The "Internet of Money" and Future of Crypto Commerce
Litecoin, the 5th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is on a tear, rallying over 50% during the past week. Kenneth Asare, CEO of LitePay, a Litecoin payment processor, was with us to explain why merchants need to be ready for the digital currency revolution.
On February 26th, 41 countries will have access to LitePay merchant payment processing. Retailers will be able to use LitePay's retail, e-commerce, billing, and donation tools to accept Litecoin payments from customers anywhere on earth. Asare said the platform is targeting people with access to smartphones, but not banking.
Asare said Litecoin is the 'internet of money.' He stressed that it's not a way to replace fiat currency or the stock exchange, and it's not something to invest in. Instead, this is the very beginning of a new way of sharing and transferring value, he said.
Atomic bills itself as an investing API that allows fintechs and banks to easily integrate investing into their products by bringing the power of investing to everyone, with no account minimums. In November, the company announced its launch along with a $25 million Series A funding round. David Dindi, co-founder and CEO of Atomic, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Apple is set to unveil a new fleet of tech and services at its Peek Performance event on Tuesday. Luke Miani, a content creator, joined Cheddar News to discuss what might be expected to get unveiled, from mid-range Mac desktops to 5G service for the iPhone SE. "As 5G becomes more available and these products continue to be used, these are the types of features that consumers really need to see going forward," he said.
Verizon recently unveiled its new streaming hub management service called +Play to help its users bundle their myriad streaming platforms in one place. Manon Brouillette, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, joined Cheddar News to explain the new portal. "There is a proliferation of subscription models with any type of industry, and when we asked our customers, we realized that there was a pain point there. They were losing track of how many subscription services they were paying every month," she said.
