The pandemic has given hygiene-friendly peer-to-peer solutions a boost – and they’re ushering in a whole new era of banking. Owned by Jack Dorsey’s Square, Cash App is a one-stop digital banking solution that’s attracting increasingly bitcoin-savvy investors, rappers included.

An Australian start-up has created a wage service that lets anyone receive their salary in bitcoin. By making the cryptocurrency more accessible to consumers, the software is likely to appeal to growing interest in bitcoin and other digital currencies – but at an environmental cost.

Spain has announced updated rules for how influencers and companies can advertise cryptocurrency, as the country seeks to eradicate ambiguous regulations. Despite crypto becoming more commonplace, many people don’t fully understand the tech, something the rules hope to remedy.

Digital wallets were gaining ground well before COVID-19 struck, but the pandemic accelerated their uptake as people prioritized contactless transactions. As well as offering a more hygienic way to make purchases, how might these tools enable Americans to make the most of their money?