Stories We Might Get Back To Later, Part 1 -- August 24, 2024

Cryptocurrency: is tracked here.

Cryptocurrency: biggest story of the day. Earlier (actually twice) I mentioned there will be a tipping point for cryptocurrency but won't post it, for various reasons. However, there were more hints today in news stories today. Here's one:

• first link (also here): from a respected columnist -- a "maximalist" vision of bitcoin means every company will be a crypto company.

The latest move punctuates a particularly busy period for the digital currency, and crystallizes something that even its biggest critics have to acknowledge. Cryptocurrency in general, and bitcoin in particular, has been gaining major currency (pun intended) across sectors.

‌ PayPal’s decision is “a sign that every company will eventually be a crypto company — they just don’t know it yet,” Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at CoinShares, told Yahoo Finance Live in an interview on Monday. “And I think this trend is just getting started.” ‌

She was only half joking. In addition to the PayPal move, Wall Street is making crypto increasingly available to its clientele, while Facebook (FB) is also making its own ripples in the sector (albeit with a scaled-back version of its original grand design). Separately, trading platforms are clearly reaping the benefits of transacting in crypto (looking at you, Robinhood (HOOD)).

• second link: Visa busy NFT of digital avatar tiwth mohawk for $150,000. The payments network shelled out for a CryptoPunk of a woman with clown-green eyes and "hot lipstick."
  

Visa Inc. bought a digital avatar for $150,000 in a show of support for a burgeoning area of investment in the realm of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

The purchase of CryptoPunk #7610 — one of a slate of digital avatars originally distributed free to anyone with an ethereum wallet — was made on Aug. 18 with 49.5 of the cryptocurrency ether.“We think NFTs will play an important role in the future of retail, social media, entertainment and commerce,” Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, said in a company blog post. Visa wanted to “signal our support” for people involved in the NFT market, Sheffield said.