Today in Crypto: UFC Fighters to Get Bonuses in Crypto; VCs Face Risk of Crypto Hack Bailouts

The Ultimate Fighting Championship plans to pay a new bonus to competitors that will go out in crypto, Bloomberg reported Thursday (April 7).

With crypto platforms becoming more ingrained in major sports, the bitcoin payouts will go to the top three fighters on every UFC pay-per-view event, as decided by fan votes. There will be $60,000 split between the winners.

In addition, Bloomberg also wrote Thursday that with hacks and scams being part of the deal with the crypto scene, it might be time for venture capitalist (VC) backers to change their approach.

The report said high-profile attacks on key activities, such as transferring tokens, have stolen over $1 billion to date. With the costs mounting, VCs are thinking about other ways to be more responsible for investments, with some founders saying firms should audit code and security protocols before investing.

Furthermore, the Slovenian government has debuted a flat-rate tax proposal for crypto redemptions and asked Parliament for a quick approval, CoinDesk wrote Thursday.

The tax is part of the government’s COVID recovery plan. It would be due when virtual currencies are sold or exchanged, and would set an effective rate of just under 5%.

In other news, CoinDesk also reported Thursday that Cash App will be debuting new crypto services.

The services include Get Paid in Bitcoin, which allows customers to auto-invest part of their paycheck into bitcoin, and Bitcoin Roundups, which will let users round up payments to the nearest dollar and buy bitcoin with the difference.

Additionally, Lightning Network Receives will allow users to get bitcoin in Cash App through the Lightning Network, per the report.

Meanwhile, Robinhood Financial has officially debuted its crypto wallet, giving over 2 million customers on its waiting list access to the service, Bloomberg wrote Thursday.

Chief Product Officer Aparna Chennapragada said this would see the company playing “a very active role in crypto and shaping it.”

Finally, Coinbase’s trading launch in India might have some stumbling blocks — the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said it’s “not aware” of any crypto exchange using UPI, the popular payment system there.

As CoinDesk reported Thursday, UPI is a popular real-time payment system. NPCI is an initiative of the RBI and the Indian Banks’ Association, and the RBI has said crypto should be totally banned in India.