The cryptocurrency exchange owned by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Bakkt, has announced a partnership with Google to allow its Visa debit card to be used on Google Pay both online and in stores.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX.US has fully launched a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that will support trading for a range of Solana-based NFTs. Up until now, the marketplace was limited to buying and selling tokens minted directly on its platform.

The cryptocurrency venture capital firm led by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm, is looking to raise a $1.5 billion fund for startup investments. The war chest could place Paraidmg near the top of the pack as VC funds enter the crypto sector at an unprecedented pace.

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Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Google Pay to Add Support for Bakkt’s Crypto Debit Card
• FTX Launches Marketplace for Solana-based NFTs
• Crypto VC Firm Led by Coinbase co-Founder Raising $1.5 Billion Fund
• What is Solana?
• Sponsored: Grab Up to 600 BIT on Bybit — And Be Part of BitDAO

Google Pay to Add Support for Bakkt’s Crypto Debit Card

The cryptocurrency exchange owned by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Bakkt, has announced a partnership with Google to allow its Visa debit card to be used on Google Pay both online and in stores.

According to the announcement, cryptocurrency balances will be converted to fiat currency to enable transactions to occur. Bakkt’s Google Pay support comes after Coinbase rolled out Apple Pay and Google Pay support for its Coinbase Cards earlier this year.

The partnership will also see Bakkt use Google Cloud as its preferred cloud service as it develops artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, as well as a new analytics and geolocation functionality.

These functionalities will generate insights Bakkt will use to expand loyalty redemption options for customers and provide its partners with consumer behavior data.

FTX Launches Marketplace for Solana-based NFTs

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX.US has fully launched a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that will support trading for a range of Solana-based NFTs. Up until now, the marketplace was limited to buying and selling tokens minted directly on its platform.

Trading of these NFTs had so far been occurring on other marketplaces like Digital Eyes and Solanart, but FTX.US is now adding its own platform to the mix. The expansion will begin with 75 NFT projects, with plans to add all NFTs using Solana’s Metaplex standard.

FTX.US is not listing projects that regulators may see as securities offerings, such as those offering royalties to holders. It will nevertheless work with creators to ensure it verifies the authenticity of the NFTs it does list on its platform.

Crypto VC Firm Led by Coinbase co-Founder Raising $1.5 Billion Fund

The cryptocurrency venture capital firm led by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm, is looking to raise a $1.5 billion fund for startup investments. The war chest could place Paraidmg near the top of the pack as VC funds enter the crypto sector at an unprecedented pace.

Venture capitalists have invested $17 billion in the cryptocurrency space in the first half of this year, dwarfing the $5.5 billion invested during the same period of 2020. In addition to the funds raised, an investment deck mentions a minimum general partner commitment of 1%.

The fund could close between $1.25 billion and $1.5 billion. Paradigm has reportedly been engaging family offices in Silicon Valley.

What is Solana?

Solana is a high-performance blockchain founded by former Qualcomm, Intel, and Dropbox engineers that uses a delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPoS) consensus algorithm. The network uses a unique method of ordering transactions to significantly improve its speed and throughput.

Blockchain networks have historically struggled with scalability issues, with the few that managed to solve them dealing with centralization issues.

A decentralized network with small confirmation times and transaction fees has been hard to create, but the problem was tackled in 2017 with the creation of Solana. Using what’s known as Proof-of-History (PoH), the Solana blockchain is able to handle thousands of transactions per second. 

Learn more about SOL on CryptoCompare’s Solana page.

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