OTC’s Weekly Retrospect 22/08–27/08/2021

Every week we take a look back over the week’s biggest Bitcoin and Digital Asset stories making waves in the cryptosphere.

Major news stories this week;

1. PayPal Brings Crypto Service to UK Customers
2. US Mayor Says Bitcoin Will Keep Rising as the Fed Continues Printing More Dollars
3. EU will make Bitcoin traceable and ban anonymous crypto wallets in anti-money laundering drive
4. Inside Afghanistan’s cryptocurrency underground as the country plunges into turmoil
5. Opensea’s Record-Breaking Monthly NFT Volume Captures More Than $1.5 Billion
6. 90 CryptoPunks get snapped up in one hour following Visa’s $150,000 purchase
7. The future of payments in the Middle East — Report

Story Summaries;

1. U.K customers can now buy, sell, and hold four cryptocurrencies via PayPal’s platform. During the next few weeks, customers who are eligible for the program will begin getting access to it.
2. As the US Federal Reserve continues to print money like there is no tomorrow, the price of bitcoin will only continue rise, explains the mayor of Jackson, Tennessee. The bitcoin currency is, as he puts it, “definitively the future.”
3. Several new reforms aimed at addressing financial crimes among the EU’s member states were announced on Tuesday. The European Commission is proposing rules that would force all major exchanges to gather customer information for each trade when sending and receiving cryptocurrency.
4. In an interview with CNBC, several Afghans who are using crypto spoke about how they got into it, how it helps them, and the barriers to adoption. It is, in a sense, a perfect test case for bitcoin’s usefulness, worth a read!
5. According to data collected by Dappradar.com, the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Opensea captured $1.564 billion in volume in the last 30 days. Since opensea’s start in January, the company’s trade volumes have grown by 542% and its total trade volume to date is $2.42 billion.
6. On the subject of NFT’s, Visa, the company purchased CryptoPunk 7610, one of 3,840 female punks, for $150,000 last week. VISA stated that the NFT would be a “great addition to our artifact collection” and see NFT’s playing a critical role in the future of commerce.
7. As cash interactions give way to digital payments, what changes can the region’s banks and payments providers expect to see in the next few years? This in-depth report from McKinsey & Company provides an interesting insight into the future of payments in the MENA region.

And there you have it, another week’s virtual asset news chopped into bite size pieces! We wish you a great weekend and if you’re trading digital assets, make sure it is with a licensed and registered broker… Happy Thursday!