Vaculug, a British company that brands itself as Europe’s largest independent tire retreader, will now accept cryptocurrencies for its products and services. Its management says the business must move with the times and offer customers more options than pounds and pence.

Vaculug to Take Major Coins, Offer Contracts in Cryptocurrency

U.K.-based tire retreading firm Vaculug has announced it will accept two leading cryptocurrencies, bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) as a means of payment for tires and related services. The company claims it’s the first in the industry to do that.

In a press release, Vaculug also revealed it intends to sign fixed price contracts in ‘crypto per kilometer’ and ‘crypto per vehicle’ formats, if customers would like to fix or link them to the prices of the two supported cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain is not the future but the now, says Vaculug’s IT manager Jason Humphries. “We believe that all companies will have to accept cryptocurrencies in the near future and we are proud to be the first retreader to do so,” he commented.

Humphries thinks the company, which he describes as customer-centric, must move with the times and offer clients “more options than just pounds and pence.” He also insists that crypto payments will lower transaction costs for both sides while providing more value to the buyer.

“We are proud to have partnered with Vaculug to develop the modules required for their industry leading VMS management system to be able to receive secure payments through the blockchain,” said Sam Dunross, the CEO of Dunross and Chan Ltd. which will process the crypto transactions. He added that its platform has been developed with cybersecurity firms from Israel to ensure it’s secure.

Despite the latest crypto market downturn, the number of businesses introducing bitcoin payments has continued to grow. For example, Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer announced earlier this year that it accepts a dozen coins in the U.S. through an integration with Bitpay. And a survey conducted by financial services firm Deloitte and payment processor Paypal showed that 85% of merchants consider enabling this payment method a high priority.

Do you expect increased adoption of crypto payments after this month’s relatively positive developments in the markets of major coins like bitcoin and ether? Tell us in the comments section.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, celio messias silva

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“Freedom in a wallet” is how Member of European Parliament Stefan Berger describes the non-fungible token (NFT) he is now selling on Opensea. The NFT represents a pair of ‘Bergoletten’ slides. Shoes symbolize the first step in every development, says Berger who invested efforts in making sure Europe’s upcoming crypto legislation gets the backing of his colleagues.

European Lawmaker Auctions NFT Slides on Opensea

Stefan Berger, the German member of the European Parliament (MEP) who was tasked to facilitate the progress of EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory package, has come up with a summer initiative to promote tokenization, something “as groundbreaking for the world as the introduction of the stock market was in the 17th century.”

In late July, the member of the group of the conservative European People’s Party urged his followers on Twitter to join an auction on the NFT marketplace Opensea. “My NFT is out now,” Berger announced in a post about the sale which ends on Monday, Aug. 15. “For me, this NFT is a piece of digital freedom in a wallet,” he wrote in the tweet.

The Bergoletten NFT, which he claims to have designed, represents a photo of a pair of men’s slides, one of which is branded “#bergo” and the other one – “ropa.” The Bergolettes are the optimal summer gadget and were chosen as NFT-motif because every great development begins with a first step, the seller explains on his website, vows to spend the proceeds on swimming promotion, and elaborates:

What was tradable yesterday is tokenized on the blockchain today. Yesterday, you wore bathing shoes on your feet, today you carry them in your wallet – in the form of this NFT.

EU Mulls Treatment of NFTs Under MiCA Regulations

Stefan Berger’s NFT stunt came after a significant advance towards the adoption of the pan-European crypto regulations. In early July, the key participants in the Union’s complex legislative process – the Parliament, Council, and Commission – made a deal to implement MiCA across the 27-strong bloc.

Berger played a role for a decision to drop a controversial proposal to prohibit the provision of services for coins relying on the power-hungry proof-of-work (PoW) mining algorithm from the draft. The texts, which would have amounted to an effective ban on cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the minting of which requires a lot of electrical energy, sparked negative reactions from the continent’s crypto space.

The agreement did not cover NFTs, “except if they fall under existing crypto-asset categories,” officials in Brussels stated at the time. European institutions now have to decide if separate regulations are needed for the tokens. This type of crypto assets, also referred to as ‘digital collectibles,’ have various applications, including to store digital records on a blockchain and prove authenticity and ownership of artwork, for example.

According to a recent statement by Peter Kerstens, adviser to the European Commission on technological innovation and cybersecurity policy, EU legislators “take a very narrow view of what is an NFT.” Quoted by Coindesk a few days ago, he suggested that many NFTs will be treated just like other digital currencies.

Speaking during the Korea Blockchain Week, Kerstens elaborated that if a token is issued as a collection or as a series, even though the issuer may call it an NFT and each individual token in that series may be unique, European regulators will not consider it to be a non-fungible token. This means that the requirements for cryptocurrencies will apply for NFTs as well.

What future do you expect for non-fungible tokens in the European Union? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Vach cameraman; Stefan Berger

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Bluebenx, a Brazil-based cryptocurrency investment platform, suspended withdrawals last week due to an alleged hack that made the company lose more than $31 million. The company announced that the withdrawals would be stopped for at least six months. The company has been investigated by the Brazilian Securities and Values Commission (CVM) in January.

Bluebenx Stops Withdrawals, Allegedly Loses $31+ Million in Hack

A Brazilian cryptocurrency investment platform, Bluebenx, paused withdrawals in its platform last Thursday, affecting approx 2,500 customers in the process. The company alleges it was the victim of a hack that made them lose more than $31 million, according to Assuramaya Kuthumi, Bluebenx’s attorney.

The company wrote an email to customers last Friday, explaining the reason for the withdrawal. The email reported:

Last week we suffered an extremely aggressive hack in our liquidity pools on the cryptocurrency network, after incessant attempts at resolution, today we started our security protocol with the immediate suspension of operations of BlueBenx Finance products, including withdrawals, redemptions, deposits, and transfers.

However, no details were shared about the nature of the attack, but the communication did explain that these measures would be active for 180 days, at least. The same Thursday, the company fired all its employees, according to reports from a former employee obtained by Portal do Bitcoin, a local source. More than 30 employees were fired, according to statements from the former employee.

Suspicious Circumstances

The report of the hack, and how it coincided with the mass layoffs at the company have created suspicions about the real reasons that caused this withdrawal suspension. The company had been investigated earlier this year by the Brazilian Securities and Values Commission due to an alleged offering of unregistered securities as part of its investment portfolio.

The company offered high-yield investment products to entice customers to invest. These products offered up to 66% for having invested funds locked for a year, Some of these instruments did not disclose the investment strategy behind them, per customers’ statements. An anonymous customer stated having fears about the future of the funds held on the platform. He stated:

I think there’s a high probability that it’s a scam because this whole hacking thing seems like something they made up.

Other Brazilian companies have also alleged hacks to stop paying their customers. This is the case of Trust Investing, which also blocked withdrawals for its customers for nine months due to an alleged hack attack.

The Brazilian Congress is currently discussing a bill that would establish harsher penalties for crypto-related crimes to discourage companies and individuals from offering scam products and running pyramid schemes.

What do you think about Bluebenx and its alleged $31 million hack incident? Tell us in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.