Bitcoin's US Spotlight: Commerce at a Crossroads 🌐
Bitcoin is front and center in USA politics right now - what does it mean for Bitcoin Commerce?
US presidential candidates both show signs of support for Bitcoin, while the utility of Bitcoin and stablecoins creates demand around the world.
US presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump show support for Bitcoin
South America tops Europe in crypto users, according to recent study
The world’s largest subtitle service now uses BTCPay Server to accept Bitcoin
Recent study shows that 93% of global freelancers want to receive payment in stablecoins or crypto
Looking for a laugh? Check out our Bitcoin meme of the week at the back of the Roundup! 😁
Find it all here, and thanks from the Velas Team!
Bitcoin front and center in the USA - A Bitcoin Commerce Take
While recent months have been a mixed bag for Bitcoin regulation in the USA, recently both major party candidates have shown some strong signs of supporting Bitcoin. Former president Donald Trump has been especially vocal recently, promising to support miners and even accepting bitcoin payments for campaign donations.
President Biden hasn’t been as vocal, from what we can see, but his organization is also showing signs of warming up to the industry.
So what could this mean for Bitcoin Commerce in the USA?
Given the frosty news over the last few months in Bitcoin, including many wallets pulling out, implementing new KYC measures or cutting out features, the recent warming definitely represents an improvement in the environment for bitcoin businesses.
It’s also possible that such strong support by the Republican candidate could lead to a backlash by Democrats if they decide to take an opposition stance. In this scenario, it’s possible that we see the sort of see-saw behavior that makes business difficult, as the two parties take opposite positions.
One hope is that, as the popularity of Bitcoin grows, politicians will be unwilling to risk any move that could be seen as hurting bitcoin. The fact that Bitcoin is being talked about by major party US presidential candidates could definitely be seen as a step in this direction.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this and we recommend our readers do as well.
Lots more info here:
South America tops Europe in Crypto Users
The 2024 Crypto Currency ownership report by Triple-A is full of insights for Bitcoin business. We picked out some of the surprises, but the whole report is worth checking out:
South America tops Europe in crypto users, led by Argentina and Brazil
There are now an estimated 560 million crypto users worldwide
72% of them are under age 34
85% of e-commerce businesses see enabling crypto payments as a high priority
Check out the Triple-A report (in English) and a Latin American focused analysis (in Spanish) here:
https://triple-a.io/cryptocurrency-ownership-data/
How OpenSubtitles enabled bitcoin payments
IThere is a great new case study out by BTCPay Server which details how OpenSubtitles, the world’s largest resource for TV and movie subtitles, enabled bitcoin donations and payments.
BTCPay Server is an entirely open source payment processor that allows businesses to accept bitcoin (and altcoin) payments on websites and point of sale systems. OpenSubtitles leveraged this to allow users both to donate and to pay for VIP subscriptions with Bitcoin, BTC Liquid, and Monero.
According to OpenSubtitles:
“It's becoming increasingly essential for online payments to include crypto acceptance as a standard practice….Thanks to BTCPay Server, we now have the capability to accept cryptocurrency payments according to our preferences.”
The case study is also full of info on the technical side of the integration, for the curious. Check it out here:
https://blog.btcpayserver.org/case-study-opensubtitles/
Study shows global freelancers want to receive payment in stablecoins or crypto
We’re rounding out this edition of the Roundup with this interesting study by ZeroHash, that found that “93% of global freelancers want to receive payment in stablecoins or crypto”!
This seems like an enormous potential market for Bitcoin Commerce, especially as the new Taproot Assets protocol is aiming to enable instant, low-cost stablecoin payments on the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
Tapping into this market, which accounts for 47% of the global workforce according to the study, could be the secret sauce for a huge bitcoin business success.
Check out all the info here:
https://zerohash.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ZH233-Freelancers-Survey-Report-AW.pdf
And our Bitcoin Commerce meme of the week.............🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
🎓 The Bitcoin Scholarship is offering 100% tuition coverage
Do you know a Bitcoin obsessed bright mind in need? The Bitcoin Scholarship wants to encourage the best and brightest to contribute to open source software development. Here’s a link and good luck!
🧭 Navigate Bitcoin’s Lightning Network in a New High Fee Era
The recent spike in Bitcoin prices and network traffic have made a unique combination of headaches and opportunities. It’s also generated a lot of thinking on the future of scaling Bitcoin. Check out our deep dive here.
⚡Tapping into Taproot Assets
Lightning Labs is working on a series of short demo videos walking through using the Taproot Assets Daemon, tapd, from install to mint to transfer to burn! Find the playlist on YouTube here.