Early this week, a leading global technology firm launched a real-time global payments network for regulated financial institutions. The global payments network is currently in a limited production phase and available in 72 countries, with 48 currencies and 46 banking endpoints where people can send or receive cash. In conjunction with the firm's announcement, six international banks signed letters of intent to issue stablecoins (tokens backed by fiat currency) on the firm's global payments network. The network uses the Stellar public blockchain and is free to join; participants only pay according to the value they move through the network. Meanwhile the SEC's Senior Advisor for Digital Assets recently made a public statement that stablecoins might constitute securities where one central party controls the price fluctuation over time through a pricing mechanism that keeps the price within a specified range. She further explained that the determination is based on the expectations that stablecoin issuers impart on buyers and not the specific label of the asset.

According to recent reports, a leading Swiss online retailer will now accept Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Ethereum, Ripple, Binance Coin, Litecoin, Tron, NEO and OmiseGO for purchases worth over CHF 200 (about $200). The new payment method is part of a pilot project with Swiss payment processor and Danish crypto payments startup Coinify. The system reportedly allows customers to make payments with a fee of 1.5 percent during 15-minute time windows during which the crypto exchange rate doesn't change. A U.S.-based multinational distributor of electronic components and services will also now accept cryptocurrency payments through a collaboration with cryptocurrency payments processor BitPay.

Coinciding with these payments announcements, the Bitfury Group reportedly plans to partner with a business payments processor to launch lightning network-based bitcoin payment options for merchants in the U.S., Canada and the EU. The processor's web-based Lightning Network allows businesses to improve the efficiency and lower the costs of fiat and bitcoin payments for products and services. In Australia, cryptocurrency exchange Binance recently unveiled a cash-to-bitcoin brokerage service that allows users to buy bitcoin with cash from high-street stores. The new service, Binance Lite Australia, is accessible through a network of over 1,000 news agents across the country. The platform currently only offers the option to buy bitcoin with Australian dollars, but the exchange plans to support more cryptocurrencies and fiat options in the future. Also in international news, Athena Bitcoin launched a bitcoin ATM in the city of Cúcuta, which lies on the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The new ATM reportedly offers customers the ability to exchange bitcoin, bitcoin cash and litecoin for Colombian pesos. During this time of economic, social and political instability in Venezuela, many Venezuelans have reportedly turned to bitcoin to preserve value and escape corruption.

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