Luc Smits van Oyen
Weekly crypto news: Growing international interest in Bitcoin
The cryptocurrency market has been doing well again for the last month (July 2022). Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are showing solid price growth and the rest of the altcoins are following suit. Although prices are still nowhere near their former all-time high, market sentiment does seem to have become a lot more positive.
The main theme in this week‘s crypto news overview is therefore the growing international attention for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. More and more countries and large companies are getting involved in this sector and this is now being reflected in the prices. So read along quickly to know more about all these important news items!
American fast food giant Chipotle uses Bitcoin and Ethereum in new marketing strategy
American fast food chain Chipotle, known for its burritos and tacos, recently announced a new interactive game with a crypto touch. In the game called "Buy the Dip," players can win more than €200,000 in crypto and promo codes for cheap guacemole and other food items.
The initiative shows that, even during a market downturn, large companies are using their marketing budgets to compete for crypto users, who are seen as an attractive customer segment that likes to spend its money on services and entertainment.
This is not the first time the company has been involved in crypto, as it also already accepts payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin (DOGE), among others. They also previously gave away €100,000 worth of Bitcoin for their promotional campaign "Burritos or Bitcoin" to celebrate National Burrito Day.
Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer at Chipotle, said the chain's goal is to "build the next generation of Chipotle fandom by engaging with the Web3 community."
The game is only available to legal U.S. residents who are 18 or older and have a Chipotle Rewards account.
During Rio Innovation Week, Eduardo Paes met with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who wants to integrate Bitcoin into Miami. Paes stated that Miami is one of the inspirations for Rio de Janeiro and later said that the city is considering allocating 1% of its treasury to cryptocurrency.
During the event, Pedro Paulo, secretary of finance, also stated that the city government is open to receiving tax payments in Bitcoin. Paulo said, "We are studying the possibility of paying taxes with an additional discount if you pay with Bitcoin." This would encourage the use of Bitcoin as payment.
With a population of nearly 7 million in Rio de Janeiro, this would be a huge leap for overall Bitcoin adoption.
Factors such as crypto ATM installations, pro-crypto regulations, startup culture and a fair tax regime indicate a country's readiness to adopt cryptocurrencies. Taking these factors into account, a Forex Suggest study revealed Hong Kong's position as the best prepared country for widespread cryptocurrency adoption, with a crypto readiness score of 8.6. Despite having a larger crypto infrastructure than Hong Kong, the United States and Switzerland made it into the top three with lower crypto readiness scores of 7.7 and 7.5, respectively.
The biggest factors considered in the study to calculate a country's readiness were the number of crypto ATM installations relative to the population and geographic size of the jurisdiction, and the number of blockchain startups per 100,00 people. As a result, Hong Kong's smaller land mass helped it top the list.
The Netherlands managed to secure the 15th spot in the list of countries most prepared for cryptocurrency adoption.
Hotel Chocolat, Card Factory and Gibraltar bakery also accept Bitcoin as currency. The well-known franchises are using Bitcoin's Lightning Network (LN) to accept customers' money. The LN is ideal for microtransactions, or small spending, because transaction fees are negligible and transaction speeds are tremendous.
Gibraltar welcomes 8 million tourists annually from countries such as the United States, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom. In addition, it is estimated that about 15,000 border workers come to Gibraltar daily from Spain to work. Gibraltar uses the Gibraltar pound while Spain uses the euro, so currency exchange, remittances and tourism could be strong drivers for the introduction of a global, borderless currency.
Not only was there a lot of good news internationally, but for the Coinmerce community there is also good news! LTO mainnet coins are now officially supported on our platform.
That means direct transfers to and from your LTO Mainnet Wallet, making transactions cheaper and faster.
The LTO Network is a Dutch blockchain iniative designed for reliable B2B (business-to-business) collaboration.
This was once again all of the most important news of the week. Earlier this week we also wrote about Japanese students taking courses in the "Metaverse". You can read more about that in the article "Japanese students receive Metaverse courses."
The main theme in this week‘s crypto news overview is therefore the growing international attention for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. More and more countries and large companies are getting involved in this sector and this is now being reflected in the prices. So read along quickly to know more about all these important news items!
American fast food giant Chipotle uses Bitcoin and Ethereum in new marketing strategy
American fast food chain Chipotle, known for its burritos and tacos, recently announced a new interactive game with a crypto touch. In the game called "Buy the Dip," players can win more than €200,000 in crypto and promo codes for cheap guacemole and other food items.The initiative shows that, even during a market downturn, large companies are using their marketing budgets to compete for crypto users, who are seen as an attractive customer segment that likes to spend its money on services and entertainment.
This is not the first time the company has been involved in crypto, as it also already accepts payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin (DOGE), among others. They also previously gave away €100,000 worth of Bitcoin for their promotional campaign "Burritos or Bitcoin" to celebrate National Burrito Day.
Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer at Chipotle, said the chain's goal is to "build the next generation of Chipotle fandom by engaging with the Web3 community."
The game is only available to legal U.S. residents who are 18 or older and have a Chipotle Rewards account.
Rio de Janeiro takes steps in Bitcoin integration plan
For several months now, the Rio de Janeiro city government has been moving closer and closer to realizing their plans to integrate Bitcoin. On a number of occasions, representatives of the city, such as Mayor Eduardo Paes, have commented on their plans.During Rio Innovation Week, Eduardo Paes met with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who wants to integrate Bitcoin into Miami. Paes stated that Miami is one of the inspirations for Rio de Janeiro and later said that the city is considering allocating 1% of its treasury to cryptocurrency.
During the event, Pedro Paulo, secretary of finance, also stated that the city government is open to receiving tax payments in Bitcoin. Paulo said, "We are studying the possibility of paying taxes with an additional discount if you pay with Bitcoin." This would encourage the use of Bitcoin as payment.
With a population of nearly 7 million in Rio de Janeiro, this would be a huge leap for overall Bitcoin adoption.
Hong Kong is the best prepared country for cryptocurrency adoption
While popular acceptance remains the key to the existence and development of crypto as a currency, the path to mainstream adoption of crypto requires governments to establish a supporting infrastructure that complements the requirements of the technology and people.Factors such as crypto ATM installations, pro-crypto regulations, startup culture and a fair tax regime indicate a country's readiness to adopt cryptocurrencies. Taking these factors into account, a Forex Suggest study revealed Hong Kong's position as the best prepared country for widespread cryptocurrency adoption, with a crypto readiness score of 8.6. Despite having a larger crypto infrastructure than Hong Kong, the United States and Switzerland made it into the top three with lower crypto readiness scores of 7.7 and 7.5, respectively.
The biggest factors considered in the study to calculate a country's readiness were the number of crypto ATM installations relative to the population and geographic size of the jurisdiction, and the number of blockchain startups per 100,00 people. As a result, Hong Kong's smaller land mass helped it top the list.
The Netherlands managed to secure the 15th spot in the list of countries most prepared for cryptocurrency adoption.
A number of large businesses in Gibraltar now accept Bitcoin
Gibraltar, a tiny territory in southern Spain, just got a lot more "Bitcoin-friendly" too now that the popular coffee chain Costa Coffee accepts Bitcoin through the Lightning Network.Hotel Chocolat, Card Factory and Gibraltar bakery also accept Bitcoin as currency. The well-known franchises are using Bitcoin's Lightning Network (LN) to accept customers' money. The LN is ideal for microtransactions, or small spending, because transaction fees are negligible and transaction speeds are tremendous.
Gibraltar welcomes 8 million tourists annually from countries such as the United States, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom. In addition, it is estimated that about 15,000 border workers come to Gibraltar daily from Spain to work. Gibraltar uses the Gibraltar pound while Spain uses the euro, so currency exchange, remittances and tourism could be strong drivers for the introduction of a global, borderless currency.
Integration of the LTO Network on Coinmerce
Not only was there a lot of good news internationally, but for the Coinmerce community there is also good news! LTO mainnet coins are now officially supported on our platform.
That means direct transfers to and from your LTO Mainnet Wallet, making transactions cheaper and faster.
The LTO Network is a Dutch blockchain iniative designed for reliable B2B (business-to-business) collaboration.
This was once again all of the most important news of the week. Earlier this week we also wrote about Japanese students taking courses in the "Metaverse". You can read more about that in the article "Japanese students receive Metaverse courses."