The Federal Reserve (Fed) announced it will shut down its program with additional scrutiny over crypto and fintech activities.

On an August 15 statement, the central bank said it will sunset the Novel Activities Supervision Program and return to monitoring banks’ crypto and fintech activities through standard supervisory processes.

The Fed established the specialized program in August 2023 to enhance oversight of banking organizations engaging in crypto activities, distributed ledger technology projects, and complex technology partnerships with non-banks. 

The program targeted activities that regulators deemed novel and potentially risky to financial stability.

The Fed stated:

“Since the Board started its program to supervise certain crypto and fintech activities in banks, the Board has strengthened its understanding of those activities, related risks, and bank risk management practices.”

The regulator will integrate knowledge gained from the program into standard supervisory processes while rescinding the 2023 supervisory letter that created the initiative.

The program’s dissolution follows several pro-cryptocurrency moves by federal regulators this year. 

The Federal Reserve Board removed reputational risk from its bank supervision program on June 23, ordering staff to strike the term from examination manuals and concentrate on measurable financial exposures.

The Fed’s move positions the central bank alongside the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which made similar changes this year. 

The coordinated revisions eliminate a subjective standard that experts said allowed examiners to block banking services to crypto firms and prevented banks from offering basic crypto-related services.

Furthermore, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released a joint statement explaining how existing banking rules apply when institutions custody crypto for customers. 

The guidance describes safekeeping as holding digital assets on clients’ behalf while stressing that it does not create new supervisory demands.

Regulators instructed boards and executives to view crypto custody as a service that relies on exclusive control of private keys and other sensitive data, requiring banks to prove no other party can unilaterally move assets once they enter custody.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell laid the groundwork for the regulatory shift in an April 16 speech. In it, he urged Congress to establish a stablecoin framework and stated that the Fed does not intend to limit lawful relationships between banks and crypto firms. 

Powell acknowledged that regulators adopted a conservative stance after the 2022 market failures but indicated that some guidance may be relaxed to accommodate responsible innovation.

The program’s end represents a broader normalization of crypto banking supervision as regulators gain confidence in their understanding of digital asset risks and develop clearer frameworks for institutional participation in crypto markets.

Mentioned in this article

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet is seeking to raise 555 billion yen ($3.73 billion) through a new stock offering to support its aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy.

The company, which is known as “Asia’s Strategy,” announced Friday that it will issue perpetual preferred shares to fund its goal of acquiring 210,000 Bitcoin (BTC) by the end of 2027. The shares will offer up to a 6% annual dividend, depending on market conditions and investor demand.

“The Company intends to actively pursue equity financing as part of its ‘Bitcoin Strategy,’ which aims to acquire 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027,” it said. “We believe that introducing Bitcoin-backed preferred shares represents a pioneering effort to fill this gap.”

Related: ‘Apple should buy Bitcoin,’ Saylor says, as share buyback disappoints

Metaplanet’s stock offering comes a day after Cointelegraph reported corporate crypto treasury firms had surpassed $100 billion in collective investments, with Bitcoin-focused treasuries amassing $93 billion worth of that value.

Continued corporate accumulation from the likes of Strategy and Metaplanet, paired with the growing money supply, could push Bitcoin’s price above $132,000 before the end of 2025 based on Bitcoin’s correlation with the global M2 money supply.

Strategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasury firm, has also launched similar capital-raising efforts. On July 22, the firm announced a new type of Bitcoin-backed stock pegged to $100 per share with an initial monthly dividend of 9% annually.

Related: Satoshi-era $9.7B Bitcoin OG: Galaxy moves another $1.1B to exchanges

Bitcoin’s next macro catalyst hiding in plain sight

Despite the illiquid period characteristic of the summer time, Bitcoin’s next significant monetary catalyst may occur as soon as September.

As Washington heads into its summer recess, “attention will likely shift to fiscal matters once Congress reconvenes after Labor Day on September 2,” according to a Friday research report by Matrixport, which said: 

“Fiscal uncertainty has historically been a powerful tailwind for hard assets, and Bitcoin remains front and center in the narrative.”

Despite the significance of US Crypto Week and continued accumulation by crypto treasury firms, the “real macro driver is hiding in plain sight,” the report added.

Meanwhile, markets are currently pricing in a 60.8% chance that the Fed will keep interest rates steady during the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Sept. 17, according to the latest estimates of the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Magazine: Bitcoin OG Willy Woo has sold most of his Bitcoin — Here’s why

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/metaplanet-plans-to-raise-additional-3-7b-to-buy-bitcoin/feed/ 0 50866 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-government-to-be-hit-with-3300000000000-in-additional-deficits-under-senate-tax-bill-cbo/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-government-to-be-hit-with-3300000000000-in-additional-deficits-under-senate-tax-bill-cbo/#respond Mon, 30 Jun 2025 20:16:45 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-government-to-be-hit-with-3300000000000-in-additional-deficits-under-senate-tax-bill-cbo/

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that the government will have to take on an extra $3.3 trillion in deficits if the White House’s Big Beautiful Bill passes.

In a new report, the non-partisan budget watchdog says that the bill would add $3.9 trillion to the national debt, stemming from roughly $4.5 trillion in net tax cuts and nearly $300 billion in spending increases, partially offset by almost $1.5 trillion in spending cuts.

The CBO also estimates that the bill will increase debt interest costs by nearly $700 billion.

“Even these numbers understate the potential costs of the bill, since the legislation relies on a number of arbitrary expirations. Borrowing could rise by another $1 trillion – to $5 trillion or more – if temporary provisions were made permanent.

The Senate should reject this bill and work toward a fiscally responsible alternative that reduces rather than explodes our high and rising debt.”

Senate GOP leaders are targeting around July 4 to complete the bill’s passage, but progress is uncertain due to internal resistance and looming deadlines.

Earlier this month, billionaire Paul Tudor Jones said that the US government is in a debt trap, and will need to run negative real rates – or set interest rates lower than the rate of inflation, in order to devalue its debt.

Jones says that the “playbook is clear” as far as what the government is going to need to do, giving an edge to investors looking to position themselves.

Besides stocks, he mentions Bitcoin (BTC) and gold as portfolio staples moving forward.

“We’re going to have negative real rates and that’s why you have to think about what is facing our policy makers in this debt trap as you construct your portfolio. So, what would an ideal portfolio be in something like that? Well, what has worked so far? What has worked so far has been some combination of stocks – which won’t do great, which would do terribly if they called us out on the bond market…

But it would be some combination of probably volatility-adjusted Bitcoin, gold, stocks. That’s probably your best portfolio to fight inflation.”

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CoinPayments Integration Guide Steps

Overview of Step 3: Additional Features

Now that your CoinPayments account is operational, you can leverage more features to manage your crypto assets effectively. By the end of this guide, you will be able to use the following features to optimize asset management and security: 

1. Recover Assets: Recover assets sent to the wrong address within the same blockchain. 
2. Auto-Sweep: Automate withdrawals or conversions when your wallet reaches a specified balance. 
3. Secured Vaulting: Add a time-release lock on specific wallets for enhanced security. 
4. Transaction History 
5. Webhook History 
6. Fiat Settlement (TBD) 

These tools are designed to simplify your crypto operations while ensuring your funds are secure and accessible. 

Recover Assets 

Mistakenly sending assets to the wrong address can be a common issue, but CoinPayments offers a self-service solution to recover such assets sent to the wrong address for all tokens within the SAME blockchain. The feature allows for automatic or manual handling of recovery and is available ONLY for deposits to merchant addresses.  

Example: 

If you provide an ETH address to customers for deposits and a customer accidentally sends USDT.ERC20 to this address, CoinPayments will treat this as a mistake because token balances and native coin balances are managed separately. The system identifies the deposit’s currency and automatically forwards the funds to your USDT primary balance. This ensures that assets are not lost due to address mismatches. Here’s how to set up the feature: 

Set Up Automatic Handling

1. Activate Auto-Accept for Incorrect Deposits: 
   • Go to the Balances tab and turn on the Auto-Accept Incorrect Deposits into Primary Balances toggle. 

• Once an erroneous deposit is detected, CoinPayments identifies the currency being sent and forwards the funds to your primary wallet for that currency. 
• The transaction will appear in your Transaction History as a successful deposit. 

If a customer sends USDT to your ETH address, the system will redirect the funds to your USDT main wallet, and this will be recorded as a successful deposit. 

Set Up Manual Handling 

For greater control over how erroneous deposits are managed, you can opt for manual handling. This allows you to review flagged transactions and decide whether to claim the funds. 

1. Deactivate Automatic Handling: 
   • Go to the Balances tab and turn off Auto-Accept Incorrect Deposits into Primary Balances toggle. 

• When an erroneous deposit is detected, CoinPayments identifies the currency and marks the transaction as Pending in your Transaction History. 
• Example: If a customer sends USDT.ERC20 to your ETH address, the system will flag this deposit as pending in your USDT main wallet. 

2. Claiming the Deposit: 
   • Open the flagged transaction in your Transaction History. 
   • Click Claim Deposit to transfer the funds to your primary wallet for the detected currency.

Note: CoinPayments charges a handling fee of approximately 1% for processing erroneous transactions, and the net amount credited to your wallet will reflect this deduction. 

Auto-Sweep 

The Auto-Sweep feature allows you to automatically withdraw and/or convert the entire balance of a specific coin wallet once it reaches a designated balance level.  

Once enabled, it is a convenient tool for automating asset management and ensuring your funds are transferred or converted without manual intervention. 

This feature needs to be set up for each coin individually. 

Key Features 

• Automatically withdraw balances that exceed a specified minimum amount. 
• Convert funds to another cryptocurrency if the destination address is for a different coin e.g. receive Bitcoin, convert automatically to USDT. 

How to Set Up Auto-Sweep 

1. Locate and Open Auto-Sweep Settings:
   • Go to the Balances tab on your CoinPayments dashboard. 
   • Scroll down to locate the wallet of the coin for which you want to enable Auto-Sweep. 
   • Click on the coin wallet to open its settings. 
   • Select the Auto-Sweep tab within the wallet’s settings. 

2. Configure the Auto-Sweep Settings:  
   • Choose the wallet to Auto-Sweep from. By default, this will be the Primary Balance. 

3. Set a Trigger Amount: 
   • Enter the minimum balance level that will trigger the Auto-Sweep 

4. Choose the Destination Wallet/Address: 
   • Select the wallet or address where the funds will be sent. 
   • If the destination wallet is for a different cryptocurrency, the funds will be automatically converted.

Note: In case of conversion, you need to generate a new wallet address for the coin you want to convert into (e.g. for auto-sweep from BTC to ETH, you need to create an ETH address where converted funds will auto-sweep from the BTC wallet). You can create a new address for the destination coin for auto-sweep from the Balances tab. 

5. Save and Confirm: 
   • Click the Save button to apply your settings. 
   • Confirm the changes using your two-factor authentication (2FA) method.

• A confirmation email will be sent to your registered email address immediately after setup. 

Secured Vaulting 

The Vaulting feature provides an additional layer of security for your CoinPayments account by placing a time-release lock on specific coin wallets. This ensures that the balance in the locked wallet cannot be withdrawn, transferred, converted, or used in any way until it is unlocked.  

Key Features 

• Restricted Access: While locked, your coins cannot be accessed or used, but payments and deposits to the wallet remain uninterrupted. 
• Time-Release Lock: Once unlocked, a pre-specified delay (up to 56 hours) must pass before access is granted. 
• Email Notifications: You’ll receive an email notification when the lock is removed, giving you time to take action if your account has been compromised. 

How to Lock Coins in the Vault: 

1. Locate and Open the Vaulting Tab:
   • Go to the Balances tab on your CoinPayments dashboard. 
   • Scroll down to find the wallet of the coin you wish to lock in the vault. 
   • Click on the coin wallet to open its settings and select the Vaulting tab.  

2. Set the Lock Duration: 
   • Enter the amount of time (up to 56 hours) you wish to lock the coins after they are released. 
   • Click Lock Balance. 

3. Review Vaulting Terms: 
   • Read through the list of actions that are restricted while your coins are locked. 

4. Confirm and Complete: 
   • Click the Lock Balance button to finalize the vaulting process. 

Important Notes 

• Vaulting is a proactive measure to prevent unauthorized access or movement of funds in case of a breach. 
• You cannot cancel or adjust the lock duration once it is set until the specified time passes. 
• Use this feature for high-security wallets or funds not required for immediate transactions. 

Transaction History

The Transaction History feature allows you to review all incoming and outgoing transactions within your account. This includes deposits, withdrawals, conversions, and payments for goods and services. It provides a comprehensive record of your account activity, ensuring transparency and accountability. 

 To access the feature in the main dashboard menu navigate to the Transactions tab.

Transaction Types 

CoinPayments Transaction History tracks the following types of transactions: 

• Received: Deposits sent to primary balances or API wallets/addresses. 
• Sent: Withdrawals from primary balances or API wallets/addresses. 
• Conversion: Currency conversions performed between currencies activated for your account. 
• Invoice: Payments for invoices created using the Invoice Builder. 
• Payment: Payments made via payment buttons, plugins, or API-generated invoices. 

Details Available for Each Transaction 

The Transaction History provides detailed information for every transaction, including: 

1. Transaction date. 
2. Transaction type (e.g., received, sent, conversion, etc.). 
3. Transaction status. 
4. Currency involved, including source and destination currencies in case conversion is involved 
5. Transaction amount in both crypto and fiat currencies. 
6. Address or wallet where the transaction was sent or received. 
7. Breakdown of the transaction amount, including gross, net, and fees (in both crypto and fiat currencies). 
8. Transaction progress, including confirmations on the blockchain. 
9. Blockchain transaction ID. 
10. Support ID for addressing issues with the CoinPayments Support team. 

Transaction Status Descriptions 

Each transaction type has specific statuses that provide updates on its progress: 

Received: 

• Created: Transaction is initiated by the customer and detected on the blockchain by CoinPayments. 
• Confirmations: Indicates the number of confirmations received on the blockchain. Funds are deposited only after full confirmation. 
• Completed: Transaction has the required confirmations, and funds are deposited into your wallet. 

Sent: 

• Created: Transaction is initiated and sent to the recipient (internal or external). 
• Completed: For internal transactions, funds are deposited into the destination wallet; for external transactions, funds are placed on the blockchain and tracked until full confirmation. 

Conversion: 

• Created: Transaction is initiated by you for conversion. 
• Funds Sent: Transaction is put on the blockchain to be sent to a 3^rd party converter 
• Funds Converted: Funds converted. Deposit in the destination currency is expected to be put on blockchain 
• Funds Transferred: Incoming funds are detected on the blockchain. 
• Conversion Completed: Funds deposited to your balance. 

Invoice/Payment: 

• Created: Payment for goods/services is initiated and detected on the blockchain. 
• Confirmations: Indicates the number of confirmations the transaction has received on the blockchain. When transaction has received the required number of confirmations, it means that Coinpayments has received the funds and is planning the payout to your wallet/address depending on the payout mode selected for this specific currency in your Payment Settings.
• Payout Scheduled – Coinpayments has scheduled the payout of funds to your wallet balance based on your Payment Settings for the specific currency. 
• Converting – Funds are being converted if the selected payout mode includes conversion. 
• Sent to you – Converted funds are sent to the final destination wallet. 
• Completed – Funds are either deposited to internal wallets after completing all blockchain confirmations or are sent to external addresses.  

Export Transaction History:

You can export transaction history to your device to manipulate the records locally for your accounting purposes. To export history click Export.

The history will be downloaded to your device in the .csv format.

You can filter out the records that you want to download by applying filters by date.

Webhook History 

The Webhook History feature allows you to review all webhook notifications for all integrations, wallets and addresses for which webhook url has been provided. This includes deposits, withdrawals, conversions and payments made for buttons created via API and invoices created via API or e-commerce integrations.

To access the feature in the main dashboard menu navigate to Integrations > Webhook History.

Transaction Types 

CoinPayments Webhook History tracks notifications for the following types of transactions: 

• Received, Sent, Conversion: transactions sent from/to API wallets/addresses. You can provide a url for the wallet or for a specific address within the wallet. In case you set up a url for an address, it overrides the url set up for the wallet where the address belongs. 
• Invoice: Payments for invoices created using the API or e-commerce integration. 
• Payment: Payments made via payment buttons generated via API integration. 

Details Available for Each Notification 

The Webhook History provides detailed information for every transaction, including: 

1. Webhook notification date and time. 
2. Transaction type (e.g., received, sent, conversion, invoice, payment). 
3. Transaction amount and currency. 
4. Transaction status. 
5. Webhook notification status. 
6. Time when the notification was sent and number of tries to reach the webhook URL 
7. Transaction support ID with the CoinPayments system. 
8. Integration name under which transaction is performed. 
9. Webhook URL. 

Webhook Notification Status Descriptions 

Webhook notifications have the following statuses that provide updates on their progress: 

• Sent – webhook notification successfully delivered to the webhook URL 
• Failed – webhook notification failed to be delivered to the webhook URL and all the retries are expired
  • NOTE: CoinPayments takes 10 tries to deliver the webhook notification to the specified URL. In case automatic delivery fails, the notification status is set to failed. You can still resend the notification manually by using the retry button.
• Retrying – webhook notification is being delivered to the webhook URL. CoinPayments is retrying to deliver the notification to the webhook URL 

Setting up Webhook Notifications 

Via Dashboard UI

You can set up webhook notifications for invoices via CoinPayments Dashboard UI.
NOTE: The URL that will be provided in the Dashboard UI will be the default URL for all invoices created via API unless overwritten for a specific invoice. Invoices created via Invoice Builder do not support webhook notifications.  

1. Go to Integrations. 
2. Select the integration for which you want to set up notifications. 
3. Enter the URL for sending webhooks into the Webhook URL field

1. You can add as many links as you want by clicking Add button.
2. Click on the Settings button. Select the notification types you want to receive 

1. Then click Save. 

Via API 

You can set up webhook notification via API when creating invoices, wallets and addresses. 

For invoices, use `webhooks` object in the `createInvoice` endpoint request.  
Url provided for a specific invoice overrides the default webhook notification URL set up via Dashboard UI. 

For wallets, use `webhookUrl` attribute in the `createWallet` endpoint request. 
Notifications for all transactions within the wallet will be sent to this address. 

You can specify a webhook URL at the address level. For this use `notificationUrl` attribute in the `createAddress` endpoint request.  Notifications for all transactions associated with the address will be sent to this URL. This URL overrides the webhook URL set up at the wallet level where the address belongs. 

Ready to Move on to the Next Step?

Click here to go to Step 4: Testing Your CoinPayments Integration

Editor’s take: Modern PC peripherals are jam-packed with features and customization options, so they usually require bloated software tools to express their full potential. Corsair, one of the worst offenders in the bulky software business, is now offering an alternative – at least when it comes to updating a device’s firmware.

Corsair recently introduced a web-based utility for installing newer firmware versions for PC peripherals. The Firmware Update Utility allows users to “effortlessly” update a device’s microcode using a browser, eliminating the need to install complex companion software.

Corsair Vice President Tobias Brinkmann said they developed the new tool in response to customer feedback. The web-based installer is lightweight and flexible – though accessing a device’s low-level hardware over the internet might sound counterintuitive to many.

Corsair already offers its iCUE software suite for customizing keyboards, mice, and other compatible gear, including RGB lighting effects. The last time I updated iCUE to tweak the lighting on my Corsair K70 Lux mechanical keyboard (Cherry MX Brown switches), the installer was a hefty 430MB – so it’s safe to assume the software has only gotten more bloated since.

Those looking to keep their device’s firmware up-to-date will likely never force themselves to suffer the iCUE ordeal. The new web-based tool lets customers access the latest firmware directly from Corsair servers. It even has an option to register via email and get notifications when a new firmware version is available.

Corsair describes the firmware update tool as convenient, accessible, and portable – so feel free to give it a shot if you’re comfortable letting a web browser mess with your hardware. The company shared a list of currently supported devices and promised to add new and existing peripherals over time. Eventually, the web tool might get additional features, too, meaning the bloat will remain on your browser instead of your computer.

The Firmware Update Utility currently works with select Chromium-based browsers – Chrome, Edge, and Opera – but doesn’t support Firefox or Safari yet. PC World notes that it can detect connected devices and check for available firmware updates. Still, installing firmware directly from a web app feels strange, no matter how convenient it sounds.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled plans to host four more crypto-focused roundtables in Washington, D.C., as part of its broader initiative to reshape digital asset regulation.

According to a March 25 statement, these sessions will explore key areas such as crypto trading, custody, tokenization, and DeFi.

The first event, Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading, is set for April 11. Discussions on custody, tokenization, and DeFi will follow on April 25, May 12, and June 6.

All roundtables will be available via live stream on the SEC’s website to encourage public engagement.

These events are part of the Commission’s ongoing effort to modernize its oversight of the crypto sector. Since launching its Crypto Task Force, the financial regulator has emphasized the need for balance—protecting investors while supporting innovation.

The initiative builds on the Commission’s first crypto roundtable on March 21. Despite varying opinions, participants shared a common demand—regulatory clarity. The dialogue emphasized the need for updated policies that better reflect the unique challenges of crypto markets.

Why SEC roundtables?

According to the SEC, the planned roundtables would help the “Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.”

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the Crypto Task Force, stressed the importance of direct engagement with industry experts. She noted that the sessions offer meaningful debate opportunities, helping shape a more effective regulatory path forward.

According to her:

“The Crypto Task Force roundtables are an opportunity for us to hear a lively discussion among experts about what the regulatory issues are and what the Commission can do to solve them.”

Meanwhile, this development comes amid a dramatic shift in the SEC’s stance under the Trump administration.

The agency has dismantled its crypto-enforcement program and dropped several high-profile cases and investigations involving firms like Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, Gemini, and OpenSea.

The changes point to a significant transition—from broad enforcement actions to a clearer, more structured regulatory environment for the US crypto industry.

Mentioned in this article

Lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives proposed a bill to prevent extra taxes on crypto payments and address mining, staking, and regulation of digital assets and investments by the state retirement systems.

Lawmakers Introduce ‘Ohio Blockchain Basis Act’

On Monday, Ohio lawmakers introduced the “Ohio Blockchain Basis Act,” or House Bill 116 (HB116), to amend the existing legislation and prevent state and local governments from imposing additional taxes on crypto assets used as a payment method.

Sponsored by Representative Steve Demetriou and co-sponsored by Tex Fischer, Brian Lorenz, Ty D. Mathews, Riordan McClain, and Josh Williams, Bill 116 aims to prevent the General Assembly from enacting “a bill that proposes to impose a fee, tax, assessment, or other change on digital assets used as a method of payment for goods and services.”

Ohio lawmakers introduce House Bill 116. Source: LegiScan

If passed, HB116 would still allow fees, taxes, assessments, or other charges that usually apply to legal tender transactions on crypto transactions.

It also mandates that no political subdivision or state agency could prohibit Ohio residents from accepting digital assets as payment for goods and services or restrict them from custodying their crypto assets using hardware or self-hosted wallets.

Under the proposed bill, individuals are not required to have a money transmitter license to engage in crypto mining, staking, or exchanging a crypto asset for another digital asset, while businesses offering mining or staking services won’t be “considered to be offering a security or investment contract.”

Moreover, the state retirement funds will be required to evaluate the potential risks and benefits of investing in crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and write a report for the General Assembly within a year.

Ohio Continues Crypto Legislation Efforts

This move follows other similar proposals from Ohio lawmakers, including former Ohio state senator Niraj Antani’s proposed Senate Bill 317 last September.

If passed, the bill would have required the state to accept digital assets for state taxes and fee payments and allowed state institutions and pension funds to invest in digital assets. However, according to LegiScan, the bill only progressed 25% before dying in Committee.

Moreover, Ohio State Representative Derek Merrin introduced a bill in December to create a BTC reserve within the state treasury.

The “Ohio Bitcoin Reserve Act,” or House Bill 703, aimed to establish a dedicated fund within Ohio’s treasury and provide the State Treasurer with a legal framework that allows them to purchase and hold BTC.

Most recently, Ohio Senator Sandra O’Brien introduced Senate Bill 57, a second bill to allow the state to invest in Bitcoin and create the “Ohio Bitcoin Reserve Fund.” If passed, the proposed legislation will require the state’s Bitcoin investments to be held for five years.

The State Senator asserted, “The crypto world is here, and Ohio needs to be a leader. Crypto will be a major part of President Trump’s term. When his working group issues recommendations, Ohio will be ready.”

Bitcoin trades at $88,960 in the one-week chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Enable Useful Merchant Payment Features

Now that you have completed your ecommerce store integration setup, you may want to consider using some of the additional convenience features offered through the CoinPayments platform, such as:

1. Auto-Sweep
2. Auto-Convert & Forwarding
3. Fiat Settlement
4. Discounts & Mark-Ups
5. Secured Vaulting
6. $PayByName

These automated features help manage the coins in your account by forwarding balances to other wallets, converting balances to other coins, settling balances to fiat, storing balances more securely, and much more. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set them up:

1) Auto-Sweep

The Auto-Sweep feature allows you to automatically withdraw and/or convert your entire balance of a specific coin every night (at approx. midnight EST, GMT-0500). 

Once enabled, this feature will allow you to automatically take your entire balance (when above a certain minimum amount set by you) and convert it to another coin (if the conversion pair is supported) and/or send off the CoinPayments platform to any address you specify. 

This feature needs to be set up for each coin individually. Conversion is supported for any coin listed on ShapeShift, Changelly or Kyber. 

**Please note the conversion feature requires you to generate a new wallet address for the coin you want to convert into (done through the wallets page).

To setup Auto-Sweep:

1. Login to your CoinPayments account.
2. Go to the Your Wallet tab on the dashboard.
3. Scroll down to find the wallet of the coin for which you want to setup Auto-Sweep.
4. Click the Options button dropdown menu on the right, then click Auto-Sweep. Screenshot: Auto-Sweep Menu
5. Click the check box at the top to Enable Auto-Sweep. Screenshot: Auto-Sweep Settings
6. Select if you want the coin to be automatically converted before withdrawing.
7. Enter the wallet address you want to withdraw to (if converting you can leave blank to send back to the CoinPayments wallet of the converted coin).
8. Enter the minimum amount/balance of coin to trigger the Auto-Sweep feature (must be higher than the Minimum Auto-Sweep Amount).
9. Click the Update Settings button to save your changes.

2) Auto-Convert & Forwarding

When you receive a payment as a merchant you can (in real-time) have that payment converted into another coin (Auto-Convert) or have that payment forwarded directly to a specified address, typically off the CoinPayments platform (Forwarding). 

To set up automatic conversions of a balance of coins every night, please use the Auto-Sweep feature above. 

**Please note the conversion feature requires you to generate a new wallet address for the coin you want to convert into (done through the wallets page).

The Auto-Convert feature is handy for merchants looking to accept many different coins as payment, but only wanting to receive and store a specific coin in their wallet. 

Both Auto-Convert & Forwarding features are enabled for each individual coin as a Payout Mode option in the Coin Settings tab on the dashboard. 

The Payout Mode options are:

• To Balance: Received payments are stored in your CoinPayments wallet for later withdrawal at your leisure.
• ASAP: Received payments are sent to the address you specify as soon as they are received and confirmed.
• Nightly: Received payments are grouped together and sent daily (at approx. midnight EST). Rather than paying sending fees for each transaction (like ASAP), you pay only one sending fee for the entire group.
• To Balance + Convert: Received payments are converted to the selected coin and stored in your CoinPayments wallet. In some cases such as if the amount received is too large to convert at current market volumes you may receive the original currency instead.
• ASAP + Convert: Received payments are converted to the selected coin and sent to the address specified. In some cases such as if the amount received is too large to convert at current market volumes you may receive the original currency instead in your CoinPayments wallet.

To setup Auto-Convert and/or Forwarding:

1. When logged into your CoinPayments account, go to the Coin Settings tab on the dashboard.
2. Find the coin you want to enable and click the Payout Mode drop down menu beside it. Screenshot: Payout Mode
3. Select To Balance + Convert (send converted coins to your CoinPayments wallet) OR select ASAP + Convert (send converted coins to address you specify).
4. A new dropdown box will appear below. Select which coin you want to convert the payment into.
5. If you selected ASAP + Convert, then enter the address where you want to send the converted coins.
6. If you want to Forward the payment only (no conversion), then select ASAP, then enter the address where you want to send the payment.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Update Coin Preferences button.

3) Fiat Settlement

For convenience and to help remove price volatility, CoinPayments has integrated various fiat settlement services allowing merchants to convert (in real time) their incoming crypto payments into USD, EUR, CNY, AUS and many more. We have Coinmotion integrated to settle into EURO and we have Wyre integrated to settle into 9 different fiat currencies.

4) Discounts & Mark-Ups

CoinPayments has a built-in feature allowing merchants to set discounts or mark-ups on payments for specific coins. 

For example, you can offer a 10% discount on checkout when paying with Dogecoin or you can add a mark-up of 0.5% to cover our processing fee (or higher to cover conversion fees) when customers pay with a specific coin. The flexibility is available to allow you to customize the discount or mark-up however you want.

To set Discounts or Mark-Ups:

1. Log into your CoinPayments account and go to the Coin Settings tab on the dashboard.
2. Find the coin you want to enable this feature for and enter a percentage amount for the Discount or Mark-Up. Screenshot: Discount and Mark-Up
3. Enter a positive number to provide a Discount for the customer when paying in this specific coin.
4. Enter a negative number to add a Mark-Up for the customer when paying in this specific coin.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Update Coin Preferences button.

5) Secured Vaulting

The Lock in Vault feature adds an additional layer of security to your account by placing a time-release lock on specific coin wallets. 

Once enabled, the entire balance of a specific coin can’t be withdrawn, transferred, converted, or used in any way until unlocked. You can still receive payments and deposits without interruption. 

Once you unlock your coins from the vault, you have to wait the pre-specified amount of time before getting access to your locked coins again. 

This additional security feature will notify you by email when unlocked, providing you with enough time to contact us in case your account has been breached.

To lock coins in the vault:

1. Login to your CoinPayments account and go to the Your Wallet tab on the dashboard.
2. Scroll down to find the wallet of the coin for which you want to lock in the vault.
3. Click the Options button dropdown menu on the right, then click Lock in Vault.
4. Read through the full list of what you can and can’t do while your coins are locked. Screenshot: Lock in Vault
5. Enter the amount of time you wish to have the coins locked once they are released (the default is 24 hours).
6. Click the Lock Balance button to complete the vaulting process.

6) Customizable Wallet Addresses & $PayByName

$PayByName

$PayByName is a feature on CoinPayments that provides one unique and convenient $tag to receive payments from all coins. 

Instead of having to input a destination wallet address for a specific cryptocurrency, the sender can instead use the receiver’s $PayByName, allowing the recipient of the transaction to receive ANY coin supported by CoinPayments to their one unique $PayByName. 

This feature can only be used when the sender and receiver are both using CoinPayments for the transaction. 

All $PayByName name tags are prefixed by the $ symbol. For example, CoinPayments’ own tag is $CoinPayments. 

A $PayByName tag can be purchased through the CoinPayments platform for $1.99 USD and lasts for 1 year.

To purchase a $PayByName:

1. Login to your CoinPayments account and go to the$PayByName tab on the dashboard or in the navigation menu.
2. Select to purchase 1, 5 or 10 $PayByName tags. Screenshot: $PayByName Purchase
3. Click the shopping cart payment button in the Redirect box.
4. Enter First Name, Last Name and select which coin you want to use for payment then click the Complete Payment button.
5. You will be redirected to the payment screen to send your payment to address provided.
6. When payment completes, go back to the$PayByName page and you should see a new “Unclaimed” $PayByName tag.
7. Click the Claim Tag button. Screenshot: PayByName Tag List
8. Enter your new $PayByName tag and click the Claim Now! Button. Screenshot: Claim PayByName Tag
9. If the tag is available you will be redirected back to the $PayByName page where it will show the expiry date.
10. You can now provide this $PayByName tag to other CoinPayments users to receive payments in any coin supported by CoinPayments!

Click here for more details about $PayByName.

Unstoppable Domains

CoinPayments teamed up with Unstoppable Domains to enable users to simplify their wallet addresses. 

You can replace your long and complicated wallet address with a domain name of your choice. Choose any name you want, and receive cryptocurrency securely. 

Get your own [NAME].crypto domain by using this affiliate link. 

FIO Protocol

CoinPayments’ FIO Protocol integration is another way for users to send/receive crypto without long wallet addresses. Instead, all they have to do is enter a simple, human-readable FIO Crypto Handle (e.g., cryptofan@hodl) at checkout.

Learn more about the FIO Protocol integration and how to set it up by watching this video. 

Ready to Move on to the Next Step?

Click here to go to STEP 4: Testing Integration