Daily Archives: April 9, 2021

Rarely does a news cycle go by without some mention of bitcoin's growing popularity, from fans and skeptics alike.

Its prices on trading exchanges tumbled around Thanksgiving last year only to roar back and set an all-time high of $19,857 on November 30: a 177% year-to-date increase that put the S&P 500's 14% rise to shame, as Insider previously reported.

Then, last month, the cryptocurrency hit an all-time high, with prices surging to $60,000. One quirk of the increase meant that two pizzas bought by crypto legend Laszlo Hanyecz would have effectively been worth $613 million.

Bitcoin's volatility is well-publicized and has led many investors, including Warren Buffet, to criticize it and other cryptocurrencies as "risky" and "worthless." Such warnings have not dissuaded more companies from accepting the currency as an official payment option, however.

In February, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would accept bitcoin as a form of payment for all models of its cars in the US. In addition, Twitter's CEO and founder, Jack Dorsey, teamed up with Jay-Z for abitcoin endowment. The pair will invest 500 bitcoins to develop the currency in India and Africa.

Although Tesla stole the headlines, there are also hundreds of other notable companies that accept the cryptocurrency as a valid form of payment, across various industries.

Burger King Venezuela accepts cryptocurrencies as payment. AP

Restaurant Brands International is one of the world's largest fast-food holding companies. It is the parent company of Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes.

Last year, Burger King Venezuela announced it will begin accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It collaborated with Cryptobuyer, a platform that generates conversion of cryptocurrencies to normal currency, Yahoo Finance reported.

Yum Brands, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, is also accepting cryptocurrencies.

The corporation permitted bitcoin as a valid payment method at Pizza Hut Venezuela last year. Yum Brands also partnered with CryptoBuyer to initiate the launch of crypto payment methods, according to Nasdaq.

For a short period of time, KFC Canada accepted the cryptocurrency as payment for products such as the Bitcoin Bucket, via a partnership with BitPay, per Yahoo Finance.

PayPal announced in October 2020 that users can buy, sell, and hold selective cryptocurrencies through their Cash or Cash Plus accounts starting in 2021. AP

After provisionally pausing from accepting the cryptocurrency as a valid payment method due to its volatility, Xbox is accepting bitcoin payments for Xbox store credits.

Meanwhile, PayPal announced in October 2020 that users can buy, sell, and hold selective cryptocurrencies through their Cash or Cash Plus accounts, starting in 2021, Yahoo Finance reports.

Users will also have the ability to learn and track crypto within their PayPal app.

Although Amazon does not directly permit bitcoin as a valid payment method, you can buy Amazon vouchers and gift cards through Bitrefill. This is a crypto-only company that authorizes users to top up subscription-based services, and then spend them on Amazon.

Coca-Cola Amatil announced their partnership with an online assets platform, Centrapay, to permit bitcoin as an official payment method last year. AP

Coca-Cola Amatil is one of the world's biggest bottlers and distributors of non-alcoholic and ready-to-drink beverages in the Asia Pacific region.

Last year, the company announced in a press release their partnership with an online assets platform, Centrapay. This enabled it to accept bitcoin as an official payment method. There are about 2,000 vending machines in Australia and New Zealand that now accept cryptocurrency, according to a CoinDesk report.

Elsewhere, Starbucks began testing bitcoin payments last year through the app, Bakkt, Nasdaq reported.

This week, the digital asset marketplace app launched their digital-wallet application, in which users can convert bitcoin into USD to reload their Starbucks Card.

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More companies are accepting bitcoin, including PayPal and Xbox - Business Insider

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices are soaring, pushing the value of the entire cryptocurrency market over $2 trillion for the first time (though some think the bull run could be just getting started).

With the bitcoin price hovering around $60,000 per bitcoin, the psychological $2 trillion barrier was broken by sharp increases in the price of smaller cryptocurrencies ethereum, binance coin, Ripple's XRP and litecoin, according to data from crypto price website CoinGecko.

INDIA - 2020/04/30: In this photo illustration a Bitcoin cryptocurrency logo seen displayed on a ... [+] smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The bitcoin and cryptocurrency market has more than doubled in value so far this year, rising from around $750 billion at the beginning of the year. Bitcoin, by far the biggest cryptocurrency by value, makes up more than half of the cryptocurrency market capitalization and has traditionally led the market.

However, the latest rally is being driven by ethereum and binance coin, both cryptocurrencies that have surged over the last year due to a burst of interest in so-called decentralized finance (DeFi). Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin with a total value of around $250 billion, has hit a fresh all-time high price over the last weekadding a further 2% today.

Binance coin and bitcoin-rival litecoin, both top ten cryptocurrencies, have each added around 10% during the last 24 hours.

XRP, the cryptocurrency developed by the company Ripple, has leaped by 35% over the same period following upbeat comments from Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse on the company's legal battle with U.S. regulators that have claimed XRP is a security and was illegally sold to investors. Ripple is braced for a key discovery session with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, bitcoin and cryptocurrency traders are feeling positive after breaking the $2 trillion barrier and it's thought this so-called altcoin rally could be set to continue for some time yet.

"I'm expecting continuation upwards in the coming weeks, with bitcoin lagging," says crypto trader and economist Alex Krger, speaking via Telegram. "The issue for this market is that leverage heats up too easily whenever bitcoin pushes higher. That's a headwind."

The bitcoin price has added almost 800% over the last 12 months, climbing to a total value of over ... [+] $1 trillion.

Other crypto market watchers are feeling similarly optimistic, though passing the $2 trillion milestone has had a muted reaction after a run that's seen so many barriers broken.

"It's a fun milestone to celebrate but as we know, quite meaningless," says Mati Greenspan, the founder of market analysis firm Quantum Economics, who's feeling bullish despite the massive gains cryptocurrencies have already racked up this year. "The crypto market will continue to grow and more non-crypto related markets will migrate to digital assets. It's a very good time for the industry."

The bitcoin and cryptocurrency bull run was sparked in October by news PayPal PYPL would be opening up its platform to bitcoin and a handful of other cryptocurrencies, kicking off a wave of institutional investment in the crypto space. Meanwhile, Telsa billionaire Elon Musk whipped retail traders into a frenzy with his pro-bitcoin tweets, setting the market alight when it was revealed Tesla had added $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin to its balance sheet.

The bitcoin and cryptocurrency community is now celebrating what it sees as the normalization of blockchain-based technology.

"With the crypto market cap exceeding $2 trillion, it is important to note that momentum and interest has begun to expand beyond bitcoin and ethereum," Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer at the British Virgin Islands-based bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, said in emailed comments.

"As the industry continues to mature, we expect more blockchain-based applications to be introduced to the world, and coinciding with that, a surge of interest around other alternative assets, dApps and ecosystems as they become more market-ready."

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Bitcoin And Crypto Market Smashes Through $2 Trillion As The Price Of Ethereum, Binance Coin, Litecoin And Ripples XRP Suddenly Soar - Forbes