In “This was the NEWS” we take a look at the most important news of last week. What has happened in the crypto space over the last 7 days? News items that you may have missed and you really need to read. You will find it here!
- Bakkt Is Pushing Adoption of Bitcoin with Two new Major Partnerships!
In one of the biggest news stories of the week, Bakkt has found two partners to help with Bitcoin’s adoption, Starbucks and Microsoft. Microsoft’s cloud services will be utilized to buy, sell, store, and spend cryptocurrency. Starbucks, on the other hand, has become Bakkt’s first merchant. Unfortunately, Starbucks won’t be accepting the Bitcoin because at time of sale, the Bitcoin will be converted to fiat and Starbucks will receive the fiat currency. Bakkt is still waiting for the CFTC’s approval, however.
Read more about Bakkt’s partners here: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/partnerships/bakkt-is-pushing-adoption-of-bitcoin-with-two-new-major-partnerships/
- Bitcoin Whales Have Accumulated 150,000 Bitcoins in the Past 60 Days
In the last 60 days, according to Weiss Ratings, the 100 largest Bitcoin wallets have accumulated over 150,000 Bitcoin. This is signaling what appears to be a good time for accumulation in the cryptocurrency markets.
Read more about Bitcoin whales accumulating Bitcoin here: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/finance-and-funding/bitcoin-whales-have-accumulated-150000-bitcoins-in-past-60-days/
- Facebook Reportedly Pitching its Crypto coin to Crypto Exchanges
The social media giant has apparently developed its own stablecoin for its WhatsApp users and has even already begun shopping “Facebook Coin” to unnamed crypto exchanges. With over 2.7 billion users using Facebook’s suite of applications (Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp), this could be huge news if true.
Read more about Facebook Coin here: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/product-release/facebook-reportedly-pitching-its-crypto-coin-to-crypto-exchanges/
- The Herd Is Coming, With Fidelity Leading The Charge
Fidelity Digital Assets has finally rolled out their cryptocurrency custody service even if it is to only a few clients at first. At first, only Bitcoin will be supported but over time there is the potential to add Ethereum and other coins. Fidelity’s product is directed at institutional clients while looking towards the future.
“In some ways, what we’re doing is we’re building this business, but we’re really getting smart about what could be this financial fabric of the future. Imagine if, call it a “mainstream” Fidelity client says, “I’ve invested in crypto, I’ve invested in these five security tokens, I bought a bond issued as a token, and I’m still invested in all the things I’ve invested in previously,” we have to be able to support that. The way we support that is largely on the same infrastructure that we built to support this nascent business.” -Tom Jessop
Read more about Fidelity’s product here: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/product-release/the-herd-is-coming-with-fidelity-leading-the-charge/
- Major US Retailer Kroger No Longer Accepts Visa Credit Cards, Might Start Using Bitcoin
Due to the increase in fees from Visa, US retailer Kroger is no longer accepting Visa credit cards. After news of this came out Anthony Pompliano tweeted that he wanted to set up a meeting with Kroger to see if they’re interested in the Lightning Network. Sure enough, they responded and will hopefully have a productive meeting. Regardless of the outcome though, Lightning Network is still very much in its adolescent days and it isn’t fully operational yet. It would still be really cool to see Kroger start accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies though.
Read more about Kroger splitting from Visa here: https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/crypto-news/finance-and-funding/major-us-retailer-kroger-no-longer-accepts-visa-credit-cards-might-start-using-bitcoin/
“This was the NEWS” summary!
There is a lot finally coming out regarding institutional clients and what they think of cryptocurrency. Fidelity is one of the world’s largest asset managers, about $2.5 trillion worth of assets managed, has gotten into the space, Bakkt has found two very large partners, Microsoft and Starbucks, the 100 largest Bitcoin wallets have accumulated about 150,000 Bitcoin, and Kroger has stopped accepting Visa credit cards due to fees. This trend seems to be pointing to a potential crypto winter turning into a crypto spring.
In addition to institutions, the average retail user/investor has had some good news too with the potential addition of Facebook Coin. While I don’t believe this will ever be able to challenge Bitcoin or many other cryptocurrencies due to its centralized aspect, it is an amazing public relations story as well as to get people used to storing, sending, and spending purely digital currency.
While this is not financial advice, it seems like the air around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seems to have shifted a little. Maybe the ENJ and Samsung news has started the next bull run by showing cryptocurrencies have real-world use cases, or maybe this is just another suckers rally. Let us know what you think!
