The two big card networks have made no bones about their interest in supporting cryptocurrency transactions, and this week both made big moves in that direction. The bigger move came from Mastercard Inc., which on Wednesday announced its intention to launch later this year the ability to send and receive …

Payments-technology provider Mogo Inc. is initially acquiring about 20% of Coinsquare, a Canadian cryptocurrency-trading platform, for US$44.4 million, with an option to purchase another 20% in the future. Mogo’s first option to increase its investment in Coinsquare, which acts as the trading platform for MogoCrypto, which Mogo launched in 2018, …

Betting that consumer demand to use cryptocurrency as a payment vehicle will rise over the long term, payments provider The OLB Group Inc. announced Wednesday that its SecurePay payment gateway will support the acceptance of Bitcoin and other digital currencies at the point of sale regardless of the merchant platform. …

Startup Slide Mobile is betting that consumer’s love of rewards, coupled with the growing momentum behind cryptocurrency as a contactless payment option during the Covid-19 pandemic, will entice more consumers to use its mobile-payments app. Slide announced this week it is partnering with BitPay Inc., an Atlanta-based processor that offers …

The controversial Libra cryptocurrency project gained a new member Friday with Shopify Inc.’s announcement it will join the Libra Association, the governing body for the fledgling venture. Shopify’s decision comes in the face of a string of eight high-profile defections from the association since October, including decisions by Mastercard Inc., …

In a bad week for cryptocurrency, a news report emerged late Thursday that PayPal Holdings Inc. skipped a key meeting of backers of Facebook Inc.’s Libra initiative. And, in the state of Ohio, officials on Wednesday suspended a pioneering site that accepted business taxes via Bitcoin. Twenty-seven of the 28 …

Several backers of Facebook Inc.’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency are having second thoughts because of regulatory pushback, according to a British newspaper report. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission announced settlements Thursday with four defendants accused of falsely promising big returns to consumers who paid in cryptocurrencies to participate in an alleged …

Circle Internet Financial Ltd. will cease supporting its 5-year-old Circle Pay mobile app beginning next month in order to concentrate on its blockchain and cryptocurrency ventures. Circle Pay is a no-fee peer-to-peer payments app that enables users to send money using the recipient’s phone number or email address. The service …