Last week in review: Use Twitter, get paid in Bitcoin

Bitcoin appears unphased by China’s blanket-ban on crypto, Twitter is letting its users get paid in BTC, and what happens when you shake the dust off an $8,000 Bitcoin investment nine years later? It was a big week in crypto. Here’s our pick of the headlines.

Use Twitter, get paid in Bitcoin

• Twitter has announced that it will allow users to tip their favourite creators using bitcoin.

• Users could previously tip with traditional currency using Square’s cash app, but now Twitter will integrate Strike’s bitcoin lightning wallet service to enable BTC tips.

• The social media giant first introduced their tipping feature back in May, to experiment with helping creators earn payment from their followers for the content they create on the platform.

• Twitter does not take a cut from its Tips feature. Strike founder and CEO Jack Mallers explained in a video announcing the Twitter launch: “We just made an instant, free remittance payment, from Chicago, Illinois, USA to San Salvador, El Salvador over Twitter. Why would anyone ever use Western Union again? When you take one of the world’s largest social internet networks and you combine it with the world’s best open monetary network, Twitter accidentally becomes one of the best remitting experiences in the world.”

Bitcoin unphased by China’s crypto ban

• China’s central bank has again announced that all cryptocurrency transactions are now illegal, which effectively bans digital tokens like Bitcoin.

• Trading cryptocurrency has been banned in China since 2019, although it continued through online foreign exchanges.

• This is just the latest episode in the country’s ongoing crackdown on crypto, with the Chinese Communist Party issuing bans on mining cryptocurrencies in June.

• Although Bitcoin experienced a dip in price immediately after the news broke to below $40,700, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap took little time to bounce back.

El Salvador buys the dip

• As the broader crypto market experienced a crash early last week, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele took advantage of the lower prices and purchased a further 150 bitcoin.

• The Latin American country now owns a total of 700 bitcoin.

• President Bukele made the announcement in a tweet, stating: “They can never beat you if you buy the dips,” before adding that this move can be considered “presidential advice.”

• The Salvadoran government purchased its first 400 bitcoin on 6 September, one day before the country became the first in the world to accept cryptocurrency as legal tender.

AMC to accept further cryptocurrencies as payment

• American movie theatre chain AMC has since updated its Bitcoin payment plans, adding that other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash will also be accepted.

• In early August, the largest theatre network in the United States announced it will start accepting bitcoin payments by year-end.

• Pundits suggest AMC could be making a play to appeal to young amateur traders, many of whom have bought AMC shares over the last few months in the wake of the GameStop short squeeze.

Third of US Swing State voters favour crypto as payment

• According to a recent Newsweek poll of 9,700 eligible voters across 10 states across America, about one third of voters in America’s swing states support crypto being used as legal tender.

• Swing states are those where two major political parties share similar support, and are viewed as important voting pools that can influence the result of elections.

• “If a party wants to catch these receptive voters, it should act swiftly—not only to beat the other party to the punch, but also to preempt legislation that would prove difficult to reverse if enacted,” said Louisa Idel, head of insights at Redfield and Wilton, the consulting firm behind Newsweek’s survey.

• The survey also found that one of the biggest obstacles to using cryptocurrency as payment is a lack of information about it. Yet this could all change as the introduction of cryptocurrencies on a large scale could be imminent.

• As New York’s mayoral race heats up, some candidates like Eric Adams and Curtis Silwa are garnering votes by sharing their crypto visions for the future. Meanwhile, Jackson, Tennessee’s mayor Scott Conger, has touted Bitcoin’s benefits as a hedge against inflation and said he aims to transform the city into a BTC hub.

Dust shaken off ancient bitcoin stash

• A Bitcoin wallet has come online after going untouched for nearly nine years. The owner of the wallet has transferred all 616 of its bitcoins into another wallet.

• On 10 December, 2012, the wallet received a total of 616.2004 Bitcoin. Back then, Bitcoin was worth $13.30 and the stash was worth roughly $8,195. With today’s prices, it’s worth about $29.4 million.

• This isn’t the first time this year a dormant wallet has stretched its legs. Earlier in February, a wallet containing $5 million in Bitcoin came online after an 11-year hiatus, and last year, a wallet containing Bitcoin that was mined in February 2009 (one month after the first Bitcoin block was ever mined) was cashed out for $500,000.