In light of Venmo’s recent increase in transaction fees, Dan Romero, co-founder of Farcaster, proposed the idea of a stablecoin payments app specifically for freelancers in the United States. This change in fee structure by the PayPal-owned mobile payment service has faced criticism from the community.
Romero’s suggestion of stablecoins as a solution was aimed at workers who fall under the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Form 1099, such as freelancers and independent contractors.
Financial analyst Ross Hendricks commented on Venmo’s fee hike, stating that PayPal has now activated the monetization feature for Venmo. This remark sparked a response from a user on X, initiating a shift in the conversation towards cryptocurrencies with just three words.
Hendricks then questioned the current state of cryptocurrency transfers, prompting the co-founder of Farcaster to ask for more details. In response, Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, mentioned that the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin on Base is being given a chance.
Romero, who was formerly a senior executive at Coinbase, commented on Armstrong’s response with a single word.
Hendricks expressed some skepticism about the use of USDC for everyday transactions, suggesting that things might not change as easily as some hope.
Another user on X joined in the discussion, stating their concerns about the volatility of cryptocurrencies.
This conversation took place after Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, announced on May 23 that XRP was once again available for trading on Coinbase in New York. Following a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Ripple in 2020, many centralized exchanges, including Coinbase, had delisted XRP due to allegations of selling unregistered securities. However, after Judge Analisa Torres ruled in 2023 that secondary sales of XRP do not qualify as securities transactions, centralized exchanges started to reconsider and relist the controversial digital asset.
In other news, a Hong Kong streaming firm plans to invest $100 million in cryptocurrencies, and Worldcoin has faced sanctions in Asia Express.