Food and Cash Shortages Push Cubans Toward Permissionless Cryptocurrencies

The Nation of Cuba is dealing with a national food crisis, as Venezuela has stopped offering aid to the small island nation.

Localbitcoins 2019 Revenue Rises 10% to $29.6 Million Amid Increased Paxful Competition

Peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchange Localbitcoins has reported that 2019 revenue rose 10% to $29.6 million from $27 million a year ago.

LocalBitcoins Revenue Up 10% Despite KYC Impacting Market Share

LocalBitcoins reported a 10% increase in annual revenue for 2019 despite the platform's KYC overhaul impacting trade volume on the platform. Veteran peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto marketplace LocalBitcoins has reported annual revenue of nearly $29.5 million for 2019. The revenue comprises a roughly 10% increase over 2018’s $26.9 million, however, the firm also noted a 6% drop in annual operating income to $19.8 million. LocalBitcoins’ staff also expanded significantly last year as the platform strengthened its know-your-customer (KYC) requirements in the third and fourth quarters of last year, with the firm’s headcount increasing from 26 to 43. LocalBitcoins stifles illicit activity “2019 was an invaluable learning experience for us, as we implemented anti-money laundering and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations," said LocalBitcoins chief executive Sebastian Sonntag.  "As expected, undesired activity was driven away from the platform and the implementation of KYC itself was a challenging process.

Bitcoin exchange LocalBitcoins revenues up, despite losing ground to Paxful

The Finnish peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange had its fair share of problems last year—but it is still growing.

American Pundi X Merchants Can Now Sell Crypto Via PayPal

As the crypto community’s anticipation for PayPal’s exploration into crypto grows, Pundi X has integrated the payments processor for its point-of-sale devices. Singapore-based blockchain firm Pundi X has integrated PayPal support for its point-of-sale device ‘Xpos.’  PayPal is the first mobile payment gateway to be integrated onto Xpos, and users from more than 30 countries can now accept funds via the payments processor. The integration will take place over two stages, with US-based merchants who use Xpos able to apply for PayPay-based keyed transactions from July 1. A PayPal app is expected to be integrated onto all Xpos devices within two weeks — completing the roll-out. 70% of Xpos users request Paypal support Pundi X decided to launch the integration after conducting a Twitter poll asking followers which mobile payment app they would like Xpos to support first. PayPal received almost 70% of votes, beating out WeChat Pay, Alipay, and GoPay, among others. The integration brings credit card payments to Pundi X’s point-of-sale system, and allows cryptocurrencies to be purchased via PayPal from supporting Xpos merchants. Pundi X chief executive and co-founder Zac Cheah emphasized that integrations with leading global firms such as PayPal will help drive adoption blockchain-based services and products outside of the crypto community: “To be able to support a leading online payment provider in our XPOS devices can give people more confidence in using them, and can move usage of blockchain technology closer to the mainstream." PayPal loves crypto all of a sudden After shunning cryptocurrencies for a decade, recent job listings for blockchain engineers responsible for “new initiatives” at PayPal global appear to support rumours it will soon offer cryptocurrency sales to users.  PayPal payments are only supported by a handful of crypto exchanges, such as peer-to-peer marketplaces Localbitcoins and Paxful. Last week, KuCoin’s P2P

LocalBitcoins Says Its Transactions From Darknet Markets Dropped 70%

LocalBitcoins claims that darknet-related transactions on the platforum dropped 70% after it adopted AML and KYC regulations in September 2019. LocalBitcoins, a major peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange, has purportedly managed to significantly cut the amount of criminal funds on its platform in 2020. The P2P platform has seen a decline of over 70% in transactions from darknet markets between September 2019 and May 2020, LocalBitcoins claims. Jukka Blomberg, chief marketing officer at LocalBitcoins, told Cointelegraph that the drop comes in response to Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations adopted by the platform in September 2019. The calculations are based on blockchain analysis by major crypto analytics firm Elliptic as well as LocalBitcoins’ own “clustering tools,” the firm said. The drop is still notable despite Bitcoin trading collapse in 2019 A 70% drop in darknet-associated transactions might appear insignificant as LocalBitcoins experienced a massive decline in the amount of traded Bitcoin (BTC) in 2019.

Paxful ‘Flippens’ LocalBitcoins As The Largest P2P Bitcoin Marketplace

Bitcoin (BTC) peer-to-peer (P2P) trading market went through a historical week, as Paxful has surpassed LocalBitcoins in weekly trading volume for the first time in P2P trading history. According to data provided by Coin.dance, Paxful is now the leading Bitcoin P2P marketplace in terms of global weekly trading volume.

Paxos ‘Flippens’ LocalBitcoins As The Largest P2P Bitcoin Marketplace

Bitcoin (BTC) peer-to-peer (P2P) trading market went through a historical week, as Paxful has surpassed LocalBitcoins in weekly trading volume for the first time in P2P trading history. According to data provided by Coin.dance, Paxful is now the leading Bitcoin P2P marketplace in terms of global weekly trading volume.

Spanish Crypto Users Report Banking ‘Freezes’ After Using Exchanges

Banks in Spain are reportedly closing accounts they suspect belong to cryptocurrency traders, particularly users of the LocalBitcoins peer-to-peer exchange – and may have been doing so “since November last year.” Per a report from media outlet Criptonoticias, an experienced crypto trader who asked to remain anonymous says that “between 30 and 40 LocalBitcoin