MasterCard is working with Binance to enable Bitcoin payments in +90 million stores worldwide

• Mastercard CEO posted on LinkedIn that the new service will be launched in "Argentina and plans to expand from there."

VISA launches pre-paid Bitcoin card in Brazil that also pays Bitcoin rewards.

Visa is making a splash in Latin America by partnering with local fintech and crypto companies to launch Bitcoin and crypto related cards. Visa is also planning Bitcoin cards that offer Bitcoin or crypto rewards in Mexico, Peru, Colombia and throughout the region. Huge!

Samsung Securities is launching a Bitcoin and crypto exchange.

• Seven major brokerage firms in South Korea have begun preparing the groundwork for their cryptocurrency exchanges. Samsung Securities operates as an affiliate of the Samsung Group.

• El Salvador's President Bukele also met with Samsung’s President of Consumer Electronics recently. Samsung has also started making chips for Bitcoin mining ASICs. Probably nothing...

115m Indian citizens are invested in Bitcoin or crypto!

• Indian cryptocurrency users constitute 15% of the country's population between the ages of 18 and 60. However, there is still much uncertainty about the government's attitude towards the industry.

UK Inflation to hit 19% within 4 months – Citi

• Energy price hikes have led Citi to raise its inflation projections. The last time CPI exceeded 18% was in 1976. It is expected to do so again by January 2023. Tough times.

+1m Australians have transacted with #Bitcoin or crypto since 2018.

• The largest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, had earlier announced that it would offer Bitcoin to its customers through its online platform and app. The bear market has delayed these plans, while the country continues to embrace the sector.

Australia's Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has promised a regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies that would improve to give customers more protection. Bitcoin is going mainstream in Australia!

Bitcoin is a leading indicator and may be maturing toward global collateral - Bloomberg Intelligence

• Mike McGlone, Senior Commodity Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, says Bitcoin has the the potential to transition and become a store of value similar to gold and US Treasury bonds in the second half of 2022. The odds of this are increasing as the world tilts toward recession and deflating assets.

PIMCO: $1.8 Trillion fund manager calls the end of the low inflation era.

•Pacific Investment Management Co. says there is little doubt that policymakers in the US and Europe will raise interest rates, slowing economic growth or trigger recessions, to reduce consumer price increases from the sharpest rate in decades.

Some Charts...

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