The last few months have been a rollercoaster for the cryptocurrency market. As a result of the recent crypto boom earlier this year, many companies and organizations have become noticeably more open to blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. For example, earlier last month Meitu, a Chinese company that makes a photo editing app, accepted USD 22.1 Million worth of ether and USD 17.9 Million worth of bitcoin. Overall, it is not surprising that ETFs with a focus on crypto and blockchain are doing so well. “Just over three years ago we launched the first actively-managed ETF focused on the dynamic market segment of blockchain-related stocks,” said Amplify CEO Christian Magoon. “BLOK has provided investors with additional portfolio diversification through its unique portfolio makeup that includes the Bitcoin Investment Trust. Blockchain technology is primarily known for one application today: cryptocurrency.” Perk Labs Inc. (CSE: PERK) (OTC: PKLBF), PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT), Ebang International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EBON)
Payment methods have changed drastically, as consumers are now exposed to new digital alternatives to cash. As advanced technologies are now widely accessible for billions of people and businesses, many consumers have adapted to the evolution of technology and have adopted digital payment solutions in order to pay for their purchases or to send monetary funds between one another. According to data presented by Finaria.it, the global digital payments industry is expected to hit a value of USD 6.6 Trillion in 2021, representing a 40% increase in two years. The research claims that large players like Amazon, PayPal, Apple, and Facebook are continually investing significant amounts of money into online and mobile payment solutions. Additionally, the ongoing development from separate online shops towards integrated online shopping ecosystems has created space for new business models and opportunities for digital payment methods. Mobile POS payments are expected to contribute 37% or almost USD 2.5 Trillion to the digital payments value in 2021.
Perk Labs Inc. (CSE: PERK) (OTCQB: PKLBF) the parent company of Perk Hero, just announced breaking news that, ” it has partnered with BitPay, the world’s largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment service, to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. BitPay is used by brands such as Twitch, AT&T and Dish Networks. As a result of this partnership, Perk Hero will accept a number of cryptocurrency payments including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Dogecoin to cater to the growing demand.
“This relationship provides our customers with a convenient option to pay with their preferred digital currency,” says Perk Labs CEO Jonathan Hoyles. “On top of being able to offer a payment method that is less expensive and more secure than credit cards, it also opens up an opportunity to market Perk to the cryptocurrency community. In the past year there has been a surge in cryptocurrency usage and we expect to see cryptocurrency increasingly used for payments, especially as the speed and convenience of paying with cryptocurrency continues to improve.”
The integration with BitPay compliments Perk Hero’s digital loyalty currency, Perk Coin. Whenever customers make a purchase using Perk Hero, regardless of the payment method, customers receive instant digital rewards in the form of Perk Coin that can be used for purchasing digital gift cards and goods and services. In addition to cryptocurrency, Perk Hero also accepts all major credit cards, Alipay and EFT/ACH as payment options.
“BitPay makes accepting crypto a quick and easy process for Perk so they can realize the benefits to receiving payments faster, more secure, and less expensive while expanding on a global scale,” said Stephen Pair, CEO of BitPay. “We see the future of payments on the blockchain and work with customers like Perk to transform how people send, receive, and store money.”
Providing customers with the option to pay with cryptocurrency is an important step in the Company’s plan to further adopt and use blockchain technology for its digital loyalty rewards. The Company previously conducted research and published a whitepaper on blockchain-based digital loyalty rewards and filed a provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office directed at methods, systems and techniques for cryptographic token transfers.
Perk’s patent application has been made for a foundational technology that lowers costs and improves speed and efficiency of cryptocurrency transactions, even where the value of the transaction may be relatively small, as well as facilitates converting between cryptocurrencies whose transactions are recorded on different blockchains. It also facilitates storing information of different sensitivity levels on differently permissioned blockchains, which is useful for maintaining privacy.
About BitPay: Founded in 2011, BitPay pioneered blockchain payment processing with the mission of transforming how businesses and people send, receive, and store money. Its business solutions eliminate fraud chargebacks, reduce the cost of payment processing, and enable borderless payments in cryptocurrency, among other services.
BitPay offers consumers a complete digital asset management solution that includes the BitPay Wallet and BitPay Prepaid Card, enabling them to turn digital assets into dollars for spending at tens of thousands of businesses. The company has offices in North America, Europe, and South America and has raised more than $70 million in funding from leading investment firms including Founders Fund, Index Ventures, Virgin Group, and Aquiline Technology Growth. For more information visit www.bitpay.com .
About Perk Labs Inc.: Perk Labs Inc. (CSE: PERK) (OTCQB: PKLBF) (FKT: PKLB) is the owner of Perk Hero, the mobile commerce platform on a mission to make shopping experiences more engaging, convenient, and rewarding. Perk has partnered with vetted specialized brands across North America to bring its customers products that are eco-friendly, natural, organic, and ethically sourced. Consumers can also buy digital gift cards from top merchants that include gaming and electronics, apparel, dining, and more. The Perk Hero platform, currently available in Canada and the U.S., was engineered for reliability and scale using enterprise-level technology fit for businesses of all sizes. The platform also features Shopify integration, contactless payments using Apple Pay, Google Pay, BitPay and Alipay, as well as its own digital currency called Perk Coin, a gamified loyalty program, e-commerce dropshipping capabilities, pre-order and pick up, and in-store payments with a QR code.”
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) reported back in November that it is partnering with Even, the responsible on-demand pay platform, as part of its continued commitment to improve the financial health of its workforce. All PayPal employees in the U.S. can now use Even to get paid early, automatically budget and grow their savings, and have full visibility into their earnings through an easy-to-use mobile app. “Over the past year, we’ve made significant investments to strengthen the financial health of our workforce,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. “We’ve made substantial progress to increase the net disposable income of all our employees, and our work with Even will help drive further improvements. Together, we’ll help employees safely navigate cash flow challenges, stay on budget, build financial resilience and reach long-term savings goals.”
Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) reported earlier this year that it has purchased approximately 4,709 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of USD 50 Million. Square believes that cryptocurrency is an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way for the world to participate in a global monetary system, which aligns with the company’s purpose. The investment represents approximately one percent of Square’s total assets as of the end of the second quarter of 2020. “We believe that bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future,” said Square’s Chief Financial Officer, Amrita Ahuja. “As it grows in adoption, we intend to learn and participate in a disciplined way. For a company that is building products based on a more inclusive future, this investment is a step on that journey.”
Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) reported earlier this March that it will achieve an estimated hash rate capacity of 1.06 Exahash per second (“EH/s”) with the deployment of the newly received 2,002 S19 Pro Antminers. “Exceeding 1 EH/s in hash rate capacity marks a major milestone for the Company,” said Jason Les, CEO of Riot. “While we are proud of this accomplishment, we view it as the successful completion of just one of many steps of our ongoing growth plan. Riot continues to receive and deploy next-generation miners from Bitmain and remains on schedule to more than triple our currently deployed capacity by the fourth quarter of 2021.”
Ebang International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EBON) announced earlier this year that the Company has completed the designing of a chip for simultaneous Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (Doge) mining as an addition to our current portfolio of cryptocurrency mining chip designs. The Company believes the new design will allow the Company to construct high performance cryptocurrency mining machines superior to other mining machines currently on the market. Mr. Dong Hu, Chairman and CEO of the Company, commented, “The completion of the designing is a credit to our increased investment in R&D in recent years. We have made tremendous efforts to build up our R&D team and accelerate product iteration and innovation. In the future, we will focus on developing more mainstream cryptocurrency mining machines, and we are considering designing more mining chips compatible with multiple cryptocurrencies. We believe it will help increase our revenue from the cryptocurrency mining business and optimize our product offering structure along the blockchain industry value chain.”
