Mexican State Bank Announces Stricter Rules for Crypto Exchanges 2078

All crypto exchanges and banks providing crypto services in Mexico will now be obliged to receive a permit from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), according to a September 10 circular published in the official daily of the Mexican government, the Diario Oficial de la Federacion.

The letter called “General provisions on operations related to electronic payment funds” states that Banxico is responsible for issuing crypto-related permits. To get one, a company dealing in digital currencies must provide a detailed business plan complete with a description of their operations, the commissions they plan to charge, and the mechanism they will use to verify customer identity.

Additionally, banks are not permitted to make cryptocurrencies available to users if their accounts were created on the same day. Financial entities are also obliged to identify all customers involved in cryptocurrency trading. Furthermore, any assets acquired by crypto beneficiaries have to go through additional validation checks. Per Banxico, these measures will help prevent money laundering and illicit activities.

According to news outlet Criptonoticias, institutions interested in receiving Banxico compliance must have submitted their applications by September 11. However, they may apply again in March 2019 when a new piece of fintech legislation is expected to be passed into law.

Despite the new regulations issued by Banxico, Mexico could soon face a cryptocurrency boom by the end of 2018, according to Amir Manzur, the founder of local crypto exchange Cubobit. Manzur told Forbes Mexico that the introduction of comprehensive fintech law in March will only strengthen consumer confidence in digital currencies, encouraging people to further invest.

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Data Mynt Payment Processing Platform Now Supports Bitcoin Payments 6511

Data Mynt, a leading provider of simple, stable cryptocurrency payment products, now enables payments over the Bitcoin network, which already supports roughly 225,000 transactions per day and $30 billion USD dollar equivalent volume per day worldwide (as of publishing).

Data Mynt merchants and partners join the 15,000 retailers that accept Bitcoin today, making it the world’s most widely used digital asset for payments. Retailers include Twitter, Whole Foods and Overstock.com.

Now the Data Mynt payment processing platform enables payments from any wallet and asset across the $2 trillion combined market cap (as of publishing) available to make a payment over the Bitcoin, Ethereum Mainnet and Polygon networks.

The Data Mynt payment processing solution enables merchants and enterprises to expand their payment options for their customers and partners. At the same time, it reduces payment processing costs and eliminates frictions such as chargebacks and crypto price volatility.

“As a payment processor, it only makes sense for us to enable our merchants and partners to accept what the world already accepts—the biggest cryptocurrency,” noted Data Mynt CEO Alex Christian. “Almost one-quarter of the US population owns Bitcoin. Many other countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, UAE, Singapore, Israel, India, Mexico, and South Africa have even higher adoption rates. Data Mynt merchants can feel good knowing they offer these Bitcoin owners another payment option.”

The dedicated Data Mynt global sales team began rolling out its payment platform in Q1 of 2022.

About Data Mynt

Data Mynt is a leading crypto payment processor. Its wallet, asset and blockchain-agnostic suite of solutions offer partners and merchants an omnichannel approach to accepting on-chain crypto payments free from volatility and the risks and costs of traditional payment methods. The Data Mynt payment platform is also designed to streamline implementation delivering a seamless customer experience. DataMynt.com

Popular BTM Operator Bitcoin of America Wins Silver in 11th Annual Best in Biz Awards 8702

Bitcoin of America has been named a silver winner in the Company of the Year – Midwest category in Best in Biz Awards, the only independent business awards program judged each year by prominent editors and reporters from top-tier publications in North America. Bitcoin of America is a popular virtual currency exchange, registered as a money services business with the United States Department of Treasury (FinCEN)(RegNum). Apart from ensuring a fast and hassle-free transaction, their customer support makes them the best in the industry.

Bitcoin of America has demonstrated rapid growth. In June of this year, Bitcoin of America’s Chief Financial Officer reported record company growth. In January, the company had a total of 630 Bitcoin ATMs. To date, they have seen a 138.095% increase in their number of locations. They even hit a major achievement of 1500 plus BTMs. Bitcoin of America has also seen enormous growth in their number of employees. In just one year their team grew over 32 percent.

Bitcoin of America also added new products, services, and even updates to their BTMS. In May, they announced the launch of their new universal kiosk. The kiosk combines the capabilities of a traditional ATM with a Bitcoin ATM. The universal kiosk is known to offer 3 different functions. The first is the traditional ATM feature where customers can dispense cash from a debit card. The second function is being able to buy bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies with cash. The last is that customers can sell crypto in return for cash. This is huge for business owners. These universal kiosks are bringing stores additional revenue streams, while also saving floor space. They also announced that Ethereum would be available for customers to purchase from any of their locations.

Besides offering cryptocurrency services to customers, Bitcoin of America has helped hundreds of businesses across the United States. Bitcoin of America offers a host program for store owners who are interested in cryptocurrency or are just looking to earn extra income. They take care of their host locations by providing them with passive income, increased foot traffic, and marketing. They even handle customer support and any maintenance/installation services.

As Digital Currencies Gain Popularity, FPA and RIA Digital Assets Council Announce Education-Focused Partnership 24877

According to the RIA Digital Assets Council, 80% of financial advisers receive questions from clients about bitcoin, but only 8% can adequately explain digital assets. As cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream, now is the time for financial planners to build competency in this asset class. To support financial planners, the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) and RIA Digital Assets Council (RIADAC), a digital assets educational source for financial planners, announced a strategic partnership to provide education on the application of blockchain and digital assets.

“I’m pleased FPA has this opportunity to work with RIADAC to build our members’ competency in digital assets, which will allow them to augment their knowledge and better serve clients,” says Patrick D. Mahoney, FPA chief executive officer. “As the leading membership association for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals, we need to be on the cutting edge of supporting our members as they look to sharpen their knowledge and build their competencies. This partnership with RIADAC is consistent with that objective.”

FPA and RIADAC will provide educational programming and a wide range of content to help FPA members understand the complexities of cryptocurriencies and provide expert advice on how this transformational asset class can impact their clients’ financial plans. As an FPA partner, RIADAC’s educational content and thought leadership will be available to FPA members through a variety of channels:

  • RIA Digital Assets Council Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets: FPA members will receive a 50% discount when enrolling in RIADAC’s certificate program that provides financial planners practical literacy on blockchain and digital assets and introduces available options for a firm’s investment management strategy. The inaugural class debuts on Apr. 30, 2021.
  • FPA Blockchain & Digital Assets Community: FPA members will engage with dynamic guests and thought leaders from RIADAC in virtual, interactive discussions and exchange ideas with peers in the FPA Connect Blockchain & Digital Assets community.
  • Journal of Financial Planning: RIADAC will regularly contribute thought leadership content to help financial planners understand blockchain and digital assets in FPA’s flagship publication, the Journal of Financial Planning.
  • FPA Annual Conference: Ric Edelman, founder of RIADAC, will present an informative session on blockchain and digital assets at the FPA Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 22-24, 2021.

“Gaining vital knowledge about this new asset class will help financial planners attract more clients and serve them better,” said RIADAC Founder Ric Edelman. “We’re honored to be partnering with FPA to help financial planners who are committed to serving their clients’ best interests.”

“Ric Edelman is known and recognized throughout financial services and his work to bring blockchain and digital assets education and awareness to the financial advisory community is commendable. I am pleased FPA members will have this opportunity to learn from Ric and his team at RIADAC,” says 2021 FPA President Skip Schweiss, CFP®, AIF®.

Over the coming months, FPA and RIADAC will explore additional educational initiatives and thought leadership programs that can benefit FPA members, their clients and the broader financial planning community.

Bitcoin Association launches Introduction to Bitcoin Development online course at Bitcoin SV Academy 23291

Bitcoin Association, the Switzerland-based global industry organisation that works to advance business with the Bitcoin SV blockchain, today announces the official launch of the Introduction to Bitcoin Development course at Bitcoin SV Academy. The course is available free of charge and can be accessed from today at http://bitcoinsv.academy.

Introduction to Bitcoin Development is part of the Bitcoin Development stream of Bitcoin SV Academy and has been designed to equip application developers with the skills, tools and techniques required to build applications on the Bitcoin SV network. The course covers Bitcoin as a data protocol – including reading, writing and advanced functionalities with the Bitcoin ledger, payment protocols, token protocols and smart contracts. At the conclusion of the course, participants will be tested on their knowledge through an online examination, with a course certificate available upon successful completion for those who have demonstrated proficiency and understanding of the subject matter.

Bitcoin SV Academy is an online education platform for Bitcoin which offers academia-quality, university-style courses and learning materials in three distinct streams, Bitcoin Theory, Bitcoin Development and Bitcoin Infrastructure. Developed and run by Bitcoin Association, Bitcoin SV Academy has been created to make learning about Bitcoin – the way creator Satoshi Nakamoto designed it – accessible, accurate and understandable.

The launch of Introduction to Bitcoin Development today follows the successful rollout of Introduction to Bitcoin Theory – the first course to be launched on Bitcoin SV Academy – in December 2020. Later this year, the first module in the Bitcoin Infrastructure stream Introduction to Bitcoin Infrastructure is due to launch, followed by intermediate and advanced level courses across the three streams.

Pastel Network Announces the Listing of PSL on the Bitcoin.com Exchange 20399

Pastel Network, the first truly decentralized and scalable blockchain project designed specifically for rare digital art, has officially announced its pending listing on Bitcoin.com, scheduled for March 5, 2021. Pastel Network is a blockchain for rare digital art (also known as “NFTs”) that is built on the secure, battle-tested codebases of the Bitcoin, Dash, and ZCash cryptocurrency projects. Pastel introduces several important innovations to the world of blockchain art, such as the decentralized storage of art image files natively in the network, as well as a decentralized validation process for registering new artworks that prevents near-duplicate images from being added to the system. Pastel’s novel near-duplicate detection algorithm is based on robust image fingerprints that are generated using state-of-the-art deep learning image models and introduces a new form of digital scarcity which makes pixel patterns themselves “rare.”

Pastel takes a different technological approach than competing digital art blockchain projects, which are primarily built on top of the Ethereum platform. Because Pastel is an integrated platform specifically designed for the application of rare digital art, it has its own native Bitcoin-like currency (called the PSL coin). Having a native currency token makes the Pastel Network’s fees for registering, storing, and trading rare artwork very low, which makes it affordable to artists and collectors all over the world. Furthermore, the system includes a native mechanism based on changes in the mining difficulty of Pastel’s proof-of-work algorithm for maintaining these fees at affordable levels long into the future — even if PSL appreciates significantly in value. This is in stark contrast to Ethereum-based art projects, where the cost to create new artworks is currently hundreds of dollars, creating unnecessary financial risks for artists and making these other platforms out of reach for all but the wealthiest artists and the most expensive digital artworks. Even if an artist can afford to pay these egregious fees, the cost of simply transferring the artworks to users is prohibitively high. Pastel offers digital artists a secure and robust environment for registering their rare digital artworks with very low transactional costs, making digital art accessible to artists from anywhere in the world, and allowing a different business model for artists where they can sell larger numbers of their limited-edition digital art “prints” at a price point of under $5, while still making a healthy profit margin.

At the same time, Pastel allows art collectors and fans to purchase rare digital artworks directly from their favorite artists — with most of the value going to the artist instead of being wasted on unproductive network fees and overhead. This allows fans to participate in the long-term success of their favorite artists, creating a reciprocal relationship that transforms an artist’s fans into partners that have a financial stake in promoting the artist’s work. Furthermore, buyers of rare artworks on Pastel are able to trade their owned artworks with other Pastel users in a decentralized exchange that is native to the platform, all while paying modest trading commissions and transaction fees that are closer to the ~2% charged by payment processors such as Paypal and Stripe than the 15% or more charged by art dealers and auction houses, and other NFT platforms. Pastel Network’s low trading fees will lead to a much more dynamic and liquid marketplace for rare digital artwork that has the potential to radically transform the way art is created and collected. Best of all, the trading fees are sent by buyers and sellers to an unspendable PSL address, thus, “burning” them and removing them permanently from circulation. Over time, this natural deflation will offset the new PSL created through the mining process, making PSL scarcer and more valuable.

As Pastel Network’s founder Jeff Emanuel explains, “Today marks an exciting milestone for our project, which has been under continuous development since 2018 with the singular mission of serving the world’s artistic community. We have created an open platform that frees artists from the restrictions of the traditional art market, with its outrageous commissions and dealer fees, as well as its elitist ‘gatekeeping’ mentality that excludes the vast majority of talented artists around the world from earning a living as an artist. With the listing of Pastel on the Bitcoin.com exchange, as well as the public launch of our wallet software for artists and collectors in the next months, Pastel is now poised to disrupt the NFT space with a radically better network design that solves the high transactional fees and scalability issues that plague existing Ethereum-based NFT marketplaces and platforms.”

Pastel Network originated as a fork of the Animecoin blockchain project originally introduced in 2014. Animecoin was based on a modified version of the Bitcoin code and was fairly distributed with zero “pre-mine” to thousands of users around the world. After the fork, the Pastel team raised over $3 million from Innovating Capital and other blockchain investors to fund the development of the Pastel software and to further the goals of the project through community engagement and exchange listings, culminating in Pastel’s pending listing on Bitcoin.com.

Bitcoin SV support introduced at Beaxy Exchange in partnership with Fabriik Markets 20792

Beaxy Exchange, the popular Chicago-based digital asset exchange, today announces that it has introduced trading support for Bitcoin SV [BSV] on its platform. With immediate effect, BSV/USD and BSV/BTC trading pairs are listed and available for use. The introduction of Bitcoin SV comes as a result of a partnership between Beaxy Exchange and Fabriik Markets, a leading digital asset market-maker and liquidity provider. Fabriik Markets will provide market-making services to Beaxy Exchange for BSV-based trading pairs.

The move to launch BSV-based trading on Beaxy Exchange comes as demand for the digital asset continues to grow globally, with the utility of its massively scaling blockchain driving expansion of data use cases across many industry sectors. BSV also functions as a powerful payments network for both businesses and consumers, with its fast transaction times, low fees (sending a BSV payment costs less than 1/100 of a U.S. cent), and regulation-friendly approach providing an ideal payments platform.

As a U.S. Money Services Business [MSB] registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network [FinCEN], Beaxy Exchange offers a safe, compliant, and protected service for its customers. All digital assets on Beaxy Exchange are secured by Curv Institutional Custody, with USD deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC] up to $250,000.

Beaxy Exchange services customers in 42 U.S. states, in addition to serving an active global customer base in many international markets. Fiat currency on-ramps are offered by wire transfer in USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CAD and AUD, as well as credit/debit card on-ramps offered through Simplex in USD, EUR, GBP, ILS, TRY, CAD, CHF, KRW, JPY, RUB, AUD, CZK, NOK, DKK, NZD, SEK, ZAR, HUF, and PLN.

Speaking on today’s announcement, Bay Abbott, Director and Co-President of Beaxy Exchange, said:

“There have been very limited options for those in the United States to buy or sell BSV safely and with convenience. For that reason, along with all of the interest we’ve seen from our community, Beaxy Exchange is thrilled to offer new markets for BSV that were otherwise inaccessible to a large portion of the total crypto market. This is a great opportunity for the global audience as well, as Beaxy will provide fiat on and off-ramps for traders using the USD, EUR, GBP, JPT, CAD, and AUD.”

Also commenting, Steven Walt, General Manager of Fabriik Markets, said:

“We are excited to partner with Beaxy to support their customers’ needs around BSV liquidity. Beaxy is an established and well-respected brand within the digital asset space, and we look forward to leveraging our technology and liquidity to support their growth.”

Also speaking on today’s announcement, Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of Bitcoin Association, the Switzerland-based global industry organisation that supports Bitcoin SV, commented:

“Bitcoin Association welcomes the addition of BSV support by digital asset businesses that comply with applicable regulations and prioritise operating in a transparent manner, demonstrable qualities of both Beaxy Exchange and Fabriik Markets. With a U.S. base of operations and a strong international reach, Beaxy Exchange are an ideal partner to work with Fabriik Markets to expand the fiat on-ramps for and accessibility of BSV in the U.S. and around the world. I wish both businesses well for the future of their partnership and look forward to their contributions to the ongoing Bitcoin SV growth story and to advancing a more lawful digital currency industry.”