Paypal opens up to cryptocurrencies, Netflix has a new promotional experiment, and Trump is pressuring the White House to fast-track a deal that would give a no-bid contract 5G deal to Rivada Networks.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Wednesday, October 22, and I’m your host Baneet Braich.
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Paypal is opening up its network to cryptocurrencies. It will now allow customers to hold Bitcoin and other virtual coins in its online wallet. The company hopes this shift will encourage a global use of virtual coins and to prepare its network for new digital currencies. U.S. account holders will be able to hold their cryptocurrencies in the coming weeks but the actual ability to make payments won’t be here until next year. There are future plans to expand the service to Venmo and some other countries in the first half of 2021 as well.
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Netflix is experimentally giving an entire country two days of Netflix for free from technology
Netflix has a new experiment coming up. It will give two days free to non-subscribers in an entire country. India is the first. The new strategy called StreamFest follows news that Netflix has ended free trial periods. The streaming giant is looking for new promotion ideas to attract new users. Variety confirmed that the trial will launch on Dec. 4. The CEO did not mention if StreamFest would come to other countries like the U.S. or Canada just yet.
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Trump is reportedly pressuring the Pentagon to give no-bid 5G spectrum contract to GOP-linked firm from technology
There are reports that Trump is pressuring the Pentagon to give a no-bid 5G spectrum contract to a Republican-firm. CNN reports that Trump is asking to give the mid-band wireless spectrum to Rivada Networks which is a company with prominent investors like Fox News regular Karl Rove and Peter Thiel teel who is Trump’s biggest supporter in Silicon Valley. The Department of Defense’s 350 megahertz of spectrum is worth at least $10 billion. Senior government officials are alarmed. One senior administration official told CNN that this deal would lead to “the biggest handoff of economic power to a single entity in history.” Others are calling it fishy.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Baneet Braich, thanks for listening
