The crypto market may be depressed, but the underlying industry is as dynamic as ever. Reports indicate that as Twitch, an Amazon-owned video streaming service, silently removed users’ ability to make subscriptions with Bitcoin, a legendary player in the online privacy space opened its arms to accept an array of digital assets.
Twitch Pulls A Fast One, Removes BitPay Feature
Not 48 hours ago, Redditors on the BTC forum claimed that Twitch removed support for payments made through BitPay, purported the crypto industry’s longest standing firm. While it isn’t clear when the content sharing platform added the feature, the forum-goer that drew attention to this issue claimed that Twitch removed BitPay support “in the last couple of weeks for all countries.”
From Blockonomi’s glance of the Twitch subscription portal, BitPay is not a listed payment option, nor is Coinbase or direct Bitcoin payments, which the company claimed to have added at the peak of the previous rally.
While this recent change flew under the radar, one user with the moniker “1John8Lare” took drastic action. The Twitch viewer “took action” by canceling all his subscriptions, slightly hurting streamers’ revenue, and sending Twitch’s support staff a ticket. It isn’t clear if other vigilantes took John’s lead, but it seems that many cryptocurrency users expressed disdain towards such a move, deemed an attempt to demonetize and deplatform content creators by some conspiracists.
Tor Adds Support For Bitcoin, Crypto Donations
In stark contrast to the centralized Twitch, Tor, the de-facto go-to privacy- and anonymity-centric browser provider, has unveiled a donation jar that accepts cryptocurrencies. Tor’s website now accepts payments in nine leading cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar Lumens, Monero, ZCash, and Augur. Interestingly though, users may contact Tor’s staffers if they intend to donate other digital assets that aren’t listed.
The page purportedly encourages crypto philanthropists, many of which frequent the open-source Tor Browser and what it gives access to, to stand up for “universal rights to privacy and freedom” by keeping Tor’s products up-to-date.
How’s Crypto Adoption Faring?
Sure, Twitch’s sudden removal of support for digital asset payments is a slight blow to the ecosystem, but arguably, adoption is booming. Just last week, Avnet, one of the world’s most prominent electronic components distributor, revealed it had integrated a payment portal from the Atlanta-based BitPay.
In an announcement, the American technology company, a part of the Fortune 500, revealed that it would be accepting Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash for its offerings. Avnet’s team sees cryptocurrencies as a step above traditional rails, as a company release argued that such assets can reduce the “time, cost and complexities of bringing products to market.”
This is, of course, far from Apple, let’s say, accepting Bitcoin. But the move has been appreciated by the crypto community nonetheless. But, such acceptance may be just on the horizon.
Two weeks back, Blockonomi reported that The Block’s sources have revealed that Starbucks is assumably on the verge of accepting Bitcoin payments through Bakkt’s infrastructure. The insiders tell the outlet that the world-renowned coffee roastery’s “mutually beneficial” partnership with Bakkt stipulates that it will accept the leading cryptocurrency within the next 12 to 18 months.
Considering the legitimacy of The Block’s source, a food chain with thousands of locations across the globe may be on the verge of delving into Bitcoin.
And with Square doubling down on its involvement in this space, with its chief executive, Jack Dorsey, unveiling a crypto-only branch that will hire five, many are sure that cryptocurrencies are far from dead in the water. But the pressing question remains: how fast will widespread adoption really occur?
