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(JP Koning)
Why We Need Crypto Payments to Work

In a word: competition. This post is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

(JP Koning)
(Bitrefill, modified by CoinDesk)
How to Spend Your Crypto Using Bitrefill’s Gift Card Platform

With Bitrefill, you can virtually pay for anything with cryptocurrencies through gift cards. Here’s how it works. This piece is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

(Bitrefill, modified by CoinDesk)
(Melody Wang/CoinDesk)
A Brief Overview of Crypto Payments in 5 Charts

Bitcoin launched as a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash, inspiring the rise of other cryptocurrency payment options: Here is what the data shows. This piece is pa...

(Melody Wang/CoinDesk)
A shoe shiner works outside a shop that accepts bitcoin for payment in San Salvador, El Salvador. (Camilo Freedman/APHOTOGRAFIA/Getty Images)
The Crypto Company Aiding El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption

Chicago-based Athena Bitcoin deployed bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador a week after the government legalized bitcoin as legal tender. Despite rollout problems, the company remains...

A shoe shiner works outside a shop that accepts bitcoin for payment in San Salvador, El Salvador. (Camilo Freedman/APHOTOGRAFIA/Getty Images)
(Yuhna/CoinDesk)
Bitcoin's Unfinished Business: Why Micropayments Still Matter

Tiny, cheap-to-deliver payments can open new markets for small digital goods. Can a new wave of crypto-inflected startups plug a longstanding gap in the internet? This piece i...

(Yuhna/CoinDesk)
(Davide Ragusa/Unsplash)
NFT Subscriptions Are Better Paywalls

Turning subscriptions into a bearer asset is better for everyone, says our media columnist. This article is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

(Davide Ragusa/Unsplash)
(Melody Wang/CoinDesk)
Bitcoin Payments Remain in Their Infancy but There Are Green Shoots Everywhere

Can cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and CBDCs coexist as methods of payment? Industry leaders shine a light on the future of crypto payments. This piece is part of CoinDesk's Pa...

(Melody Wang/CoinDesk)
(Jezael Melgoza/Unsplash)
Mexican Remittances Are the Continent’s Largest; Crypto Companies Want a Cut

Bitso, Coinbase and Circle have launched new services tapping into the steady money flow between Mexico and the United States, and taking on established players like Western U...

(Jezael Melgoza/Unsplash)
(Richard T/Unsplash)
Crypto, Cannabis and SAFE Banking

Better banking regulation must pass, but why wait for banks to protect cannabis when crypto offers solutions today? This post is part of Payments Week.

(Richard T/Unsplash)
(Mark Denton/Unsplash)
The Future of Crypto Payments Will Be Centralized

Custodial wallets will be the lynchpin of retail crypto payments, says the co-founder of Flexa. This post is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

(Mark Denton/Unsplash)
(Yunha Lee/CoinDesk)
The Lightning Network Is Bringing Payments Back to Bitcoin

The Lightning Network, which enables small and instant bitcoin payments, is getting bigger and more useful. Here's a state of play. This piece is part of CoinDesk's Payments W...

(Yunha Lee/CoinDesk)
(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)
Introducing CoinDesk's Payments Week

Can crypto fulfill its original promise? From Bitcoin’s Lightning Network to stablecoins to gaming and rewards, innovations give hope for the payments use case.

(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)
(Marc-Olivier Jodoin/Unsplash)
Fast, Fluid, Frictionless Payments Are the Future

But what does it take for a technology to really break through? This article is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

(Marc-Olivier Jodoin/Unsplash)
Illustration by Melody Wang
Crypto Becomes Lifeline for Russian Emigrés Opposing Putin’s War in Ukraine

Financial censorship has gone from an abstract idea to a harsh reality for Russians who suddenly found themselves unbanked by the West and their own government. This piece is...

Illustration by Melody Wang
(Qinghong Shen/Unsplash)
Lightning Payments Come to Mobile Games, Fueling Bitcoin Adoption

THNDR CEO Des Dickerson sees gaming as fertile ground for layer 2 payments and a big avenue for bringing new Bitcoiners into the fold. This piece is part of CoinDesk's Payment...

(Qinghong Shen/Unsplash)
(Jon Tyson/Unsplash)
Drugs, Drugs and More Drugs: Crypto on the Dark Web

Down the Silk Road: Where crypto has always been used for payments.

(Jon Tyson/Unsplash)
“We would usually advise our clients to steer clear of a lot of these things," says one consultant. "Whether it's financial, reputational or regulatory [risk], who needs this headache?” (Illustration: Yunha Lee/CoinDesk)
Why Banks and Payment Processors Shun Perfectly Legal Businesses

Porn, gambling and even furniture sales are deemed “high-risk” merchant categories. Sometimes the risk is financial; other times it’s just bad publicity.

“We would usually advise our clients to steer clear of a lot of these things," says one consultant. "Whether it's financial, reputational or regulatory [risk], who needs this headache?” (Illustration: Yunha Lee/CoinDesk)
(JP Koning)

Why We Need Crypto Payments to Work

In a word: competition. This post is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

(JP Koning)
J. Christopher Giancarlo (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

5 Questions for Chris ‘Crypto Dad’ Giancarlo

The ex Commodity Futures Trading Commission chief discusses regulation, digital dollars and financial inclusion. This article is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

J. Christopher Giancarlo (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(Clay Banks/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

How Crypto Could Spearhead Retail Payments in 2022

Reduced fees, faster transactions and greater consumer choice mean retailers might, in time, prefer crypto payments. This article is part of CoinDesk's "Payments Week."

(Clay Banks/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
(Benjamin Child/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

What Happens if Stablecoins Win?

A roundtable discussion about the future of money and financial markets – everything from bolstering the dollar's demand to outcompeting Visa. This article is part of CoinDesk...

(Benjamin Child/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
Image of an iPhone. (Vojtech Bruzek/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

How Human-Centered Design Can Fix Crypto Payments

Web 3 should steal design ideas from Web 2, Grace “Ori” Kwan says in a CoinDesk Payments Week op-ed.

Image of an iPhone. (Vojtech Bruzek/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
(Mathieu Stern/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

How Crypto Payments Shift Revenue to Creators, Not Platforms

Blockchain cuts out the social media middleman. This article is part of CoinDesk’s Payments Week series.

(Mathieu Stern/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
(Davide Ragusa/Unsplash)

NFT Subscriptions Are Better Paywalls

Turning subscriptions into a bearer asset is better for everyone, says our media columnist. This article is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

(Davide Ragusa/Unsplash)
(Michał Mancewicz/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Bitcoin Payments: The Beginning of Something Extraordinary

Why the first cryptocurrency needs a scaling layer, and the possibilities the Lightning Network opens up. This article is part of Payments Week.

(Michał Mancewicz/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
(Benjamin Child/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Can Crypto Deliver on Private Transactions in Cashless World?

From personal autonomy to zk-Snarks – the tools and actions that might ensure privacy in this increasingly digital age.

(Benjamin Child/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
(Jezael Melgoza/Unsplash)

Mexican Remittances Are the Continent’s Largest; Crypto Companies Want a Cut

Bitso, Coinbase and Circle have launched new services tapping into the steady money flow between Mexico and the United States, and taking on established players like Western U...

(Jezael Melgoza/Unsplash)
(Josh Appel/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Are Crypto ‘Legal Tender’ Laws Even Necessary?

The Central African Republic is looking to integrate crypto into its developing economy.

(Josh Appel/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
(Richard T/Unsplash)

Crypto, Cannabis and SAFE Banking

Better banking regulation must pass, but why wait for banks to protect cannabis when crypto offers solutions today? This post is part of Payments Week.

(Richard T/Unsplash)
(Mark Denton/Unsplash)

The Future of Crypto Payments Will Be Centralized

Custodial wallets will be the lynchpin of retail crypto payments, says the co-founder of Flexa. This post is part of CoinDesk's Payments Week.

(Mark Denton/Unsplash)
Jose Fernandez da Ponte - PayPal’s senior vice president of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies.

PayPal’s Blockchain Chief on the Future of Crypto in Payments

Blockchains offer unique advantages, but these must be combined with a user experience that feels similar to the one consumers know today, writes Senior Vice President Jose Fe...

Jose Fernandez da Ponte - PayPal’s senior vice president of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies.
(Benjamin Child/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Why Haven't Crypto Payments Taken Off?

Examining everything from bitcoin's life cycle to the instability of stablecoins.

(Benjamin Child/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)
(Michael Parulava/Unsplash)

How to Send Money to the Wrong Side of the War

A Russian emigre is teaching friends and family how to use crypto amid economic sanction. This piece is part of CoinDesk's Payments week.

(Michael Parulava/Unsplash)
TradFi version of ledgers (Chris Pastrick/Pixabay)

Crypto Payments: When the Tech Fades to the Background

The evolution in interest among TradFi, which was once dominated by diehard crypto skeptics, from crypto curiosity to crypto commitment is perhaps the industry’s most importan...

TradFi version of ledgers (Chris Pastrick/Pixabay)
(Circe Denyer/Pixabay)

The History of Cash-Like Digital Payment Instruments

How and why those original digital payments projects are no longer with us today can give us an idea of what needs to be done to do it right. This piece is part of CoinDesk's...

(Circe Denyer/Pixabay)

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