Tech

Visa is the “bridge” between payments and Blockchain technologies: responsible for cryptocurrencies | video

Published

8 months ago

30 May, 2024

We welcome Visa’s head of cryptocurrency, Kai Sheffield, to the show. Welcome, it’s great to be here. Thanks for having me. Thanks for sitting there while we did our little puppet show. Is fantastic. All right. So we’re at the 2024 consensus. Uh Tell us about what your experience has been so far. This is the second day. What were the vibes like for you? Is fantastic. I think there’s a lot of energy and momentum. We’re really excited to see what developers are building and, and really, how much, you know, Blockchain technology has started to mature and how the infrastructure has improved and you know, a lot of different payments use cases, you know, that you think that stablecoins, which you know, can help enable this. And so it’s been great to interact with a lot of customers, a lot of companies and partners in the payments ecosystem who are all researching and exploring how Blockchain technologies can be used to improve payment flows. Now Visa is one of the most important companies for payments of any kind in the world. And you’ve been there for a while as the head of crypto, I’m wondering from a couple of years ago, how have the conversations changed between then and now internally, like the ideas that you’re championing for the projects that you’re pushing, like Has the inside of a visa changed over time? So we’ve been making really steady progress, you know, consistently every week for five years now. And we actually built the crypto team in the depths of the bear market in late 2018, early 2019. And so our approach was really based on a long-term view. Uh Visa is said to be concerned with any technology that has the potential to improve payments. And so we wanted to take our time, you know, figure out how we could use these technologies to support, you know, our partners. Uh And, you know, we started experimenting with stable coins. We started doing a lot of research and a lot of training, you know, for our customers. And our goal is to continue making consistent and steady progress over the next decade. Uh And we’re really excited about the opportunities that particularly stable coins can offer five years for bulls and bears. It was a nice setup. We didn’t know that we were going to do this with our puppets, um internally. Has there ever been any pushback from anyone who challenged you during the bear market? For example, should we put time and effort into building this industry that seems to be quite unstable? I don’t think we’re, we’ve been really fortunate to be part of a company that has a culture that, you know, from the very beginning, from the early days of Visa and, you know, Dee Haw, you know, going back to the sixties, you know , recognize that value will be digitized. It’s going to move across a lot of different networks, and we want to be the single point of connection for customers, you know, to move value to a lot of different places in a lot of different payment flows. Uh And so we recognize that, you know, cryptocurrency prices are volatile. We don’t really care about the pricing, we care about the underlying technology and the ways in which it can be implemented within the payments ecosystem, but it takes time to do it and you have to do it in a client controlled, you know, secure way. Uh And so we’re really here for the long haul and we’ve continued to make steady progress, you know, despite current market cycles in a recent research paper on visas, I believe you and your colleagues have found that multi trillion dollar stability coin market, only a fraction of them are actually used by real people in terms of payment, I think 100 and 49 billion or some figure like that, which is a large number, but it is, it is not representative of the stable use of coins all in all. What do you think it will take to increase that number and increase the actual adoption of stablecoins as an appropriate means of payment. So, first of all, we think one of the unique aspects of stablecoins is the fact that you could see all the data, you know, on the chain. And so we’ve invested a lot of time and resources and how to understand the on-chain data and understand how stable coins are used. Uh And so we partner with AM Labs, we created a seen dashboard on chain analytics.com. And it was really this exercise of, you know, we use internally on chain data. Uh, you know, it answers some questions, it opens up a lot of other questions and we wanted to make it available as a free public tool and resource for our clients, for politicians, for the media. And you know, we started with these adapted transactions, you know, metric, you know, trying to filter out transactions that appear to be initiated, you know, by bots or as part of smart contracts. It’s not perfect. Uh So we’re not saying that’s it, that’s the end of it. But we think there’s so much opportunity that the industry can really use on-chain data to, you know, better understand how people are using stablecoins. And for us it’s not like stable coins are used by consumers to buy coffee. Its stablecoins are used for things like large-value B-to-B payments. Uh cross border, you know, peer to peer. Uh And so I think we’re just at the point where we’re crossing the divide between consumers who are already in the crypto space, trading crypto on an exchange using stable coins, you know, paying other people in crypto for there’s an infrastructure that can enable for mainstream consumers, particularly outside the United States in emerging markets, to pay each other, to pay companies in many of these flows, on the rails of Blockchain, but there’s still a long way to go. Um, we’re excited to figure out how we can partner with existing companies in the payments ecosystem to start integrating stable coins in unique ways. And we think it should be both together. It is neither a traditional payment network nor a stablecoin. Will it be how they can interact with each other to improve payments? Tell us something more about it. What is Visa’s role in the future of stablecoins? Yes. So we see ourselves as a bridge between Blockchain technology stablecoins and the existing payments ecosystem. One of the things we’re doing is investing in how we can use stablecoins within some of our core products. You know, for example, when you tap to pay with a Visa card, it’s immediately authorized and you could walk out of the store. But there’s a lot of things that have to happen in order for the money to move from the issuer of that card, you know, to the merchant bank on the other side. And so we started experimenting with stablecoins like us cc that run on blockchains like solana to give our customers the ability to settle with us, you know, on a Blockchain. So we can receive stable coins, you know, into an account that we have in a circle, we can then convert them, you know, to pay in fiat to the choir merchant. And so I think we have such a broad and diverse network of traditional financial institutions, fintechs and crypto companies. We are trying to understand how the visa can be a bridge so that not all those companies adopt stable coins and blockchain at the same time, let’s meet them where they are. If they want to use stablecoins, great, we could support it. They operate in traditional fiat. We’ll handle conversions, you know, within it. So we’re excited to see how we can play that role, that bridging role. And this reminds me that before the contestants I cut my hair before the conference, like we all do. Uh, my barbershop only takes cash. I said, oh, it was just about the fees because often small businesses don’t like credit cards because of the fees. He said no, it’s actually not because of taxes. It’s because on Fridays, if I get paid by credit card, I can’t go to the bank to withdraw the money because the banks are closed. So I’m wondering how Visa is thinking about actually helping small businesses use and realize that stable coins could allow for instant settlement and could accept digital payments. Uh and you don’t have to worry about things like banks closing on weekends. Yes. So, there’s a lot of things that we’re doing across the company trying to accelerate, you know, how quickly we can get money, particularly for small businesses. You know, we have a product called Visa Direct that you could do, push payments and be able to have a small business, get money straight to their debit card over a weekend. And so we don’t think that it’s just stable coins. We believe stablecoins have potential and, on the back end of existing Visa products, could potentially move money faster. But we believe there are many ways the payments ecosystem will continue to evolve and drive revenue by getting small businesses where they need them faster. It seems that Visa is focused when it comes to cryptocurrencies on stable coins. I have to ask you in 2022. I was so excited when I heard that Visa had trademark applications for things like NFTS and Metaverse and, and wallets. Uh what’s up with those? Is there any focus on this? They have been put aside while you focus on stablecoin research dashboards and look at how a visa can work with stablecoins. So we continued to follow the NFT ecosystem and the broader creator economy. Um, we think it’s definitely evolved and changed. And I think, you know, when we started, you know, exploring, experimenting with NFTS, NFTS were really only on blockchains like Ethereum and they were quite expensive to run and, you know, there was an ecosystem of, you know, the fine art that people were, collected. Now, I think some of the changes that we’re starting to see are around a lot of NFTS use cases like things like loyalty. You know, you can now mint NFTS for fractions of cents. And so we’re seeing interesting experiments with things like digital receipts and loyalty programs where if you own an NFT, you can get a discount on several purchases. And so, you know, the culture that we have is really trying to learn by doing and, you know, working with customers around proof of concepts. We have a visa consulting and analytics business where issuers and merchants have come to us to say, how do we incorporate NFTS into a loyalty program? And so we’re absolutely still interacting with the ecosystem and experimenting. I think we’ve just seen a lot of the use cases for NFTS evolve a little bit from where they were a few years ago, but overall, we’re still really excited about the broader economy and the role that blockchains could play within it. Hi, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We hope you enjoy the rest of the conference. Thanks for having me. It was great. That was the head of Visa’s Crypto Kai Sheffield.

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Tech

The Information Hires Peterson to Cover Tech, Finance, Cryptocurrency

Published

6 months ago

29 July, 2024

CoinFlix Staff

The Information Hires Peterson to Cover Tech, Finance, Cryptocurrency

My life is nice

Tech news site The Information has hired Business Insider actress to cover technology, finance and cryptocurrencies.

She was part of Business Insider’s investigative team. She was also previously a corporate technology reporter and a technology deals reporter.

Peterson has been with Business Insider since June 2017 and is based in the San Francisco office.

She previously worked for Folio as an associate editor. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California-Davis and a master’s degree from New York University.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush is the former dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. Previously, he was the Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor of Business Journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business reporter for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune, and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business journalism textbook, Show Me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication, and of Thinking Things Over, a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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Tech

Trump Courts Crypto Industry Votes, Campaign Donations

Published

6 months ago

28 July, 2024

CoinFlix Staff

Trump Courts Crypto Industry Votes, Campaign Donations

Author, Brandon Livesay
Role, BBC News
July 27, 2024

Donald Trump said at one of the biggest cryptocurrency events of the year that if he is re-elected president, he will fire the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on his first day.

On Saturday, Trump was the keynote speaker at Bitcoin 2024, a gathering of industry heavyweights in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Republican presidential candidate used the event to woo voters and encourage the tech community to donate to his campaign.

Cryptocurrencies have emerged as a political battleground for Republicans, with Trump saying that the Democratic Party and Vice President Kamala Harris were “against cryptocurrencies.”

The crowd was at its most animated when Trump declared, “On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler,” the SEC chairman appointed by now-President Joe Biden. The crowd applauded loudly and began chanting “Trump” at this statement.

SEC files charges against ‘Cryptocurrency King’ Sam Bankman-Frittosentenced to 25 years for stealing billions of dollars from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Speaking for about 45 minutes, Trump outlined some of his ideas for the industry if he wins the November election. He said he would make the United States the crypto capital of the world. His support for the sector is a 180-degree reversal from his comments in 2021, when he told Fox Business he saw Bitcoin as a “scam” that influence the value of the US dollar.

Trump told the crowd at the event that he would retain 100% of the Bitcoin currently owned or acquired by the U.S. government, adding that it would be a “national stockpile of Bitcoin.”

The former president also said he would “immediately appoint a presidential advisory council on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.”

He talked about the power needed to mine cryptocurrencies. “It takes a lot of electricity,” he said, adding that he would build power plants “to do that” and that it would “use fossil fuels.”

In recent months, some tech leaders have seen growing support for Trump’s presidential campaign. Tesla founder Elon Musk, who is the world’s richest person, has backed Trump. And cryptocurrency moguls the Winklevoss twins, who attended his speech on Saturday, have also come out in support.

Trump noted that his campaign accepts cryptocurrency donations, saying that in the two months since allowing cryptocurrency transactions, he has received $25 million (£20 million) in donations. However, he did not say how much of the payments came from cryptocurrency.

Trump used his speech to frame cryptocurrency regulation as a partisan issue, saying the Biden administration was “anti-crypto.”

Several Republican lawmakers also attended Trump’s speech, including Senators Tim Scott and Tommy Tuberville. Former Republican presidential candidate and Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy was also in attendance.

The event was also attended by independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr. and Democratic Party congressmen Wiley Nickel and Ro Khanna.

Earlier, during Bitcoin 2024, Democratic Congressman Nickel said that Kamala Harris was taking a “forward-thinking approach to digital assets and blockchain technology.”

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Tech

WazirX Crypto Exchange Hack and Its Bounty Program: What Does It Mean for Crypto Investors in India?

Published

6 months ago

28 July, 2024

CoinFlix Staff

WazirX Crypto Exchange Hack and Its Bounty Program: What Does It Mean for Crypto Investors in India?

On July 18, India Cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has been hit by a cyber attack which resulted in the loss of over $230 million worth of digital assets from one of its wallets. The exchange responded by suspending regular trading and reporting the incident to Indian authorities and other cryptocurrency exchanges. The company also launched two reward programs for ethical hackers who can help the exchange trace, freeze, and recover stolen funds.

WazirX said there was a cyberattack on a multi-signature wallet operated through a digital asset custodian service known as Liminal. Multi-signature wallets have a built-in security feature that requires multiple parties to sign transactions.

“The impact of the cyberattack is over $230 million on our clients’ digital assets,” WazirX said in a blog post, adding that INR funds were not affected. The company has firmly denied that WazirX itself was hacked and has brushed aside rumors that it was tricked by a phishing attack.

The exchange also noted that it was “certain” that its hardware keys had not been compromised, adding that an external forensic team would be tasked with investigating the matter further.

But Liminal, after completing its investigation, said: “It is clear that the genesis of this hack stems from three devices compromised by WazirX.”

Meanwhile, WazirX founder and CEO Nischal Shetty said that the attack would have been possible only if there were four points of failure in the digital signature process.

Who is behind the cyber attack?

WazirX has not yet disclosed the suspected parties or perpetrators responsible for the hack. However, news reports have emerged that North Korean hackers were responsible for the incident.

On-chain analytics and other information indicate “that this attack was perpetrated by hackers affiliated with North Korea,” blockchain analytics platform Elliptic said.

In response to The Hindu’s questions to WazirX about the North Korean hackers, cryptocurrency exchange WazirX directed us to its blog and said it was working with law enforcement to investigate whether a known malicious group was behind the attack.

“This incident affected the Ethereum multisig wallet, which consists of ETH and ERC20 tokens. Other blockchain funds are not affected,” WazirX said in its official blog, specifying that approximately 45% (according to preliminary work) of cryptocurrencies were affected by the attack.

The company largely placed the blame on the process of securing Ethereum multisig wallets and said that the vulnerability was not unique to WazirX.

How important is WazirX in the cryptocurrency industry?

WazirX calls itself India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. As of June 10, it reported total holdings of ₹4,203.88 Crores, or 503.64 million USDT. Tether [USDT] It is a stablecoin, that is, a cryptocurrency pegged to the value of the US dollar, but it is not an official currency of the United States.

When The Hindu tried to access WazirX Public and Real-Time Reserve Proof After the hack, we were greeted with a notice that the page was under maintenance.

WazirX has received both positive and negative reviews in India. The Enforcement Directorate froze the exchange’s assets in 2022, criticizing its operating procedures and lax Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.

“By encouraging obscurity and adopting lax AML norms, it has actively assisted around 16 accused fintech companies in laundering proceeds of crime using the cryptocurrency route. Accordingly, equivalent movable assets amounting to Rs 64.67 Crore in possession of WazirX have been frozen under the PMLA, 2002,” the ED said in a statement.

What will happen to WazirX assets?

It is unlikely that the stolen WazirX assets will be fully recovered anytime soon. This is due to the very nature of cryptocurrency, where assets can be easily mixed, transferred, converted, and sent to anonymous wallets. The chances of asset recovery are even slimmer if it is confirmed that North Korean hackers are behind the incident.

CEO Shetty said on X on July 22 that “small” portions of the stolen funds had been frozen, but declined to provide further details. He added that the majority of the funds had not been moved from the attacker’s wallet.

In recent years, North Korean hackers have stolen billions of dollars in cryptocurrency, aiming to circumvent various financial and economic sanctions.

WazirX is currently working to resume normal operations and has planned to launch an online survey to decide how to resume trading on the platform.

While the Indian exchange has defended its security practices and highlighted the challenges facing the cryptocurrency industry as a whole, savvy crypto traders will be looking for action plans and accountability, rather than emotional reassurance.

What does your rewards program consist of?

WazirX has announced two bounty programs: one to gain more information about stolen funds, and the other to recover them. Both programs are open to everyone except WazirX employees and their immediate family members.

Under the first program, WaxirX will reward up to $10,000 to anyone who can provide the exchange with information that can help freeze the funds. If the bounty hunter is unable to freeze the funds on their own, they should work with WazirX by providing enough evidence to facilitate the process.

But “if the participant fails to freeze and/or does not cooperate with WazirX to facilitate the freezing of funds, then the participant will not be entitled to any rewards,” the exchange said.

The second program, called White Hat Recovery, is aimed at recovering funds. Participants are offered 10% of the amount recovered as a white hat incentive.

“This reward will be paid only after and subject to the successful receipt of the stolen amount by WazirX. The above rewards will be payable in USDT or in the form of recovered funds at the sole discretion of WazirX,” the exchange noted.

The bounty programs are expected to last for the next three months.

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Tech

Trump Vows to Make US ‘Crypto Capital of the Planet and Bitcoin Superpower’

Published

6 months ago

27 July, 2024

CoinFlix Staff

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump said that if elected, he would make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet and a Bitcoin superpower.”

Trump added that he would “appoint a Presidential Advisory Council on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies,” which would have 100 days to “design transparent regulatory guidance that will benefit the entire industry.”

Trump has publicly opposed cryptocurrencies until recently. His latest statements serve as a rallying cry for a tech industry that has long called for more flexible regulatory oversight.

Shortly after taking the stage, Trump spent several minutes naming some of the conference attendees, at one point describing Winklevoss Twins Cameron and Tyler as “male role models with big, beautiful brains.” The former president has continued to speak out against electric car mandates and called for more fossil-fuel burning power plants.

Trump also said he would order the United States to withhold all Bitcoin it currently owns “in the future.” The U.S. government reportedly holds billions of dollars in Bitcoin.

About three years ago, Trump called Bitcoin “a fraud“that is “competing against the dollar.” In February 2024, the former president said that establishing a central bank digital currency would represent a “dangerous threat to freedom.” Yet, in May, Trump declared that he was “good with [crypto]“, adding, “if you’re pro-cryptocurrency you’d better vote for Trump.” That same month, he said he would commute with the Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s Sentencingand his campaign said it would accept cryptocurrency donations.

Recent comments from Trump and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have helped make cryptocurrency regulation a major political issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. This comes as the SEC intensifies its scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, appointed by President Joe Biden, called the activity “full of fraud, scams, bankruptcies and money laundering.” Trump drew applause at the conference after promising to “fire” Gensler. (U.S. presidents have the power to appoint the heads of many federal commissions, including the SEC.)

With Biden out of the raceVice President Kamala Harris’s campaign advisers have He is said to have contacted to cryptocurrency leaders in an effort to “reset” relations with the industry. Harris’s campaign has not yet said whether her stance on the industry differs from Biden’s.

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