A New York Times report about treatment of minority employees at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has garnered attention as fintech and financial firms strive to improve their performance on diversity and equity issues.

On Tuesday, Nov. 24, bitcoin’s price rose beyond $19,000, edging closer to its all-time high of $19,783 in 2017. The rally didn’t last, however, with the value of bitcoin falling 14% by Thursday, Nov. 25. Other cryptocurrencies also experienced significant losses.

In a recent investor letter, cryptocurrency and blockchain investment firm Pantera Capital claimed PayPal’s foray into cryptocurrency may be driving the current bitcoin rally. Bitcoin prices hit a three-year high last week.

Atlanta-based bitcoin payment service provider BitPay has launched BitPay Send, which lets companies make crypto disbursements to pay employees, affiliates, customers, vendors, contractors, and others.

Tel Aviv-based ZenGo launched a crypto debit card for U.S. users, days after Coinbase announced the launch of a visa debit card for U.S. consumers next year.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has granted PayPal a conditional Bitlicense to partner with New York State-chartered Paxos Trust Company to allow its customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a forum on digital payments hosted by the International Monetary Fund that it’s more important for the U.S. to get a central bank-backed digital currency right than to be the first country rolling it out.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, responded to employee concerns on its lack of a stance on social justice issues. The company has opted to enforce a policy not to engage on matters “when issues are unrelated to our core mission.”

Chinese media reported this week that the country’s central bank is working with e-commerce behemoth JD.com on mobile apps that will support a digital yuan.

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is the first crypto company to acquire a banking license in the U.S.

Payments company Square this month created a nonprofit called the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA). Its goal is to promote open-source frameworks that encourage innovation.

Mastercard inked a partnership with London-based crypto platform Wirex that will allow the company to issue cards on Mastercard’s network. Wirex already offers crypto-friendly Visa cards.

A settlement with the SEC marks the end of encrypted messaging app Telegram’s “Gram” digital currency project, which the company said last year would operate on a decentralized framework reminiscent of bitcoin. As part of the settlement, Telegram and subsidiary TON Issuer this week agreed to pay a $18.5M civil penalty and return around $1.2B to investors.