Airlines in the UAE accept crypto for flight bookings. The country has become a torchbearer when it comes to accepting crypto for flight bookings. Airlines and travel agencies, including Emirates, Air Arabia, Travala and Alternative Airlines, now support cryptocurrency payments for bookings, targeting tech-savvy travelers and digital nomads. Travelers can pay with Bitcoin, Ether, stablecoins and other digital assets via checkout or gift cards, depending on the platform. The UAE’s initiatives, such as Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), could help expand crypto-powered services like flight tickets and loyalty programs. Read more
Top Win International, Taiwan’s first publicly traded corporate Bitcoin treasury, raised $10 million to kick off its BTC purchases. Taiwan’s first publicly traded corporate Bitcoin treasury, Top Win International, raised $10 million to kickstart its BTC accumulation efforts. The luxury watchmaker-turned-Bitcoin treasury announced Friday it raised $10 million from a group of investors led by zipper producer and software company WiseLink. The raise was accompanied by private investments from Chad Koehn, founder and CEO of United Capital Management of Kansas, alongside four other investors. WiseLink purchased three-year convertible notes issued by Top Win. The investment followed a memorandum of understanding between the two companies outlining a yet-to-be-disclosed collaboration. Read more
Buyer exhaustion may set the stage for a correction in August before investor capital surges into altcoins, as in previous market cycles. Investor sentiment toward cryptocurrencies surged this week, with growing retail interest in altcoins suggesting Bitcoin’s recent euphoria phase may be nearing an end, according to analysts. The crypto asset sentiment index rose from 0.23 to 0.91 within a week, according to Max Shannon, senior research associate at crypto index fund manager Bitwise. Google searches for altcoins and Ethereum also rose to a multiyear high, reminiscent of prior bear markets, which may signal a growing investor mindshare for altcoins and Ether (ETH), following Bitcoin’s latest all-time high above $124,000. Read more