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BlockFi Launches the World’s First Bitcoin Reward Credit Card (BTC)
BlockFi, a platform for saving and lending money through cryptocurrencies, announced this week that it will launch Bitcoin Rewards in association with global payment giant Visa. The card will allow users to receive Bitcoin in the form of rewards instead of traditional cashback. Concretely, it will therefore be possible to get a 1.5% Bitcoin rebate on each purchase as well as a lump sum of $250 in Bitcoin if one spends more than $3,000 during the first three months, this is what BlockFi stated in a press release. The company hopes to make the card available in early 2021, which is increasingly poised to be the year of Bitcoin adoption.
Visa arrives in the world of stablecoins with the USD Circle Corner
Another news item that concerns Visa, which has really accelerated its entry into the world of cryptocurrencies. The company has just announced a partnership with Circle, which is the issuer of the USD Coin (USDC), which is a stable coin, i.e. a cryptocurrency whose price is stable because it is backed by an asset such as the dollar, for example. Thanks to this initiative, the 60 million merchants who are part of the Visa network will have access to this token and will be able to send and receive payments directly in USDC. Visa has indicated that it will not keep the cryptocurrencies itself. To get an idea, Visa has a market capitalization of $462 billion compared to only $2.8 billion for the USD Corner.
The Facebook Libra Association becomes the Diem Association and seeks autonomy
The Libra Association on Facebook has been in the news again this week because it has changed its name to Association Diem (which means day in Latin). According to its press release, things seem to be happening for Diem. In addition to the new name, the association has recently recruited several executives and made progress on regulatory issues. Diem is reportedly preparing to launch in January 2021 with a single currency backed by U.S. dollar reserves in a 1:1 ratio. But before that, the association will need to receive certain regulatory approvals, including a license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
Blackrock’s CEO takes an interest in Bitcoin
Here is a public release that has not gone unnoticed in the cryptosphere this week. Laurence Fink, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock (worth $7.4 trillion), said that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are an emerging asset class, but one that may well “evolve” to become an asset for the global market, which could also have a real impact on the U.S. dollar, which would become de facto less relevant. A few weeks ago, Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer, was also very optimistic about the future of Bitcoin, which he said could end up “replacing gold”.
Soccer player Kylian Mbappé sold 55,000 euro on the Sorare gaming platform!
The French soccer world champion Kylian Mbappé has been sold for just over 55,000 euros. Well, we are actually talking about his card in the fantasy soccer game Sorare. This platform allows you to participate in tournaments against people from all over the world thanks to Ethereum’s blockchain. You can win rewards, but also improve your team by buying players at auction. That’s what happened last Sunday with the unique card of the famous Kylian, which the maxmersch user purchased for 116.15 ethers (ETH). “Beyond the gains it represents, I believe Mbappé’s unique card on Sorare has a good chance of becoming the most collected object in the sports world over the next decade,” the buyer said on Twitter.