Latvian Central Bank at Odds With National Airline Over Bitcoin
After news broke this week that Latvian national air carrier airBaltic had quietly begun to accept Bitcoin payments, cryptocurrencies suddenly became a hot topic for Latvian policymakers. On Wednesday, a representative of Latvia’s central bank warned Latvians that Bitcoin is neither legal tender, nor is its value guaranteed by a central authority. Latvijas Bankas payment and financial analyst Deniss Fiļipovs said the lack of guarantees by a central authority means Bitcoin cannot be a store of value. Furthermore, he advised consumers to be aware of the fact that Bitcoin offers weak consumer....
Related News
Latvia's national airline, airBaltic, is becoming one of the latest companies around the world to embrace digital currency. The airline - established in 1995 - confirmed the news via Twitter Monday morning in response to a public inquiry. The low-cost Latvian flag carrier has a fleet size 25 aircraft and flies to approximately 60 destinations, and will gladly take your bits, provided you're able and willing to cough up €5.99 to pay off a transaction fee. Users on Twitter were quick to fire back, with one user saying, "Transaction fee?, you might be a little confused on how bitcoin works."....
The national carrier began accepting crypto payments in 2014. Passengers flying with Latvian airline airBaltic now have more cryptocurrency payment options.According to an announcement on the airline’s website on Monday, passengers can now pay for flight tickets using Ether (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE). Other accepted virtual currencies include Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as well as four U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins: USD Coin (USDC), Binance Dollar (BUSD), Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and Paxos (PAX).The airline began accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments back in July 2014. Indeed, the Latvian national carrier....
Updated with comment from BitPay. Latvian airline airBaltic has decided to eliminate its controversial transaction charge on bitcoin purchases. Earlier this week, the firm became the first European airline to accept bitcoin for flight bookings. The news was covered by digital currency news outlets and even some mainstream media, putting Latvia firmly on the cryptocurrency map. However, enthusiasm soon waned after it emerged that the airline was still charging its standard €5.99 fee on bitcoin transactions - the same as customers paying with a credit card. Prompt u-turn. The airline....
Last April, Latvian airline airBaltic declared it would become the world’s first commercial carrier to issue non-fungible tokens. Now, Australia’s flag carrier Qantas has jumped on the digital asset bandwagon. The airline stated on Tuesday that it was preparing to launch a new collection of NFT digital art collectibles. NFTs appear to be ubiquitous these […]
A Latvian national has been handed over to the United States where he is accused of fraud through several companies offering false crypto investment opportunities. Ivars Auzins will appear in a federal court in Brooklyn to face multiple charges of wire and securities fraud. Latvian Authorities Transfer Alleged Crypto Fraudster to US Custody Ivars Auzins, a citizen of the small Baltic nation of Latvia, was extradited to the United States on Friday. The Latvian has been handed over to the American judiciary on a six-count indictment charging him with wire fraud, securities fraud, and....