PayPal has obtained a conditional cryptocurrency licence from the New York State Department of Financial Services and partnered with New York-based FinTech start-up Paxos to deliver cryptocurrencies to its users. AP
PayPal has obtained a conditional cryptocurrency licence from the New York State Department of Financial Services and partnered with New York-based FinTech start-up Paxos to deliver cryptocurrencies to its users. AP
PayPal has obtained a conditional cryptocurrency licence from the New York State Department of Financial Services and partnered with New York-based FinTech start-up Paxos to deliver cryptocurrencies to its users. AP
PayPal has obtained a conditional cryptocurrency licence from the New York State Department of Financial Services and partnered with New York-based FinTech start-up Paxos to deliver cryptocurrencies t

Bitcoin surges past $13,000 after PayPal allows cryptocurrency buying and selling


Deepthi Nair
  • English
  • Arabic

Bitcoin surged 8 per cent during overnight trading in New York to break past $13,000 for the first time since 2019 after global online payment provider PayPal said on Wednesday it will allow customers to use cryptocurrencies.

The digital coin increased another 2 per cent to $13,119 during early trading in Asia on Thursday. Other digital coins also gained on PayPal's news, including litecoin, which rose more than 13 per cent, and Bitcoin Cash, up 9 per cent.

"The upward momentum in the Bitcoin price wasn't anything more than a pump...Bitcoin is a kind of beast that can move more than $4,000 a day, and this is what we were expecting," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Avatrade, said.

PayPal's US users will be able to use the new digital coin service over the coming weeks, the US company said in a statement.

"Yes, PayPal expecting Bitcoin as a form of payment is the most important development, and it is the biggest news since the crypto king made an all-time high of $20,000. This was going to happen – PayPal accepting cryptos," Mr Aslam said.

"However, if one thinks that this will change regulators' stance very soon, you may be setting yourself up for a surprise. These things do not move that fast; regulators will not allow cryptos to replace fiat currencies."

PayPal users will initially be able to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum, Bitcoin cash and litecoin. The company has obtained a conditional cryptocurrency licence from the New York State Department of Financial Services and partnered with New York-based FinTech start-up Paxos to deliver the service.

The payments giant intends to bring the function to its Venmo platform and plans to introduce it to certain international markets in the first half of next year.

The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable

PayPal customers in markets outside the US will be able to use cryptocurrencies to shop from 26 million merchants on its network from next year, the company said. Cryptocurrency payments on the platform will be settled using fiat currencies, such as the US dollar, meaning merchants will not receive payments in virtual coins.

“The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable,” Dan Schulman, PayPal's president and chief executive,  said. “We are eager to work with central banks and regulators around the world to offer our support, and to meaningfully contribute to shaping the role that digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce.”

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the shift away from cash towards digital payments. When Covid-19 struck, Bitcoin asserted itself as a safe haven for panicking investors. With the US Federal Reserve and other central bankers launching stimulus programmes and devaluing paper currencies, hard assets such as cryptocurrencies and gold with limited supply have appreciated in value.

PayPal, based in San Jose, California, hopes the service will encourage global use of virtual coins and prepare its network for new digital currencies that may be developed by central banks and corporations.

Many central banks around the world have expressed their intention to develop digital versions of their currencies in the coming years.

Financial technology companies have dabbled in cryptocurrency over recent years. Mobile payments provider Square first allowed some customers to buy and sell Bitcoin through its app about three years ago. Stock trading app firm Robinhood also allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. But PayPal’s move could provide a boost to cryptocurrency use due to its vast reach.

The Silicon Valley payments giant has 346 million active accounts around the world and processed $222 billion in payments in the second quarter.

PayPal was also one of the initial founding members of Libra association, a cryptocurrency project formed by Facebook in 2019. However, it was one of the first companies that dropped out after regulatory pressure mounted on the venture.

But interest in cryptocurrencies is resurging despite the reluctance of mainstream lenders to engage with it.

This week, Bitcoin yet again tested the $12,000 mark for the second time this year. However, prices remain far below the levels seen during the trading frenzy in 2017 when Bitcoin's value touched record highs.

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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

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Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide

Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.

The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.

Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years

 

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  •  About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime 
  • By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million 
  • 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries 
  • This rate is expected to increase to 75 per cent by 2030 
  • At least one third of common cancers are preventable 
  • Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers 
  • Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
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Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

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