News Nuggets | 28 June: Revolut Slashes Crypto Fees; BitPay Adds New Payment Options

Paxos Eyes Expansion in Mexico in Partnership with Mercado Pago

A stablecoin issuer, Paxos has partnered with Mercado Pago, an online payments platform in Mexico. The partnership will allow users in the region to access Paxo’s stablecoin Pax Dollar (USDP) through Mercado Pago, according to a statement issued today (Wednesday).

Arnaldo Reyes, Paxos' Head of Latin America, said the partnership would democratise access to commerce and financial services throughout Latin America. Mercado Pago has an estimated 40 million users globally.

On the other hand, Paxos claims that 60% of its active wallets support customers in Latin America. The stablecoin issuer hopes that with the new deal, it will expand its operations in the region.

BitPay and Ramp Add New Payment Options

BitPay and Ramp have expanded the flexibility and choice of purchasing crypto by incorporating support for over 40 new fiat currencies. The collaboration aims to provide a seamless crypto purchase experience to customers worldwide.

Fiat currencies like the Brazilian Real, Malaysian Ringgit, Peruvian Sol, South African Rand, and many others are now accepted, enabling consumers to buy Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term, Litecoin, Ether, Dogecoin, and other digital assets with their native currencies.

Praxis Elevates CSO

Praxis, a software development company headquartered in Cyprus, has moved its Chief Sales Officer (CSO), Natalie Agopian, to a branch in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Agopian will now head the local office as the Dubai Regional Manager.

"I'm happy to share that I'm starting a new position as Dubai Regional Manager at Praxis," Agopian wrote on her LinkedIn profile.

The new Dubai Regional Manager joined the company in July 2018 as a Business Development Manager. After a year, she was promoted to the position of CSO and spent almost four years on that post.

Revolut Slashes Crypto Trading Fees

UK-based neobank, Revolut, has announced a significant reduction in its crypto trading fees in response to customer feedback. As part of the fee restructuring, standard and plus customers will witness a drop in crypto trading fees from 1.99% to 1.49%, while premium and metal customers will see their fees lowered from 1.49% to 0.99%.

"We've been listening to your feedback, and have decided to update our fee structure," the company commented in an email sent to customers. "We're happy to announce a reduction to some of our crypto trading fees."

This move reaffirms Revolut's commitment to improving its crypto trading services, which it has been offering since November 2017.

Quartr Partners Up with Pareto

The fintech firm, Quartr has reached a significant milestone in its mission to enhance financial community cohesiveness by partnering with the Norwegian investment bank, Pareto Securities.

This partnership, facilitated through an API deal, empowers Pareto's online brokerage and equity research clients with direct access to Quartr's database of earnings calls and financial segment data.

The Co-Founder and CEO of Quartr, Sami Osman, expressed confidence in the growing demand from professional end-users, such as Pareto's clients, to access first-party data from public companies.

"I am proud to say that our API customers include financial research and investing platforms, online brokers, and now Pareto Securities as the first-ever investment bank," Osman commented.

Orient Finance's Demo Trading Accounts

Dubai-based Orient Finance is now offering demo trading accounts as part of its efforts to empower businesses. Available 24/7, these demo accounts aim to improve trading skills and facilitate strategy development.

The tool is accessible via mobile apps and web browsers, providing traders with $25,000 in virtual money to experiment with and improve trading skills. The Managing Director of Orient Finance, Seraj Asad Khan, stated that this new feature reaffirms Orient Finance's commitment to support businesses in their trading endeavors by offering reliable services and tools.

"With this goal in mind, we have developed the Demo Account, a powerful resource designed to enhance businesses' confidence and facilitate the refinement of their trading strategies and skills," he added.

MAS Considers Raising Deposit Insurance

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has suggested an increase in deposit insurance coverage per depositor from S$75,000 to S$100,000.

This proposal is part of a public consultation paper aiming to enhance the clarity and operational efficiency of the deposit insurance scheme.

The increased coverage will ensure the majority of smaller depositors remain fully protected, considering the growth in average deposit balances. If approved, the proposal would result in 91% of depositors being fully covered by deposit insurance.

KX Integration with Snowflake Network

KX, the Data Timehouse and KDB.AI vector database creator, has announced its partnership with Snowflake Partner Network. This alliance aims to provide scalable temporal and vector data analytics Analytics Analytics may be defined as the detection, analysis, and relay of consequential patterns in data. Analytics also seeks to explain or accurately reflect the relationship between data and effective decision making. In the trading space, analytics are applied in a predictive manner in an attempt to more accurately forecast the price. This predictive model of analytics generally involves the analysis of historical price patterns that are used in an attempt to determine certain price outcomes. Analyt Analytics may be defined as the detection, analysis, and relay of consequential patterns in data. Analytics also seeks to explain or accurately reflect the relationship between data and effective decision making. In the trading space, analytics are applied in a predictive manner in an attempt to more accurately forecast the price. This predictive model of analytics generally involves the analysis of historical price patterns that are used in an attempt to determine certain price outcomes. Analyt Read this Term to joint customers, initially focusing on the financial services industry.

KX's integration with Snowflake's Data Cloud allows users to run time series analytics and vector-processing workloads without modifying code or leaving the Snowflake environment.

Ashok Reddy, the CEO of KX, emphasized the role of temporal and vector data in driving digital transformation and generative AI.

SFC and HK Exchange Strengthen MoU

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited have fortified their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by signing a second addendum.

This new addition primarily enables electronic records and signatures on information and documents provided by issuers and advisers via the Fast Interface for New Issuance (FINI).

The second addendum, which signifies the acceptance and consent of the SFC and the HK Exchange to this digital transformation, becomes effective on 28 June.

XTM's Management Cease Trade Order Update

XTM Inc. has provided an update regarding its previously announced management cease trade order (MCTO) granted by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). The order prevents the CEO and CFO from trading in the company's securities until it files the necessary financial statements and the OSC revokes the MCTO.

The delay in filing is due to a recent change in the company's auditor and audit requirements resulting from increased transaction volume. However, this order does not affect the trading abilities of other shareholders. Furthermore, XTM mentioned that it might not be able to file interim financial statements for the first quarter of 2023.