Here’s what happened this week in Bitcoin in 99 seconds.
St. Louis Federal Reserve President, James Bullard, remarked that the US is headed towards a non-uniform currency, with crypto competing with the Dollar. Bullard further said that crypto tackles an “important social problem.”
Bakkt, the forthcoming institutional crypto exchange run by Intercontinental Exchange and partnered with Microsoft and Starbucks, opened its Bitcoin futures platform to user testing this week. Bakkt has been plagued by delay imposed by regulatory compliance. It’s unknown at this point when Bakkt will officially launch.
Robinhood, a trading platform for stocks and digital assets, announced a $323 million funding. DST Global, a prominent investor in internet startups led the financing round along with crypto-notables Ribbit Capital and Sequoia. The company will direct the capital towards expanding the business and offering new financial services.
Major European budget airline, Norwegian Air, announced that Norway-based travellers can purchase tickets with Bitcoin. The airline will also launch its own crypto exchange, the Norwegian Block Exchange, NBX in August. NBX will integrate Norwegian Air’s existing rewards program, and customers can earn points by trading on the exchange, which they can swap for discounts on tickets and other perks.
And finally, major online tech retailer, Newegg is now expanding its Bitcoin sales service to 73 new countries, which is nearly its full range of operations. Newegg was one of the first major online shopping destinations to start accepting Bitcoin as payment five years ago.
That’s what happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.