載舟覆舟！Crypto、PayPal走勢大相逕庭 比特幣是罪魁禍首

載舟覆舟！Crypto、PayPal走勢大相逕庭 比特幣是罪魁禍首

PayPal (PYPL-US) 和 Square (SQ-US) 都靠比特幣吸引顧客使用其 app 並維持其參與度，但兩家股價走勢卻大相逕庭，自從比特幣一個月前開始下跌以來，Square 股價就表現不佳。

如果加密貨幣持續熊市，兩家股價可能都會苦不堪言，但 Square 可能會面臨更多壓力，部分原因是該公司在散戶投資者中與比特幣的聯繫更為緊密。

兩種支付 app 都可輕鬆買賣和儲值加密貨幣，PayPal 在其 app 上提供數種加密貨幣，而 Square 只供應比特幣。這兩家作法像經紀人，賺取的是每筆交易的手續費和利潤。

來自加密貨幣的營收淨額並非其整體業務的大部分。MoffettNathanson 分析師 Lisa Ellis 指出，PayPal 今年營收約只因加密貨幣交易增加 2%，在營收總額 260 億美元中僅占 3 億至 6 億美元。

Square 第一季營收總額 51 億美元，其中比特幣營收 35 億美元。Square 的會計方式是：扣除購買比特幣的成本，在當季 9.64 億美元毛利總額中，只計入這些交易 7500 萬美元的毛利。

雖然加密貨幣的獲利非常微薄，但這兩家支付公司都將加密貨幣交易視為攏絡顧客並提高 app 參與度的一種手段。

Ellis 指出，「他們的加密貨幣用戶一天會多次打開 app 確認價格，這就讓公司有機會出售其他服務。」

Square 與加密貨幣聯繫更緊密，但部分原因是其創辦人兼執行長 Jack Dorsey 是加密貨幣狂粉，近日也曾在推特上表示，「比特幣使一切變得更好。」Square 過去幾季資產負債表上認列投資比特幣 2.2 億美元，現已對該投資進行減值。

加密貨幣低迷顯然對 Square 的影響更大。在過去的一個月中，Square 股價下跌約 17%，而 PayPal 股價僅下跌 4%。

但加密貨幣並非 Square 唯一苦痛來源，投資者逃離高倍數成長股的浪潮也重創 Square，反映投資者在價格上反映預期上升的通膨，這點會降低未來收益的現值。

根據未來 12 個月的估算，Square 現行股價是企業價值倍數 (EV/Ebitda) 的 113 倍，PayPal 則為 43 倍，對比其他同業如 Visa (V-US) 和 Mastercard (MA-US) 僅 27 倍至 30 倍。

Ellis 談到 PayPal 和 Square 時說，「他們是我兩家長期最愛的支付公司，但實際考慮上來說，機構投資者如果擔憂長期通膨，就會對這些高倍數股覺得反感。」

隨著比特幣價格的飆升，投資者也迷戀上這些股票，但水能載舟也會覆舟，如今比特幣和其他加密貨幣恐怕也是令他們憂心忡忡的原因之一。

週一美股普遍上漲，PayPal 週一上漲 2.58%，收 257.17 美元；Square 上漲 5.47%，收 210.95 美元。

Cybersecurity firm NortonLifeLock will let customers mine crypto

New York (CNN Business) Mining for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is typically done by companies that own massive server farms operating outside of the United States. But cybersecurity firm NortonLifeLock is hoping to bring mining to your desktop.

NortonLIfeLock NLOK announced Wednesday morning that it is launching a new feature for a select group of early customers of its Norton 360 platform that will allow them to mine for ethereum, the world’s second most valuable cryptocurency, on their personal computers.

“As the crypto economy continues to become a more important part of our customers' lives, we want to empower them to mine cryptocurrency with Norton, a brand they trust,” said Vincent Pilette, CEO of NortonLifeLock, in a statement.

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Broadcom AVGO NortonLifeLock is the consumer cybersecurity company formerly known as Symantec. The company changed its name afterbought the enterprise security software business (which focuses on big corporate customers) of Symantec in 2019.

The new feature, dubbed Norton Crypto, will be available only to a small group of customers, but the company said it hopes to expand it to all of its nearly 13 million Norton 360 users in the coming months.

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Biden Pushes Crypto Analysis in Ransomware Response

U.S. President Joe Biden wants the federal response to a recent spate of ransomware attacks to focus on the use of cryptocurrency, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

Meat producer JBS confirmed on Sunday it was suffering from a ransomware incident and faced a demand from a “criminal organization,” Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. In response, the White House wants to better evaluate ransomware attacks and track crypto payments to threat actors.

“President Biden has already launched a rapid strategic review to address the increased threat of ransomware to include four lines of effort … [including] expanding cryptocurrency analysis to find and pursue criminal transaction[s],” she said.

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Other lines of inquiry include evaluating how ransomware is distributed and working with other nations to “hold countries who harbor ransom actors accountable,” she said.

Ransomware attacks occur when malicious actors deploy software to a victim’s computer or network that essentially locks all files and data. The attackers may offer to send the victim a decryption key if they pay a ransom. This ransom has often been charged in bitcoin, and such attacks have been becoming more profitable over the past few months, according to a Chainalysis report.

Recent high-profile ransomware attacks include a hijacking of the Colonial Pipeline fuel transport firm, parts of the Irish health service and insurance firm CNA Financial.

These attacks tend to spread much further than just impacting the victim companies. Attacks against firms that provide goods or services may end up disrupting thousands or millions of people’s lives. The Colonial Pipeline shutdown threatened to cause fuel shortages across the East coast of the U.S., while the Irish health system had to cancel medical appointments.

In Tuesday’s briefing, Jean-Pierre said combating ransomware is now “a priority” for the Biden government.