The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:
Real speed for virtual currency: Virtual currencies have lagged as an option for payments, existing mostly as an investment asset. PayPal suspects slow transaction speed is to blame, and has filed for a
Crypto TKO: Boxer Manny Pacquiao will have his own cryptocurrency, known as the PAC coin. The coin will be offered through the Global Crypto Offering Exchange, which helps public figures create and trade their own tokens, a model similar to Dilbert creator
EMV in Africa: Angola is one of the latest countries to migrate to chip cards, using Gemalto's tech to supply EMIS, Angola's domestic processor, with a white label system that will power the country's move to EMV chip and PIN cards, as well as mobile payment apps facilitated by EMIS' specifications. Angola will add to the 68% of the African market that has already switched to EMV payments, according to
From the evidence room: Bidding registration opens this week for a
Stolen mines: Icelandic authorities have arrested 11 people as part of an investigation into the theft of more than 600 computers that are used to mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
From the Web
WIRED | Mon Mar 5, 2018 - Uber faces more potential legal consequences for waiting to make public a major hack until a over a year after it happened. The Pennsylvania Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Uber Monday for violating the state's data breach notification law, which says hacks should be disclosed within a "reasonable" time frame. Uber didn't merely keep quiet about the massive breach; it reportedly paid a $100,000 ransom to the perpetrators in exchange for their silence. And while experts say Uber will likely settle the case, it may be just the latest in a cascade of similar lawsuits.
CNBC | Mon Mar 5, 2018 - Square shares hit an all-time intraday high on Monday, rising over 9.5 percent, as shares changed hands at more than 200 percent the average 30-day volume. But many on Wall Street told CNBC they were stumped as to the exact catalyst of the share move. Financial shuffling like merger rumors, options or short-selling are sometimes the source of unexpected stock moves, but in this case, there wasn't any obvious chatter around Square's mysterious move. Square shares are up nearly 200 percent over the past year, and almost 96 percent over the past 6 months, amid some better-than-expected quarterly earnings reports. CEO Jack Dorsey has also embraced the recent enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency market, expanding a feature to buy and sell bitcoin through the app, Square Cash.
CNBC | Mon Mar 5, 2018 - Cryptocurrency ripple climbed Monday amid renewed speculation that popular exchange Coinbase would add the cryptocurrency to its platform. Coinbase tweeted Monday that the company has "made no decision to add additional assets to either GDAX or Coinbase" and that "any statement to the contrary is untrue and unauthorized by the company." A Ripple spokesperson told CNBC the company does not respond to rumors or speculation. Ripple's XRP coin, the third-largest digital currency by market cap, traded near $1.04 as of 2:04 p.m. ET Monday, up about 9 percent over the last 24 hours, and roughly 3 percent on the day, according to CoinMarketCap. Coinbase is the leading U.S. marketplace for buying and selling major digital currencies and is popular with both retail and professional traders. The platform only supports bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum and litecoin right now. As a result, the addition of a new coin to Coinbase would likely bring in many more buyers.
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