What if paying with crypto was as easy and as fun as sending a meme on X?

In the latest episode of The Clear Crypto Podcast, StarkWare’s Nathan Jeffay and Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson sit down with Stefana Banciu, growth lead at Pulsar Money, to explore how blockchain is bringing payments into the digital age, with speed, transparency and a dash of playfulness.

Transforming Web3 payments

Banciu lays out how Pulsar is pushing the frontier of Web3 payments with features like social transfers that allow users to send crypto directly through X, simply by tagging a handle. 

“You can actually have super seamless, easy and convenient payments, and it can also be super fun.”

The episode cuts through the crypto jargon to tackle a question with mainstream resonance: Why aren’t we using crypto for everyday transactions yet?

“I wish I could say yes, but that wouldn’t be a true reflection of the state of affairs,” Jenkinson admits when asked if crypto is widely used for payments. He points to Mastercard-linked crypto cards as a stopgap, but says the real revolution hasn’t yet reached the coffee shop counter.

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For Banciu, the path forward lies in bridging fun and fundamentals. While crypto’s founding ideals include borderless, permissionless transfers and low fees, she says onboarding the next wave of users will require experiences that are intuitive, social and entertaining.

Their platform includes a “social payments module” that lets users send crypto directly through X by tagging a handle, a small but powerful step toward making transactions feel more like communication than banking.

“You can actually send funds directly on Twitter,” Banciu says.

 “This is a cool use case to showcase people that yes, with crypto payments you can actually have super seamless, easy and convenient payments.”

But convenience alone isn’t enough. Banciu says making crypto fun is key to onboarding the next wave of users.

“We all know within the crypto space, the whole community that is here for perhaps something else than payments, which is quite boring, right?” she adds. “So we said, OK, why not think of a way to onboard users, make them do payments in a fun way?”

For Jenkinson, making crypto usable as a true “medium of exchange” is essential to its legitimacy.

“If we’re not using cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange, then it’s not solving one of the core characteristics that makes money, money.”

To hear the full conversation on The Clear Crypto Podcast,  listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph’s Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And don’t forget to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows! 

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Bitcoin’s price trajectory may be suppressed ahead of its upcoming “omega candle” rally, according to Prince Filip Karađorđević, the hereditary prince of Serbia and Yugoslavia.

In an April 24 interview with Simply Bitcoin, Filip said some market participants may be limiting Bitcoin (BTC) price action.

“People are able to control the market to some extent,” he said. “Maybe that’s what acted on the 2021 market that suppressed its price from jumping high up. We could get that again in 2025, but there will be one point where [Bitcoin price] will run away.”

Filip added that Bitcoin remains a fundamentally deflationary asset and said its value is “always going to rise over time.”

Source: Simply Bitcoin

He referenced the concept of the “omega candle,” made popular by Bitcoin advocate and Jan3 CEO Samson Mow. The theory predicts Bitcoin’s growth trajectory will explode after it hits the $100,000 mark.

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“You’ll start to go up by 10,000 a day or drop by 10,000 a day. And this is the God candle. After that, we’ll start to see omega candles, which are 100,000 increments daily,” said Mow in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph in November 2024.

Factors contributing to Bitcoin’s growth include the growing distrust in the traditional financial system, according to Mow.

Related: Bitcoin ETFs log $912M inflows in ‘dramatic’ investor sentiment boost

ETF inflows, macro relief drive momentum

Bitcoin price saw an over 9% recovery over the past week as the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) accumulated over $2.2 billion worth of Bitcoin in the three days leading up to April 23, Farside Investors’ data shows.

Source: Farside Investors

The price action is in line “with our Bitcoin relative strength expectations with respect to equities and the dollar,” analysts from Bitfinex exchange told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Bitcoin is rallying due to a combination of macro relief, strong ETF inflows, and growing expectations that the Fed will maintain policy flexibility amid softening economic data.”

Bitcoin may continue to see more upside if “equities continue higher during earnings week,” but the “still-elevated macro uncertainty could limit broad-based upside,” the analysts added.

Stock and cryptocurrency investors are also concerned about a potential recession in the US. JPMorgan estimates a 60% probability for a recession in 2025, citing US President Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs on China as a “material threat to growth” that increases the odds of an economic downturn.

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Asian investment firms are stepping up their Bitcoin accumulation strategies, with Japan’s Metaplanet and Hong Kong’s HK Asia Holdings leading the way.

Tokyo-based Metaplanet disclosed on April 24 that it acquired an additional 145 Bitcoin (BTC) for 1.9 billion Japanese yen (around $13.4 million), boosting its total holdings to 5,000 BTC.

Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich confirmed the company had reached 50% of its initial goal of amassing 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025.

Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich announcing Bitcoin purchase. Source: Simon Gerovich

The firm has been aggressive in its Bitcoin treasury operations, using bond issuances and Bitcoin income strategies such as selling cash-secured BTC put options to finance its acquisitions.

Since initiating its Bitcoin strategy, Metaplanet’s stock has surged over 3,000%. The company aims to hold 21,000 BTC by the close of 2026.

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HK Asia Holdings to raise $8.35 million for BTC purchases

HK Asia Holdings has also announced plans to raise about $65 million Hong Kong dollars ($8.35 million) by issuing new shares and convertible notes to potentially buy more BTC.

According to an April 23 filing, the company entered into share subscription and convertible note (CN) subscription agreements after trading hours.

The deal includes issuing 3,272,000 new shares at a subscription price of HK$4.01 per share, alongside convertible notes valued at HK$52.38 million in aggregate principal amount. The newly issued shares will represent about 0.82% of HK Asia Holdings’ total shares in circulation.

While the filing does not mention that HK Asia Holdings intends to use the funds to buy Bitcoin, many in the crypto community speculated that the capital raise is expected to fund further Bitcoin acquisitions.

Source: Cointelegraph

The speculation follows HK Asia’s February decision to step into Bitcoin markets. After buying its first BTC on Feb. 16, the firm doubled its share price within a day.

By Feb. 20, HK Asia expanded its holdings by purchasing an additional 7.88 BTC, bringing its total to nearly 9 BTC at an average price of $97,021 per coin.

Shares in HK Asia were up by around 5.4% on April 24 at the Hong Kong stock market closing, according to Google Finance.

Related: Bitcoin exchange buying is back as ‘Spoofy the Whale’ lifts $90K asks

Saylor’s Strategy champions Bitcoin strategy

Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest publicly listed corporate Bitcoin holder, has championed the Bitcoin accumulation strategy by consistently issuing convertible notes and at-the-market (ATM) equity offerings to fund aggressive Bitcoin purchases.

In February, Strategy announced plans to raise another $2 billion through 0% senior convertible notes to purchase more Bitcoin.

As of April 20, Strategy held 538,200 BTC on its balance sheet. The figure includes the company’s most recent acquisition of 6,556 BTC for about $555.8 million.

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