MoneyGram Processes 10% of US-Mexico Transactions via Ripple Solution 

Money transfer giant MoneyGram processes 10% of its transactions between the U.S. and Mexican corridor via Ripple’s payments solution On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) that leverages XRP cryptocurrency.

MoneyGram chairman and CEO Alex Holmes announced the news adding that the company plans to expand the use of ODL solution to four more corridors by the end of this year.

“We’re able to settle billions of dollars in seconds. The magic really comes from pairing MoneyGram transactions with Ripple’s ODL,” said Holmes.

In June, Ripple committed to investing up to $50 million in MoneyGram and the latter agreed to utilize XRP in its money transfer business. (Positive)

Crypto and Blockchain Jobs Have Increased By 26% Since 2018

Those seeking employment in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry have reason to be positive.

The number of bitcoin, blockchain and crypto-related employment ads in shares per million on the popular job listing site rose by 26 percent from 2018–2019, following a four-year trend of 1,457 percent growth in the sector, according to a “Seen by Indeed” study released Thursday.

On the other hand, sector-specific job searches dropped 53 percent over the same period, following a longer downward trend, the firm found. Enthusiasm among job hunters peaked during the height of the crypto bull market in late 2017, which saw bitcoin’s price reach an all-time high of around $20,000, but has gradually tailed off ever since.

This year’s top five sector jobs being posted by employers all revolve around computer work, with software engineering, software architect, full-stack developer and front-end developer being the most common positions.

The top 5 employers listing blockchain jobs are Deloitte, IBM, Accenture, Cisco and Collins Aerospace, coming in 1st through 5th, respectively. “Big Four” firm Ernst & Young joins Deloitte in the top 10.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain industry firms Coinbase (7th place), Overstock.com (8th) – which has as subsidiaries blockchain accelerator Medici Ventures and security token platform tZERO – Ripple (9th), telecoms giant Verizon comes in in 10th place, Circle (11th), Kraken (12th) and ConsenSys (13th) all make the list. Banks JPMorgan Chase, which is developing its own stablecoin, and crypto-company-friendly Signature Bank tail in at 14th and 15th. (Positive)

Hong Kong Regulator Approves License for Tencent’s Virtual Bank

Chinese internet giant Tencent is set to open a blockchain-based virtual bank after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) approved a new license.

Speaking at the World Blockchain Summit in Wuzhen, China, Tencent blockchain chief Yige Cai said the company’s virtual bank received the SFC’s green-light. Moving forward, the company will assemble a team to support the blockchain-based banking platform, according to Chinese media site Sina Finance.

“Hong Kong’s new regulations and supervision on digital assets transactions validates the importance of blockchain technology and digital assets, which is good news for the whole industry,” Cai said in his speech at the summit. 

The SFC has granted virtual bank licences to 12 entities so far. On the list is Infinium Limited, a joint venture between Tencent, Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (ICBC) and other two Hong Kong-based institutional investors.

Tencent renamed Infinium to Fusion Bank in July after it received the license in May. (Positive)