Redis has been recognized by tech communities as the most-loved database for five consecutive years. It plays a pivotal role in creating real-time experiences for businesses in today’s increasingly digital landscape. Its real-time data access capabilities are used to enhance application performance, especially in scenarios where quick data access is critical, such as in e-commerce, gaming, financial applications, and more. With more than 1 million deployments and over 6 million daily Docker launches, Redis is a key player in the field of in-memory key–value databases, caches, and message brokers.

The Success

Redis achieved Centaur status with the company’s Series F financing in August 2020 and has raised $347 million USD as of the company’s Series G round in April 2021. Among Redis’ more than 10,000 customers include BNP Paribas Personal Finance, British Airways, Visa, Netflix, Apple, Google, MasterCard, Dell, Microsoft, FedEx, Flowdesk, iFood, MGM Resorts International, Playdemic, TELUS, Tiffany & Co, and Ulta Beauty.

The company with Centaur status that sees the potential of Bulgarian talent

The decision to open an engineering office in Bulgaria is fueled by the company’s vision to establish Sofia as a primary engineering hub outside Israel. Redis VP, Richard Harry, commented, “Having worked with extremely talented Bulgarian engineering teams earlier in my career, I am confident we will be able to find the level of talent needed for the next stage in our growth as a company. Sofia was an obvious choice due to a number of factors. Availability of high quality talent, EU presence, and of course Sofia city itself.”

New Director Ivan Atanasov comments on the exciting challenge for professionals in our country

Ivan Atanasov, Director of Engineering at Redis

Redis has already appointed their Country Manager for Bulgaria. Mr. Ivan Atanassov, a seasoned professional with extensive experience in senior leadership roles as Site Lead of the engineering office of Uber in Bulgaria and Engineering Manager at SAP, has been entrusted to build the Redis team.

“I am excited to be a part of a company that produces such an innovative and popular DB platform and technology of such importance and impact for the engineering community and global business. I look forward to building a strong team from the Bulgarian IT community that will work on a top-notch engineering product as Redis Enterprise in Cloud or on customers’ premises. Having the opportunity for the engineers in Bulgaria to work on one of the most popular databases worldwide is exciting”, commented Mr Atanassov.

95% of Redis employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Redis 4.3 out of 5 for work-life balance, 4.3 for culture and values, and 4.3 for career opportunities.

The destinations on this list include some of the most desirable places when planning to live the expat life through various digital nomad visa programs.

Spain
Spain is introducing its own digital nomad visa, adding to the list of nearly 50 countries that have introduced it in recent years. The country’s parliament approved the visa last November and it will allow non-EU nationals to stay in Spain for up to five years.

The visas are being made available as a way for people working remotely to travel and live in the country, provided they meet the necessary requirements.

Like many other countries that have introduced a visa for digital nomads, Spain has introduced several requirements. The visa requires all applicants to work at a company that has been operating for more than one year, pass a background check, and have an income exceeding at least 200% of the current minimum wage in Spain. The minimum wage amounts to approximately EUR 1,260 (USD 1,361) per month or EUR 28,196 (USD 30,240) per year.

Estonia
The digital nomad visa was introduced here in July 2020, allowing foreigners to live and work in Estonia for up to a year.

Requirements include:

• Telecommuting outside the country.
• Have an active employment contract with a company registered abroad or work as a freelancer for clients outside Estonia.
• Income must be a minimum of 4,500 euros ($4,826) in the six months prior to visa application.

Hungary
Hungary’s digital nomad visa, called the “White Card,” was introduced last year and allows applicants to live and work in the country for up to two years.

Requirements include:

• Working for an employer outside Malta.
• Must work remotely using “telecommunications technology”.
• The company you work for must be registered outside Hungary.
• Income must be a minimum of €2,000 ($2,145) per month.

Malta
Malta introduced the digital nomad visa in June 2021 and allows applicants and their families to live in the country for up to a year.

Requirements include:

• You must be a third-country national.
• Work for a company registered in another country or offer freelance services to clients in another country.
• Income must be a minimum of €2,700 ($2,896) per month.

Iceland
The digital nomad visa was introduced in Iceland in October 2021 and allows foreigners to stay in the country for 180 days.

Requirements include:

• Working for a company in another country
• Income must be a minimum of €6,992 ($7,500) per month.

Portugal
Portugal introduced a digital nomad visa in October 2022 that allows applicants to live and work in the country for up to a year.

Requirements include:

• You must not be an EU citizen
• Provide proof of working for a company outside the EU
• A minimum income of €2,545 ($2,730) per month.
• Show proof that you have received this amount in the four months prior to your application.

Germany
Although Germany does not have a special visa for digital nomads, it does have a freelance visa that allows a person to live and work in the country for three months. The period can be extended to three years, but this is done on a case-by-case basis.

Thailand
The digital nomad visa, or LTR visa, opened to foreigners in September 2022 and allows applicants to stay legally for up to 10 years.

Requirements include:

• You must earn a minimum of 74,581 euros ($80,000) for a foreign company.
• Must be covered by health insurance consisting of $50,000.
• Their company must be located outside Thailand and be well established.

Dubai
March 2021. Dubai introduced the Digital Nomad Visa, which allows applicants to live and work in the country for up to a year.

Requirements include:

• A passport valid for at least six months.
• Must have health insurance and validity of coverage in the UAE.
• Proof of having an employer outside the UAE.
• Must be earning a minimum of $3,500 per month.

Mauritius
Located north of Madagascar, Mauritius introduced a digital nomad visa in October 2020 that allows applicants to stay in the country for up to one year.

Requirements include:

• You must not work for a company in Mauritius.
• The employer must be located outside the country.

While buying and selling cryptos is becoming increasingly mainstream, the opportunities to spend virtual currencies are somewhat limited in comparison due to its volatility.

There are, however, a growing number of companies across a plethora of industries – from big tech to airlines – who are embracing cryptocurrencies, allowing customers to use them as an official method of payment for their goods and services.

Here are some of the biggest and more well-known companies using and accepting cryptos.

Pavilion Hotels & Resorts

The Hong Kong-based Pavilion Hotels & Resorts group has also become the first international hotel chain to embrace virtual currency payments.

The group – which owns properties in Amsterdam, Madrid, Lisbon, and Rome as well as Bali and Phuket – will accept bookings using 40 different tokens, including Bitcoin and Ethereum from July through their partnership with payment platform Coindirect.

AXA Insurance

As of the start of April, the insurance broker behemoth will allow customers in Switzerland to use Bitcoin as a payment option for their bills. The decision to embrace cryptocurrencies has been in the pipeline since market research conducted by the company in 2019 found that nearly a third of respondents aged 18 to 55 had either already invested in them or were interested in doing so.

Customers will now have a reference code printed on bills for non-life insurance policies in order to pay their premiums through crypto exchange Bitcoin Suisse which will then convert them into Swiss Francs.

Microsoft

As one of the largest software companies in the world, it is significant that Microsoft accepts Bitcoin payments, going some way to instill a degree of confidence in using cryptos. Redeemed for credit in topping up user accounts, Bitcoin can be used to pay for an array of services, including Xbox Live and Skype.

The company’s interest in crypto technology doesn’t end there. Utilising blockchain, Microsoft has also launched ION, a two-layered authentication platform on the Bitcoin network in late March. Instead of payments, the technology creates digital IDs to authenticate online identities.

Starbucks

Following an extensive trial, Starbucks customers can now use the new Bakkt app to pay for drinks and goods at the coffee chain with converted Bitcoin. According to the app’s creators, 500,000 people took up the invitation-only, early access programme to test the digital wallet as a method of payment.

Tesla

The CEO of electric carmaker Tesla Elon Musk has an up and down relationship with Bitcoin. Initially, the company announced earlier this year that it would accept Bitcoin payments for vehicle purchases in the US. It comes off the back of a $1.5 billion (€1.2 billion) investment in the cryptocurrency by Elon Musk’s company in February. However, this has now been turned on its head with pronouncements that Tesla will put Bitcoin transactions on hold until more than 50 per cent of tokens are mined using renewable energy.

Amazon

It was reported earlier this year that Amazon was joining the ranks of other tech giants, including Facebook, in laying the groundwork for its own exclusive cryptocurrency. That said, the e-commerce company doesn’t directly accept cryptos yet. You can, however, buy Amazon vouchers through crypto-only company Bitrefill, a platform that makes living on cryptocurrencies easier by converting Bitcoin into gift cards, refill phones, and so on.

Visa

Credit card company Visa confirmed at the end of March that it was piloting a scheme with platform Crypto.com to accept cryptocurrency to settle transactions on its payment network. It will now accept USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin crypto that is pegged to the value of the US dollar.

PayPal

Following an announcement in October last year, PayPal users in the US can now buy, sell or hold a select few cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. In addition, you’ll be able to track cryptocurrencies through the PayPal app. The only drawback is that money can’t be transferred out of the company’s digital wallet.

In August, the company announced that users in the UK can now also trade in Ether, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash on PayPal’s website and mobile app.

So far, PayPal is tight-lipped about whether it intends to expand the service to other countries.

This will allow you to purchase bitcoin with Visa credentials to ensure the reliability of the cryptocurrency, which can be converted into fiat currency and immediately withdrawn from anywhere in the world where Visa is accepted. For reference – they are 70 million!

Visa is working hard to gain the role of an intermediary in bitcoin financial transactions, which increasingly seems to be gaining mainstream acceptance. Visa also plans to use Stablecoin. The company acknowledges that bitcoin, as well as stable coins, has serious potential to become a major means of payment. You can also share, you can contact about 35 partners to connect with stable coins.

According to The BTC Times, this refers to a partnership with a company behind USDC stablecoin, Circle. Visa will integrate USDC into its infrastructure and allow credit card issuers to use USD Coin on their platforms.

Visa has also launched a pilot test of its API designed to allow banks to offer services, connect to bitcoin and other digital assets.