PayPal and Venmo are reportedly looking to roll out cryptocurrency buying and selling, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The offering would see PayPal join other fintech firms offering crypto to their users.

Authorities in New Zealand have seized $90 million linked to Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e.

Stablecoin issuer Tether is the lead investor in a $10 million funding round into the decentralized finance lending firm Celsius Network, making it the second DeFi investment Tether has made, with an investment in Aave being the first one.

You can now buy hundreds of digital assets directly from CryptoCompare’s coin listings thanks to a new partnership with Transak, using your bank account or credit card. The partnership will kick off with a fee-free offering for a month, after which fees will be of 0.5%.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• PayPal and Venmo To Reportedly Roll Out Crypto Buying and Selling
• New Zealand Authorities Seize $90 Million Linked to Alleged BTC-e Operator
• Tether Leads $10 Million Investment Into Celsius Network

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $9,630.19 (2.12%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $2.89 bn. As for ether (ETH), it is trading at $243.05 (3.16%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $922.94 million. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index is currently tracking at 3,177.11 (-0.40%).

PayPal and Venmo To Reportedly Roll Out Crypto Buying and Selling

PayPal is reportedly planning to roll out direct cryptocurrency sales to its 325 million users, according to three unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The fintech giant is currently a withdrawing option from exchanges like Coinbase, but could add its own crypto offering.

A “well-placed industry source” reportedly told CoinDesk:

“My understanding is that they are going to allow buys and sells of crypto directly from PayPal and Venmo. They are going to have some sort of a built-in wallet functionality so you can store it there.” 

The source added PayPal would be “working with multiple exchanges to source liquidity,” while a second source confirmed the fintech giant is eyeing a cryptocurrency-related offering and added the service is expected to be launched “in the next three months, maybe sooner.”

San Francisco-based Coinbase and Luxembourg-based Bitstamp were listed as likely contenders, with PayPal having a known longstanding relationship with Coinbase.

Various fintech apps are now offering cryptocurrencies and making money doing so. Square, the payments app launched by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, rolled out bitcoin purchases in mid-2018, while London-based Revolut began offering crypto in 2017 via a partnership with Bitstamp.

Robinhood, a popular fintech app believe to be fuelling the retail boom in equities day trading, started offering crypto in February 2018.

New Zealand Authorities Seize $90 Million Linked to Alleged BTC-e Operator

New Zealand authorities have seized around NZ$ 140 million (roughly $90 million) linked to the alleged operator of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchanged BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik.

Authorities said this is the largest seizure in their history, and it comes after Vinnik was arrested in Greece in 2017 over money laundering allegations, and extradited to France earlier this year. It’s alleged Vinnik was behind the BTC-e exchange, which operated with anti-money laundering controls and allowed criminals to launder proceeds from illegal activities.

Andrew Coster, a New Zealand police commissioner, said the funds are “likely to reflect the profit gained from the victimization of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people globally as a result of cyber-crime and organized crime." It’s unclear whether the seized funds were in fiat or crypto.

NZ police reportedly worked with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in the case, and is going to file an application to the High Court seeking forfeiture of the seized funds.

Tether Leads $10 Million Investment Into Celsius Network

The Celsius Network, a decentralized finance lending platform, has announced that Tether, the company behind the popular USDt stablecoin, is the lead investor in its $10 million funding round.

The Celsius Network uses the Ethereum blockchain and currently manager over $680 million. It has paid over $17 million in interest to its users, which reportedly control over 100,000 wallets with it. While the firm revealed Tether led the investment round, it did not mention other investors.

Its CEO Alex Mashinksy was quoted as saying:

“We are excited by the investment from Tether International as it will help us deliver USDt-based services to all our users. We are proud to add Tether International as the first institution to participate in our equity fundraising.”

Through BnkToTheFuture, a crowdfunding platform with over 80,000 users, qualified investors could have also invested in Celsius, with a minimum of $1,000. Tether has notably invested in another decentralized finance app earlier this year, when it invested in Aave.

Buy Cryptocurrencies on CryptoCompare’s Pages With 0% Fees

CryptoCompare has partnered with ConsenSys-backed Transak, in a bid to provide a global fiat on-ramp for digital assets right from our pages. The partnership will give millions of monthly active users a way to buy hundreds of digital assets using fiat currency in a transparent, cost-effective manner.

Using Transak’s transparent platform, CryptoCompare users will now be able to buy cryptocurrency in a few minutes from a “buy” button available on digital asset pages. To complete a purchase users will need to have a cryptocurrency wallet. Using CryptoCompare’s wallet listings they can choose one based on platform support, anonymity, ease of use, cryptocurrency support, community reviews, and other features.

Transak offers its customers a simple way to buy and sell digital assets, supporting both bank and credit card transactions. Its data layer settles transactions without taking custody of the user’s data or funds.

The partnership will kick off by offering 0% fees to purchase hundreds of digital assets. The fee-free offering will last for a month, after which fees will be of 0.5%.

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