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Facebook's Calibra cryptocurrency wallet launches in 2020
After months of rumors and speculation, Facebook is finally making its cryptocurrency efforts official. This is Calibra, a digital wallet that will use a new cryptocurrency called Libra. Calibra, which is now a subsidiary of Facebook, is designed to "provide financial services that will enable people to access and participate in the Libra network," a blockchain technology developed by Facebook that's getting support from MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, eBay, Uber, Lyft and Spotify, among others. Facebook says it plans to launch Calibra in 2020, and the service will be available in Messenger and WhatsApp, as well as in a standalone app.
WSJ: Facebook's cryptocurrency finds backing from PayPal and Uber
Facebook has secured some pretty big backers for Project Libra, according to The Wall Street Journal. PayPal, Uber, Visa and Mastercard are reportedly investing around $10 million each in the social network's cryptocurrency. Other investors include Stripe and Booking.com. By agreeing to put money into the initiative, they've become part of a consortium created to govern the digital coin. It's not yet clear, however, if Facebook has already managed to raise the $1 billion it was hoping to in order to fund the coin's creation.
PayPal and GoFundMe cut off donations to militia detaining migrants
Crowdfunding and payment companies are no strangers to cutting off access to organizations that violate their policies, but their latest move could be more contentious than usual. PayPal and GoFundMe have confirmed to BuzzFeed News that they've shut down fundraising campaigns for the United Constitutional Patriots, a right-wing militia group in New Mexico that has been detaining migrants at the border with Mexico despite doubts about its legal authority. The sites claim that UCP has violated their policies barring support for hate or violence, in one case allegedly using funds to buy guns.
Facebook will scrap Messenger payments in the UK and France
Facebook will discontinue peer-to-peer Messenger payments in France and the UK on June 15th, the company told Engadget. "After evaluating how we give people the best experiences in Messenger, we made the decision to focus our efforts on experiences that people find most useful," Facebook said, adding that active users will be notified ahead of the changes.
Instagram will let you buy products without leaving the app
Instagram is moving a little deeper into commerce by allowing you to buy goods without leaving the app. The checkout feature will at first be a closed beta in the US with more than 20 brands involved, including Adidas, Nike, Zara, Kylie Cosmetics, Uniqlo, Burberry, H&M, Mac, Prada and Michael Kors. More brands will join in the coming months.
PayPal opens instant bank transfers in the US
PayPal made it possible for businesses to get paid instantly, but what if you're an individual who just wants funds in a hurry? You might be set after today. The payment service has launched an Instant Transfer option in the US that shuttles money directly to your bank account, not just your debit card. It'll carry a 1 percent transaction fee and isn't worth it in most cases, but it could be vital if you need to pay a bill and would rather wait seconds for your funds instead of hours or days.
Hiding in plain sight: The YouTubers' crowdfunding piracy
I never imagined I would be watching Kitchen Nightmares, starring the world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay, in my downtime on YouTube. I knew of Ramsay and his ruthlessness from shows like Hell's Kitchen, but I had never heard of Kitchen Nightmares until a few weeks ago, when an episode popped up on YouTube's Trending section. Next thing you know, I'm hooked and watching full episodes of it on my phone instead of the usual sneaker videos. But aside from Ramsay's rants at owners of filthy restaurants, something else caught my attention -- these uploads weren't from Fox, which owns the rights to the show in the US. Instead, they were from an unofficial channel called "Kitchen Nightmares Hotel Hell and Hell's Kitchen." And as if that wasn't brazen enough, the owner explicitly asked viewers for donations to fund the uploading of copyrighted content.
The internet war on sex is here
During the Great Internet Sex War, that began in the United States during its Facebook Era, people were forced to stockpile their porn. Lube was bought by the drum and hidden in bunkers, alongside vibrators and air-gapped computers holding valuable troves of accurate, non judgemental sex information. Gimp suits were stored upright, oiled, and ready for doomsday's call. Explicit gifs became a black market commodity, and there were rumors of a Thunderdome ruled by cam girls. Every sexual identity, except the singular one deemed safe by the corporations, went into hiding. Fear prevented even the mere mention of sexual pleasure on the networks and in communications.
Venmo lost a lot of cash due to payment fraud
Venmo apparently had a good reason for disabling web payments and temporarily shutting off instant money transfers -- it was losing money hand over fist. The Wall Street Journal has obtained documents indicating that the PayPal-owned service took a 40 percent larger than expected operating loss ($40 million) in the first quarter of 2018, and payment fraud played a major factor in that financial blow. Where Venmo had expected dodgy transactions to represent 0.24 percent of its activity, the numbers shot up to 0.4 percent in March.
PayPal bans far-right Proud Boys and multiple anti-fascist groups
The far-right group Proud Boys has been hit with bans from Twitter and Facebook and now it will no longer be allowed to operate on PayPal. The Verge reports that PayPal will be cancelling both the Proud Boys account as well as that of its founder Gavin McInnes. At the same time, it's also continuing to take down accounts belonging to a number of anti-fascist groups, including Atlanta Antifa, Antifa Sacramento and the Anti-Fascist Network.
Dear tech: Stop doing business with Nazis
Kicking Nazis off tech companies' services is so easy, and such a simple thing to do. It is such a basic act of human decency, a trivial task that would stop PayPal, Stripe, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, GoDaddy and many more from being unquestionably complicit in the deadly rise of American Naziism. Stakes climb as we approach next week's elections. And yet.
PayPal bans Gab in wake of Pittsburgh mass shooting
Internet giants are continuing their crackdown on hate speech following the anti-Semitic mass shooting in Pittsburgh. PayPal has banned the social network Gab, a known haven for hate speech, after reports revealed that the shooter was a frequent poster and had signaled his intentions shortly before the attack. While PayPal didn't provide an immediate reason for the ban in its message to Gab, the payment platform told The Verge in a statement that it didn't accept a site that was "explicitly allowing the perpetuation of hate, violence or discriminatory intolerance."
PayPal cash withdraws are coming to Walmart stores
PayPal users will soon be able to withdraw and deposit money directly into their accounts at Walmart stores. It'll be the first time that PayPal users will be able to take out cash from their account balance in brick-and-mortar Walmart stores.
PayPal is the latest company to ban InfoWars
InfoWars has been issued another ban, this time from PayPal. The company notified InfoWars on Thursday that it would no longer process the site's store transactions, giving InfoWars 10 days to find a new processor. PayPal said the site had violated its "acceptable use policy," according to InfoWars. The payment company confirmed the move to The Verge. "Our values are the foundation for the decision we made this week," said a spokesperson. "We undertook an extensive review of the InfoWars sites, and found instances that promoted hate or discriminatory intolerance against certain communities and religions, which run counter to our core value of inclusion."
Why PayPal’s crackdown on ASMR creators should worry you
In June, China banned and excised videos of sound effects while claiming to cleanse its internet of pornography. YouTube had already demonetized the genre in a sex panic; now PayPal is banning people for life and holding individuals' funds, ignorant of the facts and marching lockstep to the tune of 8chan trolls enacting a campaign to punish "whores." The most bitter punchline in all this? A tiny percentage of the entire video genre is even remotely sexual, and those suffering — female creators — aren't even making sex content.
PayPal will instantly pay businesses after they make a sale
PayPal is adding a new feature for businesses that use its platform for their sales. Funds Now will let certain businesses in good standing -- that means without fraud concerns or an excess of customer complaints -- get instant access to funds from completed sales, even if there's an ongoing dispute. The company says that one of the biggest complaints from small businesses has been delays in accessing funds, which are sometimes upwards of 21 days long. Funds Now eliminates that wait by getting rid of any holds, delays and reserves on that cash.
PayPal's redesigned app is all about paying your friends
We wouldn't blame you for thinking PayPal's app has lost focus -- it seems more interested in investments and ordering food than on... well, paying people. It's a good thing the company is cleaning things up with a redesigned mobile app, then. The new version is a return to the basics of sending and receiving money, with the optional features shunted to a "more" menu. The home screen now focuses on notification cards (such as alerts when you've received funds) and includes a list of recently paid people and businesses in order to speed up your most common payments. Think of it like Instagram's Stories carousel, only here you're paying friends for your share of last night's pizza.
Apple Pay Cash leads Consumer Reports' first payment service test
Peer-to-peer mobile payment services are all the rage these days (eMarketer expects a 24 percent jump in US adoption in 2018), but which of them is actually the safest to use? Consumer Reports might have an idea. The publication has conducted its first head-to-head test of payment services, and it's clear that some services are better picks than others. While all of the payment platforms were "good enough to use," Apple Pay Cash was the victor due to its stronger-than-usual privacy and security.
Venmo's debit card turns your balance into real-world money
After months of testing, Venmo is ready to offer its own debit card in the US. The new piece of plastic now works at Mastercard-friendly locations instead of Visa (the company hasn't explained the switch), but the concept otherwise remains the same. The card lets you spend your Venmo balance at retail locations, and helps you split bills -- you can share transactions to have friends pay for their share of dinner or movie tickets. Naturally, you can use the Venmo mobile app to manage or disable a card.
Venmo won't let you pay or charge people from its website anymore
If you've ever used Venmo to pay someone your share of the electric bill or for a half a pizza, you probably did it from your smartphone. Most of the service's users do. There's a loyal subset of people who prefer using Venmo's website for all that, too, but they're all pretty upset right now. According to a statement included in users' May 2018 account summaries, Venmo will "phase out some of the functionality on the Venmo.com website over the coming months," and it's starting with the ability to send payment requests and complete charges from inside a web browser. (In a chilling coda, the company reiterates at the end of the statement that "this is just the start.")
