Today in Crypto: Coinme Adds Dogecoin, Other Crypto to Grocery Kiosks; Judge Lets Voyager Pay Employee Retention Bonuses

Bitcoin kiosk company Coinme now sells ether, polygon, chainlink, dogecoin, litecoin and stellar from its 10,000 grocery store kiosks, a Coindesk report said Wednesday (Aug. 24).

The six new coins will add more opportunity to interact with crypto beyond the ubiquitous bitcoin.

Meanwhile, bitcoin might be moving further down in value in the future, according to numerous technical charts, Bloomberg wrote Wednesday.

Bitcoin is already down over 50% this year, recently being around the $19,000 to $25,000 range.

September has been a historically bad month for bitcoin, and futures trading suggests downward pressure. Analysts have said that bitcoin might be able to hold $20,000 in spite of its struggles, but it will be difficult.

Elsewhere, ex-SEC chair Jay Clayton has joined Electric Capital as an adviser, becoming part of a trend where ex-regulators are hired within the crypto space, Bloomberg said.

Clayton is also already an adviser for crypto custody firm Fireblocks. The development comes as the industry continues to face scrutiny from regulators and government lawmakers.

In other crypto news, the Ethereum Foundation has put out the official parameters for the long-awaited Merge blockchain upgrade, Coindesk wrote.

The upgrades will start activating Sept. 6, and will see the blockchain upgrading to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism where users can’t mint coins they didn’t earn, which will be more energy efficient. The Merge should be complete between Sept. 10 and Sept. 20.

Meanwhile, Tether won’t be barring Tornado Cash addresses, a post from the company said.

The company says it hasn’t been contacted by U.S officials to freeze any Tornado addresses sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), and the company says it does comply with those requests when it gets them.

Tornado Cash was sanctioned because it allegedly had a part in helping hackers launder money.

Finally, a federal judge has ruled that Voyager Digital can pay a $1.6 million retention award to over 30 employees, Coindesk wrote Wednesday.

The crypto lender, which is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, filed for the authorization earlier in August, which was opposed by creditors.

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