Crypto exchange Coinbase has partnered with real-time cross-border payments firm Nium to bring stablecoin payments to its 190-plus country network. The goal is to replace the slow and costly SWIFT-based traditional banking services, which can take days to complete. The transactions can be made in stablecoins and paid out in local fiat currencies. Coinbase brings wallet infrastructure, stablecoin liquidity, custody, and on-ramps to Nium, as well as handling regulatory compliance. The system will use Circle’s USDC stablecoins. USDC is the second-largest stablecoin issuer, with almost $78 billion in circulation. So far the partnership is aimed at providing business and banking customers with real-time payment capabilities, freeing them from the need…
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Tennessee Bans Bitcoin ATMs
Use in fraud against seniors cited
While dozens of states have passed laws regulating crypto ATMs, and more are in the process, Tennessee has banned them outright. Earlier this month, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill to law banning virtual currency kiosks. The bill targets both the operators of so-called bitcoin ATMs — which often sell multiple cryptocurrencies — and people on whose property they are housed. Frequently these are convenience stores, gas stations and malls. Tennessee House Bill 2505 makes it “an offense for a virtual currency kiosk operator or other person to knowingly install or allow installation of, permit, place, or otherwise operate a virtual currency kiosk in this state.” The law makes…
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Web3 Gaming is Dead: Report
$11B of $12B Investments Lost
The Web3 gaming sector is all but dead, with $11 billion of the more than $12 billion deployed from 2020 to 2026 “practically gone.” That’s according to market-making and trading firm Caladan, which said in a April 22 report that 93% of all GameFi projects are “effectively dead.” The average gaming token is down 95% from its all-time high. And even Animoica Brands, the biggest player in the Web3 gaming space, has reduced gaming from its core thesis to 25% of its portfolio, pivoting to stablecoins, Caladan said. “The funding arc tells the story,” the report said. “From $70 million in 2020 to a $4 billion peak in 2022, then…
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Bitcoin Depot Beefs Up Compliance Talent
Adds experienced compliance officer in signal that ship has righted
We’ve written a good bit, including just last week, about one of the obscure corners of crypto – bitcoin ATMs. Back in the early teens when they first started appearing, we assumed they’d be ubiquitous in no time — an AOL-like easy and familiar on-ramp to a promising new technology. And then, even as crypto enjoyed the wide adoption we expected, bitcoin ATMs just didn’t really take flight. To the degree you can even find one, it’s usually in a gas station next to the vending machine for live bait. Not a setting that conveys “the future of fintech.” Bitcoin Depot was founded in 2016 and has been a public…
