You Can e-Pay Me Tuesday…

Happy Monday.

Some e-pay and cryptocurrency news on today’s agenda.

First, TechCrunch is reporting that it is consolidating its different payment platforms under the Google Pay brand.

This inclues Android Pay (Google’s mobile payments and loyalty platform) and Google Wallet (it’s peer-to-peer payments app), and suggest that “this should make buying and paying through Google less confusing.”

“With Google Pay, it’ll be easier for you to use the payment information saved to your Google Account, so you can speed through checkout with peace of mind,” Bhat wrote. “Over the coming weeks, you’ll see Google Pay online, in store, and across Google products, as well as when you’re paying friends.”
– via TechCrunch

Meanwhile, they’re also reporting that encrypted messaging startup Telegram has plans to launch its own blockchain platform and native cryptocurrency (how many does that make across the industry, again??)

The launch will be funded with an enormous Initial Coin Offering, with forthcoming private pre-sales ranging into the hundreds of millions, potentially making it one of the largest ICOs to date. Demand is driven by the fact that rather than the ICO coming from a fresh startup, Telegram is a well-established messaging platform used around the world. Adopting a homegrown cryptocurrency could give Telegram’s payment system enormous independence from any government or bank — something Co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov is known to covet after investors took over his last company, Russian social network VK. Durov has not responded to TechCrunch’s several attempts to contact him regarding this story.
– via TechCrunch

TechCrunch further explains:

With cryptocurrency powered payments inside Telegram, users could bypass remittance fees when sending funds across international borders, move sums of money privately thanks to the app’s encryption, deliver micropayments that would incur too high of credit card fees, and more.
– via TechCrunch

But be forewarned, Investopedia is reporting that the market capitalization for cryptocurrencies crashed by more than $100 billion in 24 hours as authorities in South Korea, one of the largest markets for trading, announced that they were inspecting six of the country’s largest financial institutions for compliance with anti-money laundering laws.

One would expect a continued see-sawing of the pricing and adoption of cryptocurrencies as governments and regulators around the globe look to reconcile the opportunity crypocurrencies (and related technologies) present with the need to bring some order to this digital wild west.