Today in Crypto: PayPal’s New Crypto Checkout, Monero Faces Hashrate Threat, and Tornado Cash Legal Battle Intensifies
In recent crypto developments, PayPal announced a new checkout feature enabling US merchants to accept payments in cryptocurrencies, privacy-focused Monero confronts a contentious mining pool takeover attempt, and Roman Storm, a Tornado Cash creator, seeks additional funds for his mounting legal defense.
PayPal Enables US Merchants to Accept Over 100 Cryptocurrencies
Payments giant PayPal revealed plans to launch a new checkout tool allowing US-based merchants (excluding New York residents) to accept crypto payments across more than 100 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), and XRP.
This feature integrates seamlessly with popular crypto wallets such as Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, OKX, Kraken, Binance, Phantom, and Exodus. When customers pay in crypto, the amounts are automatically converted into PayPal’s stablecoin, PYUSD, or traditional fiat currency at checkout. This mechanism aims to shield merchants from cryptocurrency price volatility and simplify transaction processing.
PayPal will charge merchants a 0.99% transaction fee for crypto payments, boasting a cost roughly 90% lower than typical credit card fees, which start at about 1.75% for providers like Visa. The new checkout solution targets particularly cross-border transactions, which PayPal notes are often costly and complex for small and medium enterprises. Currently, the rollout is limited to US merchants but could pave the way for expanded international use of PayPal’s own stablecoin.
Monero Faces “Economic Attack” Through Mining Pool Takeover Attempt
Monero (XMR), a leading privacy-centric cryptocurrency, is undergoing a controversial event as mining pool Qubic, co-founded by Iota’s Sergey Ivancheglo, attempts what is perceived as a network takeover via hashrate dominance.
Qubic initially positioned itself as a top Monero mining pool but has since dropped from first to seventh place in pool rankings following community pushback. The situation escalated after Qubic publicly disclosed in a blog post on June 30 that it had begun incentivizing mining Monero through its network, with mined XMR intended to fund ecosystem buybacks and token burns. Ivancheglo acknowledged on social media that once Qubic controlled the majority of the network’s mining power, it planned to reject blocks from competing pools, effectively making solo mining on Qubic the only viable option.
This strategy raised alarms over centralization risks and potential undermining of the Monero network’s security and decentralization principles. However, the subsequent drop in Qubic’s hashrate suggests diminishing immediate threat levels, reflecting strong community resistance to such “economic attack” attempts.
Roman Storm Seeks $1.5 Million More Amid Tornado Cash Trial
Roman Storm, one of the developers behind Tornado Cash — a decentralized cryptocurrency mixer — has issued an urgent appeal for an additional $1.5 million to cover escalating legal expenses as his high-profile trial enters its third week.
Storm’s fundraising campaign has accumulated over $3.2 million, representing 65% of the targeted $5 million total, with significant support including a $750,000 contribution from the Ethereum Foundation. The ongoing trial has broader implications, possibly setting a precedent for criminalizing open-source privacy tools and posing notable risks to decentralized finance innovation and privacy rights.
In his call for support, Storm emphasized the rapidly accumulating legal costs and his team’s continuous work to defend the protocol, highlighting the trial’s importance within the crypto community and beyond.
These developments underscore significant dynamics unfolding in the cryptocurrency space, from mainstream payment adoption and network security challenges to critical legal battles shaping the future of privacy and decentralization.
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