Digital Currency

The payments industry is heading into the new year with a significant question mark hanging over its head: What does it mean that the massive social network X is apparently planning to launch a payments network? Little is known so far about the initiative. A New Year’s Eve post on …

A software company called Quantum International Corp. said it will launch LootUpApp, technology that it says will use artificial intelligence to help simplify cryptocurrency transactions. A specific date for the launch was not announced. The global prepaid card market is forecasted to have an 18.2% compound annual growth rate through 2031, a Verified Markets …

PAR Technology Corp., a provider of restaurant point-of-sale technology, has paid $132 million to acquire Delaget LLC, a platform providing analytics and business intelligence to the dining industry. The purchase was chiefly made with PAR common stock. The social-media network X will launch a service this year called X Money, which …

A startup called iWallet announced technology it says supports voice-based ordering using artificial intelligence, while also being compliant with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard. Bitget Wallet, a cryptocurrency platform, said it has surpassed 60 million users globally, achieving a 300% growth rate in user count for 2024. Janover Inc., a commercial …

The worldwide market for buy now, pay later will grow to a volume of $112.36 billion by 2029, up from $32.89 billion in 2023, representing a compound annual growth rate of 22.5%, according to the “Buy Now Pay Later Platform Market” report from Research and Markets. Challenges the market faces include regulatory …

The FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information mandate is back in force with a recent court decision. That rule, part of the Corporate Transparency Act passed in 2024,had required businesses to file a Beneficial Ownership Information report by Jan. 1, which was delayed earlier in December but now makes these reports due Jan. 13. Businesses formed …

Blackhawk Network will offer physical gift cards to users of Snapchat’s subscription service, Snapchat+. Snapchat is a messaging platform. The digital-payments platform Wirex has added two stablecoins, VNX Euro and VNX Swiss Franc, allowing users to spend the currency directly through their WIrex cards. Payments via QR codes will “shift from one niche …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sued Walmart Inc. and Branch Messenger Inc. over allegations of fees for transferring earnings made by individuals in the Walmart Spark Driver program. The CFPB alleges Walmart forced delivery drivers to use Branch deposit accounts. To move funds from these accounts to another drivers faced “a …

The city of El Monte, Calif., has extended its agreement with GiveCard, a prepaid debit card platform, to manage the city’s Guaranteed Income pilot program, which embraces 125 low-income participants. Togetherwork, a payments provider specializing in pet-care businesses, has acquired Petexec, a software provider for the same market. Terms were not …

Payments provider VizyPay said it processed $2.06 billion on 39 million transactions in 2024, as revenue climbed 14% to $24.1 million. PDX Global has completed tests for its PDX Beam technology, which converts cryptocurrency to cash in consumer-to-merchant transactions. The company will on Thursday embark on a public beta test of the system. …