Crypto Adoption Continues In Credit Cards, OCC Approval, Restaurant Payments

According to recent reports, a major U.S. financial services firm and Gemini, one of the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges, will soon launch a credit card that gives users cryptocurrency rewards on purchases. According to a blog post, the Gemini Credit Card will allow cardholders to "earn up to 3% back on qualifying purchases in bitcoin or any of the more than 30 cryptocurrencies available on Gemini."

According to press releases issued this week, the office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted preliminary conditional approval to allow U.S. cryptocurrency firm Paxos to operate under a national trust bank charter. Paxos will reportedly also maintain its current New York state trust charter.

This week, a major U.S. bank and two Singapore-based financial services firms announced an initiative to launch Partior, a blockchain-based payment platform to "digitize commercial bank money" and "reduce current frictions and latency for cross-border payments, trade transactions and foreign exchange settlements." According to a press release, "Partior will be actively engaging leading banks to join the platform to establish the scale required to benefit the industry."

In a final notable item, according to reports, a major U.S. restaurant chain will soon begin accepting bitcoin as payment at most of its restaurants. Select restaurants of the chain will reportedly start accepting bitcoin as soon as this week.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

• Gemini Credit Card to Launch With Mastercard as Network Partner
• Paxos National Trust Receives OCC Conditional Approval for De Novo Charter
• OCC Conditionally Approves Chartering of Paxos National Trust
• DBS, J.P. Morgan and Temasek to establish platform to transform interbank value movements in a new digital era
• Tilman Fertitta says most of his Landry's restaurant brands will soon accept bitcoin as payment

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