An armed man raided a Lebanese bank and took several hostages after not being able to withdraw his money. Lebanon has been in the news due to the economic meltdown it experienced in the last two years. Lebanon’s inflation rate surged from 2.89% in 2019 to over 210% in 2022.
On August 7th, email addresses and personally identifiable information from customers at Swan Bitcoin and 44 other bitcoin and crypto companies were leaked in a data breach. According to reports, an employee at the email marketing company Klaviyo fell victim of a phishing attack.
Vinteum, a non-profit Bitcoin research and development center, just launched in Brazil. The primary goal of the non-profit is to fund and support Bitcoin Core developers in Brazil and Latin America.
In a press release published today, Launch Cart announced that it added an Open Node integration that would allow e-commerce businesses to accept bitcoin payments. Launch Cart is an e-commerce platform that online stores can use to sell physical products, digital products, merchandise and drop ship items directly from wholesalers to customers.
Mercado Libre, Brazil’s largest e-commerce company, is taking advantage of the growing interest in bitcoin in Latin America. The company is not only active in the e-commerce space but also in FinTech, and is sometimes nicknamed the “Amazon” of Latin America.
Australia’s central bank announced yesterday that it is launching a one-year research program to explore use cases for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in Australia. In the press statement, the Reserve Bank of Australia said it is partnering with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC).
Nuri, a Berlin-based fintech company offering similar services to Revolut, filed for bankruptcy today. Some news outlets have labeled Nuri as cryptocurrency exchange, but Nuri is more of an online banking app that allows savers and investors to manage their money as well as purchase stocks, bitcoin and crypto.
A well-established discount store in the United Arab Emirates called Day To Day Hypermarket is allowing customers to pay in bitcoin and crypto. The discount store will accept bitcoin and crypto payments in-store using its POS systems as well as online through its website. Day to Day Hyperstore operates several branches throughout the UAE.
High-ranking Iranian official Alireza Peyman-Pak announced that the country has used bitcoin or crypto for the first time in international trade. According to Peyman-Pak, Iran imported $10 million worth of goods and paid for it using cryptocurrency.
Tornado Cash is an open-source crypto mixer that allows users to enjoy more anonymity. The U.S. Treasury announced yesterday that it is sanctioning Tornado Cash due to its link to money laundering.