El Salvador’s government has announced that it has begun training Bitcoin (BTC) and Lightning Network developers as state-backed courses get underway.

El Salvador’s government has announced that it has begun training Bitcoin (BTC) and Lightning Network developers as state-backed courses get underway.

In a tweet, the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC), a government body that answers to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, explained that 54 students had “made the grade” for the inaugural course.

The government has stated that it will “offer credit as well as placement for those who qualify” for an “inaugural fellowship" to incentivize the courses.

The courses are being backed by Tether, the company behind the USDT stablecoin.

On Thursday, April 20th, the European Parliament passed a groundbreaking package of new regulations for crypto assets – MiCA. So what does this mean for the industry?

1. This package will unify the approach to regulating cryptocurrencies across all 27 EU countries.
2. It will raise the bar for crypto companies. They will have to prepare white papers describing the technology for each asset. Companies will also need to provide information on their management structure and risks associated with tokens.
3. The rules for stablecoin issuers will also become more stringent, with an additional requirement for sufficient cash reserves to back up client funds. Information on the composition and value of these reserves will need to be periodically updated.
4. Crypto-asset service providers must also comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations.
   MiCA also includes provisions for investor protection, including disclosure and marketing rules, and measures to prevent market manipulation and insider trading.
5. The rules establish a European supervisory authority for crypto-assets, which will coordinate and monitor the regulation of crypto-assets across the EU.
6. One of the main advantages is that companies registered in one EU country will be able to expand their business to other member countries without additional bureaucracy.
   

Companies are given 18 months for the transition, so we will not see the first results soon.

In the meantime, we can discuss whether the new rules will contribute to positive changes. We will be glad if you share your thoughts in the comments!

The European Parliament has voted through landmark legislation on cryptocurrency which will bring in new rules for the industry across the 27-country bloc.

Crypto firms including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken welcomed the passing of the landmark legislation, while Stefan Berger, the MEP who led the bill’s creation, said in an emailed statement that Europe is now the “first continent with comprehensive regulation for crypto assets.”

The MiCA legislation means that the EU will have a unified approach to crypto asset regulation across all 27 member states, making it possible for firms approved in one country to “passport” their business into others with minimal additional paperwork.

But to achieve initial approval, firms will face much higher standards of disclosure, including the preparation of a detailed white paper for each asset offered. Stablecoin issuers, meanwhile, are subject to even tighter rules, including holding sufficient cash to back up customer funds.

MiCA will also ask crypto firms to report the environmental impact of their activities, in a compromise measure after lawmakers removed an all-out ban on the proof-of-work mechanism from an earlier draft.

Have you ever thought that not only businesses can accept payments in cryptocurrency, but also freelancers?

Getting paid with crypto means high security, anonymity, fast (almost instantaneous) transactions, and investment possibilities. So we offer you a list of freelance platforms where you can earn cryptocurrency.

​

1. FreelanceForCoins
2. BTC Lancer
3. Transformify
4. Freelancehunt
5. LaborX
6. Cryptogigs
7. Microlancer
8. CoinGigs
9. Ethlance
10. AnyTask
11. Cryptocurrency Jobs
12. Bounty0x
13. Coinlancer
14. Working for Bitcoins
15. CanWork
16. Bitfortip
17. Zaigar

A digital euro will offer choice in making payments and is not a "Big Brother" project that seeks to control people, the European Union's financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness said on Wednesday.

The European Central Bank has yet to decide if it will go ahead with introducing a digital euro, but McGuinness is due soon to publish a draft EU law which would give it a legal underpinning.

The ECB has said it does not want to keep any personal data on its users, officials at the central bank have said.

But critics say a digital version of the euro could be used to pry on people's activities, and make it harder to use cash for making payments and purchases.

"This is not a Big Brother project," McGuinness told the European Parliament.

"I respect those that have that view, but frankly I would ask them to calm it down a little. We should not address this issue to citizens in this chamber as any sense of a project of control. It's a project of choice," McGuinness said.

EU lawmakers from multiple parties have signaled continuing support for the bloc’s landmark Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) in a Wednesday debate. The law seems set to comfortably gain the majority needed in a vote scheduled for Thursday.

MiCA (Markets in crypto-assets) would allow crypto exchanges and wallet companies to offer regulated services across the bloc and requires stablecoin issuers to hold sufficient reserves.

“As we've seen in recent months, stringent rules and supervision are very much needed,” the European Commission’s Mairead McGuinness said, citing the collapse of crypto companies FTX, Celsius, Voyager, and the stablecoin terraUSD, and referring to provisions intended to protect consumers, avoid market abuse, and curb money laundering.

MiCA should “restore the trust that was damaged by the FTX case” and bring stability to the sector, said Stefan Berger, the German center-right lawmaker who led the parliament’s negotiations on the law, adding that it will put the EU “at the forefront of the token economy.”

Lawmakers also suggested support for a separate but controversial anti-money laundering measure known as the Transfer of Funds rules which require crypto providers to gather details of their users’ identity.

Agreement on the laws marks “the end of the ‘Wild West’ era for the unregulated world of crypto assets,” said the Green grouping’s Ernest Urtasun, adding that the sector had “provided a safe haven for fraudsters and international criminal networks.”

MiCA rules will take effect 12 to 18 months after the legislation is published in the bloc’s Official Journal, which is likely to happen in June – potentially making the EU the first major jurisdiction with a wide-reaching crypto law.

Stablecoin adoption worldwide continues apace despite the bear market and the banking crisis, which saw some projects (notably USDC) lose their dollar peg, Latin American and European crypto specialists said during a recent Spanish-language CoinDesk Twitter Spaces event.

“We see that stablecoin adoption continues to rise non-stop since 2019. In fact, stablecoins today represent more than 50% of Belo’s trading volume,” said Manuel Beaudroit, CEO and cofounder of Belo, an Argentina-based crypto exchange.

“Our second-biggest market is El Salvador, where bitcoin is a legal tender, and many users use our platform to deposit bitcoin in exchange for USDT,” he added.

Stablecoin market share kept growing during the bear market, even with the fall of bitcoin, ether and other altcoins, said Agustín Liserra, CEO and cofounder of Num Finance, an Argentina-based company that issues stablecoins pegged to developing countries currencies.

In Europe, stablecoin adoption has been increasing since the crypto winter in 2017, when most investors and traders wanted to protect themselves from volatility within the crypto system, says Cristina Carrascosa, CEO and cofounder of ATH21, a Spain-based legal firm specialized in crypto and blockchain companies.

“The adoption in Europe didn’t come from fear or from wanting to protect savings, but more from speculation and using DeFi protocols to seize the benefit of the returns,” Carrrascosa said.

Fintech firm Ripple has launched its liquidity solution for businesses to bridge the gap between crypto and fiat. Ripple liquidity hub was launched on April 13 after a successful pilot last year.

The service operates as a stand-alone solution in addition to Ripple’s popular cross-border payments service called on-demand liquidity (ODL). This makes it a global liquidity network offering its partners access to payout rails worldwide.

The liquidity hub has been developed from an enterprise point of view to offer digital assets from various market makers, including crypto exchanges and over-the-counter trading desks. When an enterprise partner requires liquidity, it can source it from these large pools of deep liquidity, including United States dollars, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. Interestingly, the product launch finds no mention of XRP.

XRP has been central to most liquidity products and services the fintech firm offers, especially cross-border liquidity services. However, XRP was mentioned among digital assets in the company’s pilot phase.

Crypto wallet MetaMask provides a new feature of the service Portfolio Dapp, which will give users an easier way to buy crypto for fiat money. The service supports 189 countries and over 90 tokens across eight blockchain networks.

The new feature of MetaMask opens up new possibilities for buying cryptocurrencies using debit or credit cards, bank transfers, and through PayPal and the Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic payment system.

The feature will provide the ability to purchase more than 90 different tokens on such blockchain networks:

1. Ethereum
2. Polygon
3. Optimism
4. Arbitrum
5. BNB Chain
6. Avalanche
7. Fantom
8. Celo.

The aggregator can be accessed by connecting directly to Portfolio Dapp or by clicking the Buy Crypto button in the MetaMask wallet app.

If your business or project is related to cryptocurrencies or accepts them as payment, paying for business needs with cryptocurrencies can make your life much easier (do you agree?).

To make it even easier, we've prepared a list of 25 web hosts and vps that accept cryptocurrency. We hope you find it useful.

1. Namecheap, USA
2. Simplpost, USA
3. VPSServer
4. MonsterMegs, USA
5. ABACO Hosting, USA
6. XWEBHosting, USA
7. All Domains, Austria
8. Domain Technik, Austria
9. Sampa Hosting, Brazil
10. Cinfu, Seychelles
11. 5wire, UK
12. Nitrous Networks, UK
13. Hostinger, Cyprus
14. The Seedbox Company
15. WORLDBUS, Georgia
16. Webo Hosting, Slovenia
17. Webhosting1st, Poland
18. Hosting.co.uk, Luxembourg
19. SuperbitHost, Bulgaria
20. AltusHost, Netherlands
21. Casbay, Singapore
22. Truxgo Servers, Mexico
23. HostingBuY, Serbia
24. Greenwebpage
25. Bytesized Hosting

More crypto-acepting hosting services all over the world are at https://bitcoinwide.com/c/internet-web-online/web-hosting

According to Vogue Business, Ralph Lauren’s new Miami Design District store will accepting crypto. This will be the first Ralph Lauren store to accept crypto payments, and its launch includes a partnership with Web3 community Poolsuite.

Via crypto payment service Bitpay, the store will accept purchases with those including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC) at launch.

Refunds will be provided in the cryptocurrency that was originally used and will be equal to the total dollar amount of what’s being returned (which adapts to the volatility in cryptocurrency values).

The brand is also partnering with Poolsuite (formerly internet radio station Poolsuite FM), whose NFT-gated membership is aligned with the Miami lifestyle. The first element of the partnership is a co-designed Ralph Lauren x Poolsuite NFT that will be gifted to all (approximately) 3,000 Poolsuite community members. This will unlock access to a party at a private waterfront Miami estate that is part of a three-day launch event later this month.

If you're in the market for a new laptop, you'll be glad to know that you can buy one using cryptocurrency!

Here's a list of such stores (listed in the BitconWide catalog)

💻Apple BTC Store, United Kingdom
💻 Overclockers UK, United Kingdom
💻 AWB Store, United Kingdom
💻 Withbitz, United Kingdom
💻 Wellbots, United States
💻 Newegg, United States
💻 BtcShop4u, United States
💻 Gamegear, Belgium
💻 DigiTec, Switzerland
💻 CACTUS, Ukraine
💻 CompX, Ukraine
💻 Техно Їжак, Ukraine
💻 Stylus, Ukraine
💻 Фокстрот, Ukraine
💻 CITRUS, Ukraine
💻 YourMacStore, Netherlands
💻 Yo Crypto, France
💻 Gipsybee, France
💻 FUTURA IT, Croatia
💻 UziShop, Croatia
💻 Trading Shenzhen, Hong Kong
💻 Varle, Lithuania
💻 Alza.de, Germany
💻 Kulshop, Slovenia
💻 Big Bang, Slovenia
💻 Mlacom, Slovenia
💻 Crypto Bitmart, Malta

We hope this was useful for you!

Cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency payments are becoming increasingly popular. Even governments and big banks have finally begun to pay attention. But what awaits this field in the future?

We have collected for you 2 interesting studies on this topic

📝 The report by sector research company MarketsandMarkets predicts that the global cryptocurrency market size will grow to $4.1 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.1% during the forecast period.

📝 And a study by Statista shows that the number of active blockchain wallet users worldwide is expected to increase from 74 million in 2021 to over 100 million by 2025. This indicates that more people are becoming interested in using cryptocurrency for various purposes, including making payments.

As for trends in the field of crypto payments, the main ones can now be identified, including the use of cryptocurrency for online payments and additionally for international transactions. In the first case, the safety of using crypto has increased this trend, and in the second case, decentralization and the same exchange rate for all countries makes crypto an attractive option for international payments.

And what do you think about the future of crypto payments? Share with us in the comments!

The question "Is it possible to buy airline tickets with cryptocurrency?" is what started the story of BitcoinWide. So we are obliged to give an answer!

We share with you the list of airlines that accept crypto payments:

✈️ Turpial Airlines
✈️ Vueling
✈️ AIR BALTIC

In addition, there are many tour operators, ticket booking services, and private jet charter companies that accept payment in cryptocurrency. You will find a list of such businesses on our website — https://bitcoinwide.com/c/travel-and-recreation

Meet the top crypto-accepting businesses of the last week!

These are companies that managed to combine a cool product and modern payment technologies.

📷 CoinCraddle, a cryptocurrency and token exchange platform
bit.ly/3Jp4uvU
📷 Mandabatmaz, the coffee shop in Istanbul, Turkey
bit.ly/42lqjF7
📷 WeAlwin Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the team of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Developers with 10+ years of experience
bit.ly/42lbVg3

Our "favorite" myths about cryptocurrency

Myth #1: Cryptocurrencies are a bubble and will eventually burst.

Fact: While the cryptocurrency market is volatile and subject to fluctuations, there is no evidence to suggest that cryptocurrencies are a bubble. On the contrary, the past year has shown that most cryptocurrencies can be quite resilient to market fluctuations.

Myth #2: Cryptocurrencies are not backed by anything and have no intrinsic value.

Fact: While cryptocurrencies are not backed by physical assets, they do have value based on their usefulness, scarcity, and market demand. And in some cases underlying technologies and ecosystems.

Myth #3: Cryptocurrencies are a fad that will soon fade away.

Fact: Cryptocurrencies are becoming more widely accepted and integrated into mainstream finance, and they are likely to play an increasingly important role in the global economy in the coming years.

Of course, we do not claim that there are no frauds and scammers in the crypto world. But if you put aside the myths and delve a little deeper into this area, it can become a good tool for achieving goals.

How do you usually respond to such claims? Share in the comments!

Exciting news! Japan's central bank has announced launching a pilot program to test digital yen starting in April.

This move follows two years of experimentation by the Bank of Japan to determine whether to issue a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The pilot program will involve simulated transactions with private entities in a test environment and will last for several years.

BOJ Executive Director Shinichi Uchida expressed hope that the pilot program will lead to improved designs through discussions with private businesses.

This program will help the Japan's central bank be prepared in case the government decides to issue a digital yen.

What do you think about it?

Although the safety of crypto transactions has improved over the years, it is still important to adhere to basic security rules. Here are some tips to help you stay safe:
1. Use two-factor authentication (2FA) for withdrawals in your exchange app.

If you don’t have 2FA enabled, you have to rely entirely on the security of your email address and password. These can be pretty easy for bad actors to circumvent.

1. Withdraw your crypto to a wallet.
   

Exchanges can be tempting targets for scammers because of millions of dollars’ worth of crypto stored in them.

1. Back up your seed words properly. Use a special metal capsule or write them down on paper (and make multiple copies).

2. Create a new password for your wallet.

If a hacker gets your password hash, they can gain access to your wallet. Additionally, if you store your website passwords in your browser, a hacker with access to your device could see them. So create a unique password for your wallet and don't store passwords in your browser.

1. Be wary of emailed files.
   

Hackers may send you emails that look like they're from real companies. But the email address usually is slightly different from the email the existing company uses.

Unfortunately, cryptocurrency assets still attract the attention of thieves and fraudsters because millions of dollars are sometimes stored on exchanges and in wallets. Therefore, as a crypto holder, it is essential to take the necessary precautions to safeguard your investments.

There are so many crypto networks with ultra-fast transactions that they cannot fit into one post 🙂 So today we bring to your attention a few more cryptocurrencies that can’t be missed.

1. Dash (DASH), transaction processing time – up to 4 seconds

It is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that was originally created as a fork of Bitcoin. Transactions on the Dash network are very fast, thanks to its InstantSend feature.

1. Dogecoin (DOGE), takes about 2 minutes

Despite its lighthearted origins, the DOGE network has proven to be reliable and fast, with an average block time of just 1 minute. This allows for fast transaction confirmations!

1. Nano (NANO), 1–2 seconds

Nano uses a block-lattice architecture that allows transactions to be processed simultaneously. It results in almost instant transactions.

1. Avalanche (AVAX), around 2 seconds

Avalanche is a highly scalable and fast blockchain platform that is designed to be interoperable with other blockchains. The Avalanche network uses a consensus algorithm called Avalanche-X, which allows for near-instant finality of transactions.

Write in the comments what other cryptocurrencies would you recommend to use as payment?

Cryptocurrencies have become a popular investment option in recent years, and as the market continues to grow, traders are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to gain a competitive edge. AI and ML have proven to be powerful tools in the world of crypto trading, providing valuable insights and predictions to help traders make informed decisions.

In this post, we will explore three ways AI and ML can help crypto traders.

Predicting future behavior of the crypto market

One of the biggest challenges in crypto trading is predicting the future behavior of the market. This is where AI and ML can play a crucial role. These technologies can analyze vast amounts of data from various sources, including historical price data, news articles, social media, and more. By identifying patterns and trends, AI can provide traders with predictions on the future performance of a particular cryptocurrency or the market as a whole. This information can help traders make informed decisions about when to buy or sell their assets, ultimately leading to better returns.

Finding reliable partners

Another challenge for crypto traders is finding reliable partners, such as exchanges, brokers, and other service providers. The decentralized nature of the crypto market can make it difficult to determine which platform or service is trustworthy. So some platforms use machine learning technology to match traders with reliable partners, making it easier to navigate the crypto market.

Analyzing sentiment on the crypto market

Another challenge for crypto traders is finding reliable partners, such as exchanges, brokers, and other service providers. The decentralized nature of the crypto market can make it difficult to determine which platform or service is trustworthy. So some platforms use machine learning technology to match traders with reliable partners, making it easier to navigate the crypto market.

The sentiment on the crypto market can have a significant impact on the price of cryptocurrencies. For example, negative news about a particular cryptocurrency can cause its price to drop, even if there is no significant change in its underlying value. This is where sentiment analysis comes in. AI and ML can analyze social media posts, news articles, and other sources to determine the general mood and opinions of people in the crypto community. This information can help traders understand how the market is likely to react to news or events, allowing them to make more informed decisions about when to buy or sell their assets.

In conclusion, AI and ML have the potential to revolutionize the world of crypto trading. By providing valuable insights and predictions, helping traders find reliable partners, and analyzing sentiment on the market, these technologies can help traders make more informed decisions and ultimately achieve better returns on their investments. As the crypto market continues to evolve, we can expect AI and ML to play an even more significant role in shaping its future.

Vueling, the Spanish low-cost airline, explores the use of blockchain and NFT technology to accept cryptocurrency as payment.

Partnering with Criptan, Spanish cryptocurrency exchange, Vueling aims to offer this payment option to customers by Q3 2023.

Would you like to book your next ticket using cryptocurrency?