Crypto Global
The crypto news of the week
Apr 12, 2022
The past week has been another exciting week in the cypto space. Here is a brief overview:
Bitcoin payments possible via Strike's Lightning Network at McDonald's, Walmart and thousands of other stores
Strike CEO Jack Mallers announced that Walmarts, McDonald's, Macy's, Whole Foods and 400,000 other stores will now accept bitcoin payments over the Lightning Network. What's the truth behind this great news?
Mallers has announced that Shopify, like the payment system NCR and Blackhawk Network, wants to establish Lightning. Shopify has around 1.7 million merchants in over 175 different countries and has been cooperating with McDonald's for years. NCR appears to be one of the largest payment systems in the world. As of January 2022, NCR already owns Boston-based LibertyX, a bitcoin ATM company with 30,000 ATMs in the US, and Cardtronics, with 285,000 fiat ATMs that will slowly transition to bitcoin. The integration would allow all retailers using Shopify to accept payments in BTC. However, these will be exchanged for US dollars as part of the transaction. Through the Lightning network, fiat is converted into bitcoin, and then bitcoin becomes fiat in merchant wallets, all without additional costs or delays in processing. It's a significant win for blockchain technology, as many will realize that the Bitcoin network can be used in much the same way as the credit card network.
Bitcoin 2022
Dozens of companies used the Bitcoin 2022 conference, which took place last Wednesday through last Saturday, to network, present ideas, and share announcements for the industry and beyond. As Miami looks to attract more investment in cryptocurrency projects, Bitcoin 2022 organizers said at least 100 companies made announcements at the conference. Last year, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele made international headlines at the event when he revealed via video that his country would be the first to make cryptocurrencies legal tender. Bukele also took part in the conference this year.
It was again the largest Bitcoin event this year, examining the technological advances, financial empowerment and countercultural influence surrounding this open source technology. Dozens of speakers also gave presentations on a wide range of Bitcoin-related topics. For example, Kevin O'Leary has claimed, and we quote, "Bitcoin mining will save the world." Kevin believes that Bitcoin mining can play a much-needed role in the development of renewable energy. One of the problems with technologies like windmills and nuclear power is that electricity production can exceed demand. If there is more electricity than demand, the energy can be wasted. However, with Bitcoin, energy providers can use the excess energy to mine BTC and improve their profitability. This could be one of the most exciting use cases for Bitcoin that few people have understood so far.