price of Bitcoin rose to $60,065, and hours later, the price crossed $61,000 to set a new all-time high of $61,556.59. 

Looking for the best cryptocurrency certification courses? Get started today with Blockchain Council. 

Reasons That Accelerated Bitcoin’s Price

As Bitcoin has surpassed all records of the past and has unexpectedly crossed USD 60,000, it brings a question to everybody’s mind as to why BTC exploded. Here are some of the reasons for the accelerated BTC’s price. 

Global COVID-19 Pandemic 

Most people looked at bitcoin as a way to protect themselves from the looming economic downturn brought about by the spread of global coronavirus. Institutional investors such as Microstrategy, Tesla, Square Corp, and many others shifted their cash holdings to BTC, claiming that it was a good store of value against inflation.

Consider as ‘Digital Gold’

Although Microsoft founder Bill Gates has warned investors against risky cryptocurrency, and United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned it as inefficient for actually carrying out transactions and is extremely speculative, cryptocurrency enthusiasts are considering BTC for investment purposes and as a payment system. Bitcoin is drawing a worldwide audience, and few consider it as ‘digital gold,’ considering the fact that it has many of the same properties as gold and acts as a globally recognized store of wealth.

Bringing Better Trust

In the beginning, Bitcoin was surrounded by various questions, such as is it secured? Can it be hacked? Is decentralization a truly workable solution? Will halving destroy the system and so on. And finally, after a decade, BTC has proved that it is secured, non-hackable, and built on a reliable technology(Blockchain) that does not break in any sense. 

The emergence of Financial Institutions

As Bitcoin is now being associated with more institutional investors and with giant financial institutions like Paypal, Visa, JP Morgan, etc., more retail investors are interested in purchasing Bitcoin now more than ever. 

Highest Liquidity

Apart from the reasons mentioned above, another crucial reason for its upsurging is that it has the highest liquidity in the crypto space. The higher the liquidity ratio, the easier it is to sell a cryptocurrency at market price.

Could Bitcoin really hit $100K?

As Bitcoin shows no sign of slowing down, everyone is wondering whether BTC will achieve $100k in 2021 or not? Prediction is tough, especially if it’s about the future. But after looking at the features of the past data, we can get some idea about what the feature would look like. Bitcoin has moved closer to $100,000 than it is to $0. The latest advances in the field of Bitcoin are evidence that it is on its way to becoming a mainstream asset class. Blockchain Experts and analysts believe that if this trend continues, it wouldn’t be a surprise that BTC might hit $100k by the end of 2021.

Concluding Lines 

From the above discussion, it is clear that the Bitcoin era has begun and it will continue to make a revolution in the years to come. 

If you are planning to invest in Bitcoin, it is crucial that you know trading strategies very well and performs your own research before making any investment decisions. 

If you want to get started as a Certified Cryptocurrency Trader, get enrolled in Blockchain Council now!

To get instant updates about Blockchain Technology and to learn more about online Blockchain Certifications, check out Blockchain Council.

Will Bitcoin Reach All-Time High of $100K in 2021?

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Tesla buys BTC, Mastercard supports crypto, DOGE founder speaks out: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 7–13

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Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Top Stories This Week

Bitcoin hits all-time highs as Tesla invests $1.5 billion

The past week is going to go down as one of the best in Bitcoin’s history. It all began when an SEC filing revealed Tesla has invested $1.5 billion in BTC and planned to start accepting crypto as a payment method.

BTC’s price immediately leaped to record highs on the news, surging by 20% in 24 hours. The announcement came weeks after Elon Musk added #bitcoin to his bio and revealed he supported the cryptocurrency.

Tesla’s Bitcoin exposure represents about 7.7% of its gross cash position, and the news has sparked hopes that other major corporations will follow suit. Galaxy Digital’s Michael Novogratz predicted that “every company in America” will emulate the electric vehicle maker by allocating part of its balance sheets to BTC.

But some treasury experts have been left scratching their heads over the change in Tesla’s investment strategy, with critics describing the move as “unusual” and “risky.” JPMorgan also piled in and said the purchase might not trigger a ton of similar investments.

Mastercard announces support for crypto on its network in big week for adoption

Tesla was just the tip of the iceberg, with a flurry of announcements proving that Bitcoin is now firmly in the mainstream.

Mastercard unveiled plans to start supporting crypto this year, paving the way for almost 1 billion people to spend digital assets at more than 30 million merchants. The company said the move was about giving its customers choice.

Elsewhere, PayPal revealed that its crypto service is going to be rolled out in the U.K., making it the first international market since a successful launch in the U.S. last fall.

Twitter, home to crypto-friendly CEO Jack Dorsey, confirmed it is looking into how it might pay employees who wish to be compensated in Bitcoin. Chief financial officer Ned Segal added that the social network is exploring whether it needs to have BTC on its balance sheet.

There was more to come. BNY Mellon, America’s oldest bank, announced that it will offer crypto custody services for institutional clients. Its chief executive, Roman Regelman, told the WSJ: “Digital assets are becoming part of the mainstream.” Other major banks, such as JPMorgan, now believe they’ll eventually have to get involved in BTC.

Speculation is now growing that Apple will be one of the next companies to embrace Bitcoin. The cherry on top of the cake came when the crypto-focused fintech platform BitPay revealed that card owners can now pay for goods and services using Apple Pay.

Key Bitcoin price metric signals traders are positioned for $50,000 

BTC surged beyond $43,000 without breaking a sweat on Monday, besting last month’s all-time high of $42,000. As the week progressed, Bitcoin managed to hit $48,900.

Many high-profile analysts openly predicted last year that $50,000 was a realistic price target for 2021. Just six weeks into the year, BTC has come tantalizingly close to this level.

Despite Bitcoin’s value trebling in the space of just three months, several crypto traders believe that the scene remains exceedingly bullish… and those looking for a local top might end up being disappointed.

One analyst, Cheds, told Cointelegraph: “In my view, bulls are still in complete control, and every day, we get more news of institutional adoption and demand and that, more than anything, will be the driving force.”

Another, CryptoWendyO, described $50,000 as “inevitable,” adding that a Bitcoin tweet from Musk could send BTC to $54,000.

Ethereum hits a new all-time high as CME futures go live

ETH broke $1,800 this week, setting new records several times along the way. All of this came as Ether futures made their long-awaited debut on CME.

It’s also been a very lucrative few days in the altcoin markets. Cardano has surged 71% over the past seven days, and Polkadot is up 49%, with Binance Coin crushing the competition after clocking gains of 103% in the space of a week. Even XRP managed to break $0.60 once again, which has the Sword of Damocles hanging over its head.

BNB’s gains are undoubtedly linked to the record levels of traffic coming to the Binance exchange, with the platform suffering an outage on Thursday as it went down for maintenance.

The total value locked in decentralized finance also managed to crack $40 billion this week. However, much of this surge is likely down to the soaring value of Ether rather than a dramatic explosion in activity.

Founder of Dogecoin sold everything in 2015 for “a used Honda Civic”

Not everyone is rolling around in $100 bills as a result of the crypto bull run. Dogecoin founder Billy Markus has revealed that he sold off his DOGE stash in 2015 for an amount equivalent to a used Honda Civic.

All of that means that he missed out on the Dogecoin mania that has helped the joke cryptocurrency gain 900% since late January, fueled by tweets from Elon Musk.

Writing on Reddit, Markus said that he can’t comprehend the prospect of DOGE ever reaching $1, writing: “That would make the ‘market cap’ larger than actual companies that provide services to millions, such as Boeing, Starbucks, American Express, IBM.”

Musk recently revealed that he had bought some DOGE for his nine-month-old son so he can be a “toddler hodler,” but there are fears that his days of tweeting about crypto could be numbered. Legal advisors have warned the billionaire that his social media activity and public statements could come under scrutiny from the SEC.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at $47,592.20, Ether at $1,836.68 and XRP at $0.60. The total market cap is at $1,477,578,548,979.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Avalanche, BitTorrent and The Graph. There’s just one altcoin loser in the top 100 this week: Ampleforth.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis. 

Most Memorable Quotations

“Cryptocurrency has become a worldwide transaction of which you cannot even identify who owns what. The technology is so strong that I don’t see the kind of regulation that we can do. Bitcoin has made our currency almost useless or valueless.”

Sani Musa, Nigerian senator

“Elon Musk has exposed Tesla to immense mark-to-market risk.”

Peter Garnry, Saxo Bank head of equity strategy

“I see the promise of these new technologies, but I also see the reality: cryptocurrencies have been used to launder the profits of online drug traffickers; they’ve been a tool to finance terrorism.”

Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary

“New account registrations are still open, not sure for how long. Also seeing ATH on this. Better get an account soon.”

Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO

“It would not be surprising — given the focus on the chief executive’s tweets, Bitcoin pricing and recent dramatic market moves — for the SEC to ask questions about the facts and circumstances here.”

Doug Davison, former SEC enforcement official

“Digital assets are becoming a more important part of the payments world. We are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value — traditional or crypto — however they want. It should be your choice, it’s your money.”

Mastercard

“Bought some Dogecoin for lil X, so he can be a toddler hodler.”

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO

“The main issue with the idea that mainstream corporate treasurers will follow the example of Tesla is the volatility of Bitcoin.”

JPMorgan

“We’ve done a lot of the upfront thinking to consider how we might pay employees should they ask to be paid in Bitcoin, how we might pay a vendor should they ask to be paid in Bitcoin, and whether we need to have Bitcoin on our balance sheet.”

Ned Segal, Twitter chief financial officer

“Markets are going up heavily, but we’ll be seeing some downwards momentum as well. Nothing goes up in a straight line.”

Michaël van de Poppe, Cointelegraph Markets analyst

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see there being almost some sort of a race now — you have Elon Musk, you have Michael Saylor, Jack Dorsey. You’re gonna see a lot of other visionary leaders in disruptive companies actually realizing that it’s really moved from ‘why’ to ‘why not.’”

Michael Sonnenshein, Grayscale CEO

“The target for consolidation is near $52k, where I’m expecting a bit of a correction but the measured move overall should take us towards $63,000.”

filbfilb, Cointelegraph Markets analyst

“Any wallet that won’t give you your private keys should be avoided at all costs.”

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO

“Central banks should ban the trading of it, and force anyone who holds Bitcoin and wants to use it in any transaction, to exchange it for another currency that does not have such a damaging side effect.”

Nick Boles, former British MP

“ETH futures go live on the CME today. This is huge. This is a bridge to institutions. This is a green light from U.S. regulators. ETH is becoming globally accepted commodity money.”

Ryan Sean Adams, Ethereum researcher

“If [Apple] decides to enter into the crypto exchange business, we think the firm could immediately gain market share and disrupt the industry.”

Paul Steves, Royal Bank of Canada Dominion Securities

“We expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future.”

Tesla

Prediction of the Week

Bitcoin price poised to hit $63,000, says trader filbfilb

The popular analyst filbfilb has declared that “the game has changed” for Bitcoin — and has revealed what he thinks will come next for the world’s biggest cryptocurrency.

The Cointelegraph Markets contributor has said that he’s anticipating “a bit of a correction” once BTC hits $52,000 but believes “the measured move overall should take us towards $63,000.”

And on the matter of corporate adoption, he wrote: “I really don’t think people understand that S&P 500 companies owning Bitcoin means that by default people’s pensions are exposed to Bitcoin. The % of people invested in Bitcoin has already reached the masses, they just don’t even know it.”

FUD of the Week 

Ethereum-based social media project shuts down as ETH fees approach new highs

An Ethereum-based project has ceased development due to rising gas prices, as the cost of transacting on the blockchain continues to push new highs.

Unite, which aimed to offer social media tokens, said the original idea for the project has been rendered unfeasible by the recent spike in fees, with the average cost of using Ethereum rising by a staggering 35,600% since last January.

The startup intended to allow social media users on sites such as Twitter and Discord to distribute Ethereum ERC-20 tokens to their audience and community. Developers also confirmed that they have decided against building the platform on a layer-two solution.

FTX CEO claims competitor responsible for racist messages delivered to Blockfolio users

Blockfolio’s Signal feed was briefly compromised this week, with some users receiving racist messages within the company’s app.

Now, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who acquired Blockfolio for $150 million last August, has shed light on what happened following a security review.

He claimed that the offensive content was produced and published by a competitor exchange that maliciously gained access to someone’s account.

Bankman-Fried didn’t name the culprit but stressed that funds were not jeopardized at any time. He also confirmed that Blockfolio has now fixed the vulnerability that led to this situation.

The executive has been praised for his handling of the situation, and he has apparently added $10 to the trading accounts of affected users, as well as donating to organizations dedicated to fighting racial and societal injustice.

India’s crypto ban is coming, hodlers to be given transition period: Bloomberg

An unnamed senior finance ministry official has claimed that India will soon completely ban crypto assets.

It’s reported that the use of cryptocurrency in all forms will be prohibited under the new law — meaning transacting through foreign exchanges won’t be allowed either.

Crypto exchanges have reacted with dismay to the news. Unocoin co-founder Sathvik Vishwanath said: “If government goes ahead with banning all cryptocurrencies, except the one backed by the state, it will not make sense to continue our business in India. But we’ll have to wait and watch.”

The Indian government has been determined to clamp down on crypto use after the supreme court overturned the RBI’s blanket ban on local banks providing services to businesses dealing with crypto.

Best Cointelegraph Features

Moment of truth? Tesla purchase is the moment Bitcoin has been waiting for

Despite some expected near-term volatility, Tesla’s exploration of the crypto realm will likely help the industry scale up to new heights.

Coincidence? Company stocks rise after they buy Bitcoin as a reserve

The market caps of most companies that bought Bitcoin have increased recently, but is that solely thanks to BTC?

A new trend? Non-crypto CEOs and celebrities embrace Bitcoin on Twitter

Are business leaders signaling the technological future they believe is coming to pass — an international and decentralized one?

Tesla buys BTC, Mastercard supports crypto, DOGE founder speaks out: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 7–13

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Merchants accepting Bitcoin laud ‘zero chargeback risks’, says BitPay report

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BitPay recently released a study highlighting four merchants from different businesses that have implemented Bitcoin as a payment method. The parties selected to participate included a gold broker, an online gift card marketplace, a domain registrar that also serves as a hosting service, and an electronics retailer.

In the report, the unnamed merchants praised crypto’s lack of fraud-related chargebacks, noting the immensity of this issue when dealing with traditional institutions.

They also reported that while only 0.5% to 6.5% of their total eCommerce sales came from crypto transactions, these helped to boost the flow of new customers by 40% on average over the last three years.

During the pandemic, the study stated that merchants reported an increase in online shopping. This bolstered the number of crypto transactions on their respective platforms, with 11% of responding customers stating that they were using crypto and other digital payment methods for the first time.

The report also adds:

“The interviewed merchants identified an opportunity to grow sales by reaching a new customer segment that prefers to pay with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies when shopping online. While cryptocurrency buyers still represent a relatively small share of spending, cryptocurrency recognition is significant and growing.”

At the beginning of September, a British online food delivery platform called “Just Eat” added cryptocurrency payment support for its subsidiary in France.

Merchants accepting Bitcoin laud ‘zero chargeback risks’, says BitPay report

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Wisconsin State Candidate Launches Bitcoin Donation Platform 

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Bitcoin’s prominent role in politics is coming to the limelight once more as a state assembly candidate in Wisconsin launches a Bitcoin donations page. Earlier this month, Phil Anderson, a candidate for Wisconsin’s State Assembly, announced that he would be accepting campaign donations in Bitcoin.

Another Try at Bitcoin Donations

In a statement to the effect, the Republican candidate explained that his campaign had set up a Bitcoin donations channel through a partnership with crypto payment processor BitPay. The former real estate broker and businessman highlighted his belief that Bitcoin is a form of money, explaining that nothing should restrict him from using the asset to generate funds.

Anderson’s resolve comes after a contested Bitcoin campaign effort back in 2018. At the time, he had run for Governor of the state on the Libertarian platform and was one of the first politicians to accept Bitcoin in donations openly.

In the spring of 2018, the Wisconsin Libertarian Party had asked the state’s Ethics Commission to clarify if it was legal to use Bitcoin for political donations. The Commission passed the matter to the state legislature, explaining that allowing crypto donations could challenge its ability to ensure financial compliance.

Despite the Commission’s concerns, however, Anderson’s campaign moved ahead with the donation campaign. Speaking with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Anderson pointed out that his defiance didn’t mean he was thumbing his nose at the Commission. However, he believed that they would still be abiding with the law by accepting bitcoin.

“We will not allow the lack of appropriate interpretation of the current statute [to] affect the First Amendment rights of those who want to show support and contribute. I have no faith in the Assembly to handle this fairly nor expeditiously,” he said to the news source.

Now that he’s running for public office again, Anderson is sticking to his guns. He has also openly disagreed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission on their crypto interpretation and its perceived risks. In part, he communicated his belief that cryptocurrencies are a legitimate form of money, adding that he would push for progressive crypto laws in the state.

“People have the choice as to how they contribute, and it’s my intention to honor those choices. If my opponent or the Ethics Commission are interested in challenging me, I’m ready for a fight,” his statement asserted.

Bitcoin in Politics

While Anderson appears defiant in his belief, he won’t be the first pro-crypto person running for public office. Most notable amongst the crypto advocates has been Andrew Yang, the Democrat candidate who ran for President last year.

Supporters of Yang — a philanthropist and tech entrepreneur — launched a PAC called the Humanity Forward Fund (Humanity FWD) that accepted Bitcoin donations in collaboration with the Lightning Network. Seth Cohen, the fund’s founder, said that they hadn’t determined whether the contributions would be converted into fiat. It’s also unclear if Yang had anything to do directly with the fund or not. Sadly, he didn’t go too far in the polls, and he dropped out of the presidential race in February.

Humanity FWD is also not the first crypto-centric PAC to be launched. In fact, data from the Center for Public Integrity showed that about $750,000 in donations were given to politicians between 2017 and 2018. 

Wisconsin State Candidate Launches Bitcoin Donation Platform 

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