Flexa partners with GK Software; Amp Community Forum and gasless voting now live; Community Grant proposal up for vote
The Amp Community Digest for Friday, September 24, 2021
While summer is ending, new updates for the Amp community just keep on coming. Read on to learn about how Amp holders can now propose, discuss and vote on community proposals, Flexa’s exciting new partnership with GK Software, and the latest developments in payments news.
For new community members, check out previous issues on Substack and subscribe to stay up to date. For additional, more frequent updates, make sure to join the Amp community on Discord and Twitter.
In case you missed it…
Flexa partners with GK Software
GK Software announced a partnership with Flexa to enable merchants using TransAction+, GK’s leading payment processing application, to seamlessly accept dozens of different digital currencies in a fast and completely fraud-proof way. Merchants already integrated on TransAction+ will be able to easily accept digital currency payments using the Flexa network.
Amp Community Forum and gasless voting now live
The Amp Community Forum and gasless voting went live this week. These tools provide new ways for users to voice their opinion and help guide the future of Amp. Anyone with Amp in a non-custodial wallet or staked Amp can participate. Take a look at the proposal to establish a community grant fund and make sure to participate in the first official Amp community vote!
New Amp community resources available
In addition to the forum and voting, lots of new documentation was published this week on the Amp website. These guides and other resources will serve as a great starting point for those who are new to the community and those who have been looking for guides to staking, FAQs, information about the ecosystem, and more.
NCR CTO discusses the future of cryptocurrencies
Tim Vanderham, Chief Technology Officer and SVP Software of NCR, was recently a guest on the Thinking Crypto podcast. During that appearance, he discussed how NCR is integrating digital currencies into their stack, what the customer experience will look like once those integrations go live, and the interest the company is seeing from banks, retailers, and restaurants in accepting crypto.
Metrics update
Current TVL of Flexa Capacity — $1.22 billion
Earn rewards for staking your Amp on the Flexa network toward the apps below:
Did you know?
The circulating supply of Amp staked in Flexa Capacity (rather than held in personal wallets or trading on exchanges) hit a new all-time high this week: 63% of all circulating supply was staked as of 11 a.m. ET on Friday, September 24.
DeFi and payments news
El Salvador leverages tax incentives to attract foreign investment
El Salvador continues to bet big on bitcoin with the introduction of new exemptions on income and capital gains taxes for bitcoin. El Salvador is hoping this will help attract additional foreign investment and capital to the country. In addition, ten Chivo bitcoin ATMs are now up and running in the US to help facilitate international remittance for Salvadorans.
Twitter introduces integrated tipping via Lightning payments
Jack Dorsey continues to lean into digital currencies with two new features coming to Twitter: Lightning payments and NFT verification badges showing the importance of cryptocurrency and digital payments in the future of business.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler presents his regulatory vision
SEC chair Gensler sat down with the Washington Post to talk about his vision of the regulatory path forward for digital assets. Gensler very clearly described that his position is to regulate the cryptocurrency industry before there’s “a spill on aisle 3” and compared stable coins to “poker chips at the casino.”
Time on China’s lead in CBDCs and why the US must pay attention
Time reports on the importance of CBDCs, China’s head start, and why the US should change course and embrace digital payments. The article also touches on how the regulatory regime and entrenched businesses have contributed to the US’ outlook on the industry.
Square goes QR contactless with Cash App Pay
Square introduced Cash App Pay, a QR code payment system, for contactless payments via the Cash App. Cash App Pay was the company’s response to customers’ growing interest in contactless QR code payments and in spending the money they have already loaded or received via the app.
From the community
Have you seen the Twitter bot that Telegram community member @b14ckd09 built, which tweets regular updates on the amount of Amp staked?