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Utrust and Lugano Are Bringing Crypto Payments to an Entire City

Utrust and Lugano Are Bringing Crypto Payments to an Entire CityPRESS RELEASE. October 27th, Lugano Switzerland — The city of Lugano is the largest city in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. They are also the economic capital of Southern Switzerland, strategically located between the metropolitan areas of Milan and Zurich. Part of Lugano’s appeal as a vibrant financial center is its commitment to the adoption […]

Cosmos patches ‘critical’ IBC protocol bug saving $126M

Mi Store Portugal Reveals Crypto Acceptance, Xiaomi Says ‘Decision Was Made Without Knowledge or Approval’

Mi Store Portugal Reveals Crypto Acceptance, Xiaomi Says ‘Decision Was Made Without Knowledge or Approval’On August 5, the Mi Store in Portugal announced that it was accepting cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, ethereum, tether, and dash. At the time, the Mi Store Portugal said it was working with the blockchain payments company Utrust in order to be more “inclusive.” However, the Mi Store parent company Xiaomi Corporation, which stems from China, […]

Cosmos patches ‘critical’ IBC protocol bug saving $126M

Xiaomi retailer in Portugal now accepts Bitcoin payments

The official Portuguese shop of Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi has partnered with Utrust to unlock payments in five cryptocurrencies.

Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiaomi is the latest global company to get involved in the cryptocurrency industry as its official Portuguese shop now accepts Bitcoin (BTC) payments.

Mi Store Portugal, the official Xiaomi retailer, announced Wednesday on Facebook that it now allows customers to purchase devices using five cryptocurrencies, including BTC, Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), Dash (DASH) and the Utrust (UTK) token.

According to the official Mi Store Portugal website, customers can now select the option to pay with crypto at checkout.

The new payment option is enabled through a partnership with Utrust, a European blockchain technology payment platform. “Xiaomi is the second-largest phone manufacturer in the world, and now their local branch is accepting the Money of Tomorrow,” Utrust’s official Twitter account said Wednesday.

According to data from global industry analysis firm Counterpoint, Xiaomi surpassed global smartphone giant Apple as the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world in the second quarter of 2021.

Mi Store Portugal is the only official retailer of Xiaomi’s certified products in Portugal, operating under the European legislation, the company’s website notes. The firm currently has six physical stores nationwide and is in the process of expansion.

Related: New study reveals high demand for payments in cryptocurrency

Pedro Maia, marketing director of Mi Store Portugal, reportedly said that the company’s move to accept crypto payments aligns with Xiaomi’s striving for innovation. “We are a technological, innovative, and disruptive brand. That’s why we always want to be one step ahead. We want to give the possibility to all true technology fans to buy their favorite gadgets with what is currently the ‘most technological money.’”

As previously reported, Portugal has been steadily growing as a cryptocurrency-friendly country in recent years, with the local government charging zero taxes from retail crypto trading. Earlier this year, a local energy trading firm started accepting Bitcoin as payment for electricity bills.

Cosmos patches ‘critical’ IBC protocol bug saving $126M

BakerySwap, Syscoin and Utrust rally as altcoin season kicks into high gear

BAKE, SYS and UTC have secured triple-digit gains as large and small-cap altcoins capitalize on Bitcoin’s range-bound price action.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) institutional adoption shows no signs of slowing down. This week Latin America’s largest e-commerce company, Mercado Libre, disclosed that it had purchased $7.8 million worth of Bitcoin as part of its treasury strategy. 

Mercado Libre was not only in this decision, as Metromile Inc., a Nasdaq-listed digital insurer also said it plans to buy $10 million worth of Bitcoin in the second quarter of this year. Additionally, Metromile will soon start accepting premiums and paying out insurance claims in Bitcoin.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

Data from Glassnode suggests that investors who purchased Bitcoin in late 2020 are HODLing their positions. This shows that investors have not hurried to book profits on their positions after the sharp rally and that they are not dumping their positions on every minor correction.

As Bitcoin attempts to stage a strong comeback, several altcoins continue to rally. Let’s focus on three such tokens that have been short-term outperformers.

BAKE/BUSD

The BakerySwap (BAKE) ecosystem caters to both the decentralized finance participants and the nonfungible token clientele. With over $28 million in NFT trading volume, BakerySwap is the leading NFT marketplace on the Binance Smart Chain.

The protocol announced the launch of Bakery Gallery on April 27 to attract artists and collectors to compete with the NFT platforms on the Ethereum network. The gallery was opened with an exclusive 3D event where 16 artists dropped their artwork. According to the protocol, most of the artwork was sold between $2,400 and $20,000.

BakerySwap launched the CAR initial decentralized exchange offering on May 5. The owners of the CAR token can convert it into a car NFT design and a lucky winner will get an opportunity to win a real Tesla. The token will be listed on BakerySwap AMM after the IDO and can be used for liquidity farming or trading on the NFT supermarket.

BAKE soared from $1.12 on April 25 to $8.49 on May 2, a 658% rally in eight days. Usually, such strong rallies are not sustainable. The relative strength index (RSI) above 88 on May 2 could have attracted profit-booking from traders.

BAKE/BUSD daily chart. Source: TradingView

The first support on the downside is the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $5.67. If this support cracks, the BAKE/BUSD pair could drop to the 50% retracement level at $4.80 and then to the 20-day exponential moving average ($4.14). The deeper the fall, the longer it will take for the next leg of the uptrend to begin.

If the price rebounds off the current level, the bulls will try to push the price above $8.49. If they succeed, the pair could start its journey to $13.04.

Contrary to this assumption, if the bears sink the price below the 20-day EMA, it will signal that supply exceeds demand. The pair could then make a bottoming formation before starting a new uptrend.

SYS/BUSD

Syscoin (SYS) rolled out its Syscoin LUX release on April 30, which is a platform that supports fungible and NFTs including fractionalized NFTs, payments and non-custodial compliance. The protocol claims to support fast transactions at ultra-low costs and with the security of Bitcoin merge-mining.

Syscoin’s Notary feature enables token issuers to build smart contracts using external data sources to ensure the transactions are compliant with the built-in rules before they settle on the blockchain. According to Syscoin, this feature could be used to integrate tokens with existing financial markets.

On April 5, Syscoin announced a partnership with Quan and Elint, the largest blockchain development group in South America. This alliance will focus on business development and regional marketing. Syscoin also announced a collaboration with Klever on April 20, making it the chief mobile wallet of the Syscoin Ecosystem

In addition, the protocol had teased that a major announcement was due on May 6, which could have ignited investor’s interest. The announcement turned out to be an NFT marketplace on Syscoin.

SYS surged from $0.26 on April 25 to $0.90 on May 5, rising 246% in eleven days. The strong rally of the past few days had pushed the RSI above 79, indicating the rally was overextended in the short term.

SYS/BUSD daily chart. Source: TradingView

The bulls tried to resume the uptrend today but could not clear the overhead resistance at $0.90. This could have attracted profit-booking, resulting in a drop to the 50% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.58.

The bulls are currently trying to defend this support. A strong bounce-off it will suggest the sentiment remains positive and the buyers are accumulating on dips. If the bulls thrust the price above $0.90, the SYS/BUSD pair could start its journey to the next possible target at $1.22.

Contrary to this assumption, if the bears sink the price below $0.58, the pair could extend its decline to the 20-day EMA ($0.48). Generally, deep falls like these delay the start of the next leg of the up-move.

UTK/USDT

Cryptocurrencies have gone mainstream with the influx of institutional investors in the past few months. However, the use of cryptocurrencies for paying for goods and services is still limited as merchants are skeptical of the volatility.

Utrust (UTK) has made it attractive for the merchants to accept crypto payments by introducing reverse staking and compound yield, which is expected to go live soon. Uturst will use part of the fees paid by the merchant to buy UTK tokens and lock it up in a staking pool for a year. At the end of the period, whatever is in the pool will be given to the merchant.

If the merchant leaves their earnings with Utrust instead of converting them into fiat and keeping in a bank, they will get a 10% annual percentage yield on the value, which will be bumped to 12% if they opt to get paid in UTK tokens.

Utrust announced on April 20 that it has tied with SwissBorg to be the main partner for the compound yield program. In the past few days, the payment platform has onboarded Belgium-based Independent Tesla dealer Nikola Brussels and travel company Arburton to the Utrust ecosystem.

UTK rallied from $0.33 on April 25 to $1.06 on May 5, a 221% rally in eleven days. Traders seem to be booking profits near the psychological level at $1 as seen from the long wick on the candlestick on May 5 and today.

UTK/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The bears will now try to pull the price down to the breakout level at $0.74. A strong rebound off this level will suggest the bulls have successfully flipped it into support. The buyers will then make one more attempt to resume the uptrend.

If the bulls drive the price above $1.06, the UTK/USDT pair could start the next leg of the up-move that could reach $1.47. The rising 20-day EMA ($0.63) and the RSI near the overbought territory suggest the bulls have the upper hand.

This positive view will invalidate if the bears sink the price below $0.74. Such a move will suggest that traders are no longer buying the dips. That could result in a drop to the 20-day EMA.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Cosmos patches ‘critical’ IBC protocol bug saving $126M