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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Coinbase rolls out stablecoin payment solution for online retail
Coinbase has launched Coinbase Payments, a new platform designed to facilitate the use of stablecoins as a method of payment for online transactions. The platform is aimed at online marketplaces such as Shopify and eBay, which provide access to small-to-medium sized businesses seeking alternatives to traditional card payment fees. The first platform to integrate Coinbase Payments is Shopify, which recently forged partnership with Coinbase and Stripe. The collaboration enables Shopify merchants to accept the stablecoin USDC, which will be processed through Coinbase's Base network, a Layer 2 blockchain solution built on Ethereum. Coinbase Payments offers e-commerce platforms benefits such as quicker settlement times, lower transaction fees, and access to a global customer base. The service includes a checkout suite that facilitates payments from various crypto wallets, including Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, and Phantom. Additionally, it provides a connectivity layer for merchants and payment service providers to authorise transactions, process refunds, and manage subscriptions. The platform also features a payments protocol that assists merchants in carrying out blockchain-based transactions. The product suite is designed to simplify the integration of stablecoin payments for merchants and online platforms, eliminating the need for blockchain or cryptocurrency technologies expertise. In a statement, Coinbase spokesperson said: 'We built the new system to mimic credit-card rails so it slots into existing flows with zero disruption.' Last month, Coinbase also introduced x402, a new payment protocol that enables instant stablecoin payments over HTTP. This protocol is an open standard that repurposes the HTTP '402 Payment Required' status code to incorporate stablecoin payments into web-based interactions, with the potential to change transaction processes for APIs, applications, and AI agents in the internet economy. "Coinbase rolls out stablecoin payment solution for online retail " was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
a day ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Stackup Raises $4.2 Million in Seed Round to Streamline Operations for Crypto Businesses
CULVER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Stackup, the digital asset management platform designed to streamline crypto operations for crypto businesses, today announced that it has secured $4.2 million in seed funding. The round was led by 1kx, with participation from Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Soma Capital, Amino Capital, and Digital Currency Group (DCG). The investment will accelerate the development of the Stackup platform, allowing the team to continue developing solutions that simplify crypto operations for businesses. Coinciding with the influx of new capital, Stackup has launched a new direct banking integration feature that directly addresses the fragmentation between traditional and crypto operations. Businesses can now connect their bank accounts to their Stackup wallet, enabling seamless, non-custodial ACH transfers between their bank and wallet within their existing payment workflows. This solves a critical pain point for companies forced to juggle between two parallel financial systems: traditional banking for crypto operations and separate crypto platforms for on-chain activity. Stackup's solution creates one system for all financial operations, without giving up control of your assets to third parties. 'Our mission at Stackup is to provide businesses with the tools they need to manage their digital assets with the same level of efficiency and control they expect from traditional financial systems,' said John Rising, co-founder and CEO of Stackup. 'This funding gives us the ability to eliminate operational inefficiencies that have historically hindered the adoption and growth of this industry. We're empowering businesses to streamline their financial operations and workflows, allowing them to focus on growth without compromising on security or control of their assets.' Additionally, Stackup has expanded its support blockchains to include Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Avalanche, and BSC. This feature unlocks businesses operating across multiple blockchains. Previously, businesses were forced to manage separate wallets and manually bridge assets between chains, creating a process that was both time-consuming and error-prone. With Stackup, businesses can manage their multi-chain operations from one platform, moving assets seamlessly without external bridges or multiple wallet setups. 'Crypto businesses have largely struggled to address their operational needs due to the unique burden of managing assets on multiple chains,' said Nichanan Kesonpat of 1kx. 'Stackup is addressing those critical pain points and enabling businesses to take control of their funds in one seamless, secure, and scalable platform.' The Stackup platform has evolved significantly since its inception in 2021. The platform played a crucial role in building wallet infrastructure for major industry players like Coinbase and TrustWallet. This foundational experience in enterprise-grade wallet infrastructure informed Stackup's current model of providing a comprehensive digital asset management platform directly to businesses. Today, Stackup provides centralized control over decentralized assets, allowing businesses to take charge of every detail of their operations with ease. About Stackup Stackup is transforming how businesses manage their on-chain operations by offering a smart account platform designed to simplify and automate complex blockchain tasks. As the need for seamless, secure, and efficient crypto transactions grows, Stackup provides centralized control over decentralized assets, allowing businesses to take charge of every detail of their operations with ease. Our platform integrates advanced security and adaptive features to eliminate the chaos of traditional crypto wallets, empowering businesses to manage their crypto stack in real-time. Whether you're orchestrating large-scale transactions or ensuring complete transparency, Stackup's solution brings order and precision to blockchain management, turning crypto chaos into a structured, seamless business flow.
The Print
2 days ago
- Business
- The Print
India's GDP estimation system needs urgent reform, economists and statisticians explain why
At the event titled GDP Base Revision: Time to Regain Confidence , held at the India International Centre, leading Indian statisticians and economists gathered to discuss concerns about the country's economic data. 'We must ensure that GDP estimates reflect economic reality. If they don't, then the policies based on them won't work either,' said Sharma. New Delhi: A group of economists and statisticians recently came together to highlight the inconsistencies in the economic data reported for different sectors and raised serious questions about the reliability of current GDP measurement methods. Their discussion underlined the urgent need for reforms to restore confidence in India's economic data. The panel featured NK Sharma, former Director General (Statistics) at the National Statistical Office, Sanjay Kumar, former Additional Director General at NSO, and Amey Sapre, associate professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. The session was moderated by Siraj Hussain, former Union Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture. Among the audience were journalists, students, members of the UPSC, and a retired officer of the National Sample Survey. The discussion comes at a time when the Centre is preparing to shift India's GDP base year from 2011–12 to 2022–23. The revision, led by a 26-member advisory committee, is expected to be completed by 2026. The goal is to better reflect the structural changes in the economy and improve the quality of GDP estimates, aligning India's statistical framework more closely with international best practices. Where the numbers don't add up The GDP or GVA of public administration is often considered to be mainly the salaries and wages of government employees, covering public administration and defence. Sharma said that after adjusting for inflation, the data shows a surprising 77 per cent growth in the real GDP of public administration over time. This raises the question of where such growth is coming from. 'On average, with 6-6.5% or 7% growth per year, we expect steady growth, assuming employment levels remain constant. Employment itself also rises steadily, but this change (77% ) is too large,' said Sapre. Kumar added that the number of government employees has not increased since 2011-12. 'Unfortunately, official data on the number of government employees (or related details) is not fully available or reliable in economic surveys for the years after 2011-12, but it is a perception.' Sharma raised several classification and reporting issues in the data. He referenced findings from the 74th round of NSSO data, where 12 per cent of businesses surveyed were not found at their listed addresses, and 20 per cent were misclassified. 'This creates confusion and makes the estimates less dependable,' he said. Kumar highlighted a key technical flaw in how GDP figures are adjusted for inflation. He explained that constant prices–used to measure real growth—are calculated using one type of price index, while current prices reflect another. Ideally, both should move in a similar direction once inflation is accounted for. However, he pointed out that the two sets of numbers are often out of sync, raising doubts about the accuracy of the methods. 'It's very hard to imagine that constant and current price estimates behave so differently unless the methodology itself is flawed,' Kumar said. This discrepancy suggests that the way inflation is adjusted in GDP calculations may not be consistent or reliable, which could distort the real picture of the economy's performance. The panel also highlighted the anomalies in how some services were measured. For example, vehicle repair and maintenance were tied to new sales, rather than to the total number of vehicles in use. 'Repairs are based on the whole stock, not on how many vehicles were sold in a year,' Sharma said, calling the assumption questionable. A broader concern was that the statistical system may not be equipped to capture economic shocks or transitions effectively. 'If we're using indicators from the organised sector to estimate growth in the unorganised sector, we're assuming they move the same way. That's simply not true,' Sapre said. Kumar said that for trade, the unorganised part is showing a growth rate of about 10–11 per cent per year at current prices. But if we look at other indicators–like household survey data–the growth is much lower, around 7 per cent, and in some years, as low as 3 per cent. He added that when looking at own account enterprises (small businesses without hired workers), the gross value added per worker has declined over time. This doesn't align with the high growth shown in the national accounts data. 'The unorganised communication sector is shown as growing faster than the organised sector, but that's hard to believe. PCOs and internet cafés have nearly disappeared—from 2 million in 2011–12 to just 30,000 in 2023. Their share should be going down, not up.' Kumar explained the main issue: national accounts use GVA per worker from larger, formal enterprises and apply it across all enterprise types, including small, informal ones. 'The GVA per worker in big firms is almost 2.4 to 3 times higher than in small units. Using the same productivity numbers for all leads to overestimation,' he said. Also read: Virender Sangwan changed eye care in India. His methods took surgery from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 50k Fixing what's broken There was broad agreement at the session that India's GDP estimation system needs urgent reform, especially as more states set ambitious growth targets. Without reliable verification mechanisms, inflated numbers could easily pass as fact. Citing Uttar Pradesh's ambition of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2027, Sharma said, 'If states use consultants to present higher production data to meet targets, and if MoSPI has no mechanism to verify it, we could end up accepting unreliable figures.' One major concern was the use of MCA-21—a corporate database introduced during the 2011-12 base year revision. While it aimed to improve coverage of the formal sector, speakers noted problems with classification, limited accessibility, and a lack of foundational research. 'We didn't conduct enough research before adopting MCA-21. Now we've built the system around it and are stuck with its limitations,' Sharma said. MCA-21, launched in 2006 by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs under the UPA government, is an online system that streamlines company compliance. It lets companies, professionals, and the public file documents and get corporate information easily and safely. This makes registering a company simpler and results in fewer visits to government offices. Sharma also highlighted a lack of clarity in the methods used for estimation, pointing out that the government released only a summary of changes in the source and methods document, assuming users were already familiar with the old system—a move he considers a mistake. Looking ahead, Sharma said, new annual surveys for unorganised sectors offer some hope. He emphasised that while updated methodologies or data sources can improve the accuracy of GDP and sectoral estimates, this accuracy depends critically on the correctness of the base year data. He warned that if the base year estimates or methodology are flawed or overestimated, those errors will get carried forward and persist throughout the subsequent period (usually five years), resulting in misleading or incorrect growth and sector share figures. Sharma also called for revising key indices like the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in sync with GDP updates. 'Otherwise, the system gets out of sync, and we start seeing unusual patterns in growth data.' Rebuilding trust in the numbers, the speakers agreed, hinges on better transparency and accessibility. 'We must make the system more transparent. Methods should be explained clearly. Data should be accessible,' said Sapre. (Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Coinbase launches stablecoin payments service for online transactions
New York – Coinbase Global is launching a platform designed to make stablecoins a go-to payment method for online transactions, a potentially big leap forward in the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies meant to track the US dollar. The announcement follows the passage of landmark stablecoin legislation in the US Senate on June 17, a move towards turning the digital tokens into a mainstream form of payment. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives must pass its version of the Bill before it heads to President Donald Trump for approval. Pegged to currencies like the US dollar, stablecoins aim to hold a stable value backed by reserves. Their use threatens to circumvent card networks Visa and Mastercard and other online payment services. Large retailers had signed on to the Bill with the idea that they can provide a cheaper, faster way to process transactions than traditional banking products like credit cards and cheques. 'We built the new system to mimic credit-card rails so it slots into existing flows with zero disruption,' a Coinbase spokesperson said in a statement. Coinbase Payments is targeting online platforms like Shopify and eBay, a prized client segment among payment processors since the websites provide distribution to thousands of small-to-medium sized businesses who are often looking for ways to avoid the fees associated with accepting card payments. Today, Coinbase makes most of its money through transaction fees on the exchange's cryptocurrency trades. The payments initiative could help add new sources of revenue, according to Mark Palmer, analyst at Benchmark. 'This sort of initiative where the company is creating a new revenue stream, diversifying beyond transaction volume as the primary means of driving revenue, is very important from a long-term standpoint,' Mr Palmer said. Coinbase's inaugural client is Shopify, which is partnering with Coinbase and Stripe to allow merchants on their platform to accept Circle's USDC over the exchange's Base network, a so-called Layer 2 blockchain built on Ethereum. Coinbase's new payments service is promising e-commerce platforms faster settlement, lower fees and immediate access to a global customer base. Earlier this week, JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced it will launch a pilot for tokenized US dollar deposits called JPMD on the Base chain. The Coinbase payments products include a checkout suite to help consumers easily pay from a crypto wallet provided by Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask or Phantom, among others. Stripe recently announced plans to acquire Privy, which helps merchants embed crypto wallets into their websites. That allows them to accept stablecoin payments without requiring customers to exit to a third-party site to set up a wallet, which adds friction to the buying experience and lowers the chance of a customer completing their purchase. Another feature of Coinbase's platform is a connectivity layer for merchants and payment service providers which helps authorise transactions, handle refunds and manage subscriptions. The third piece is a payments protocol which helps merchants execute transactions on the blockchain. The product suite is designed to help merchants and online platforms integrate stablecoin payments without requiring expertise in blockchain or cryptocurrencies. Separately, Coinbase said it has inked a deal to allow USDC to be used as collateral in US futures trading. Coinbase Derivatives is partnering with clearing house Nodal Clear to work with regulators on what it expects to be the first regulated use of USDC as collateral, according to an announcement on Coinbase's website. Shares of Coinbase and stablecoin issuer Circle surged on June 18 after the US Senate passed the stablecoin Bill. The tokens have gained traction for offering crypto's convenience without its volatility. Pegged to currencies like the US dollar, they aim to hold a stable value backed by reserves. Industry backers hope the legislation will turn stablecoins into a mainstream form of payment. Retailers had signed on to the bill with the idea that they can provide a cheaper, faster way to process transactions than traditional banking products like credit cards and checks. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives must pass its version of the Bill before it heads to President Donald Trump for approval. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Finextra
3 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
JPMorgan rises to stablecoin challenge with roll out of deposit token
JPmorgan's response to the rising interest in stablecoins is to launch its own rival token, called JPMD. 1 This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. The US banking giant has told CNBC that it's planning to launch a so-called deposit token on Coinbase's public blockchain Base, which is built on top of the Ethereum network. Each deposit token is meant to serve as a digital representation of a commercial bank deposit. The new yield-bearing token will offer round-the-clock settlement and will only be available to the bank's commercial client base. 'We see institutions using JPMD for onchain digital asset settlement solutions as well as for making cross-border business-to-business transactions,' Naveen Mallela, global co-head of Kinexys, JPMorgan's blockchain unit, told CNBC. 'Given the fact that deposit tokens would eventually be interest bearing as well, this would provide better fungibility with existing deposit products that institutions currently use.' The bank says that while its token may share some similarities with a stablecoin, it's ultimately a different kind of product, providing institutions with a similar product that also has the benefit of closer ties to the banking system. In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that PMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have held discussions on potentially launching a stablecoin that will improve transaction speeds whilst managing competition from encroaching crypto firms. The move follows US regulatory action towards stablecoin regulation, with the Senate pushing for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for Stablecoin Act (GENIUS Act).
