*By Michael Teich*
Want to use crypto to buy deodorant online, don't sweat it.
Schmidt's Naturals is giving consumers the option to use Bitcoin for online purchases on its [website](https://schmidtsnaturals.com/).
Schmidt's is the only Unilever brand to accept cryptocurrency as a method of payment. Unilever said it acquired the deodorant brand in 2017 to extend its reach to "new customers who prefer natural options."
A stick of Schmidts Naturals in scents like bergamot and lime, cedar wood and juniper, and lavender and sage cost about $9, or 0.0011 Bitcoin.
Michael Cammarata, a co-founder and the chief executive of Schmidt's Naturals, told Cheddar that consumers who are interested in natural products are some of the same people who are into Bitcoin.
Cammarata said his company listens to customers' demands, “whether it’s a scent or a payment method."
The new Bitcoin payment option has shown promise, Cammarata said. Between 5 and 10 percent of direct sales on Schmidt's online platform were made in Bitcoin since it began accepting the cryptocurrency on May 14.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/consumers-can-use-bitcoin-to-pay-for-this-deodorant).
The Energy Department is making a push to strengthen the U.S. battery supply chain, announcing up to $3.5 billion for companies that produce batteries and the critical minerals that go into them.
Ed Egilinsky, managing director and head of sales and distribution & alternatives with Direxion, joined Cheddar News to discuss how bond traders are reacting to the latest consumer price index data and how they're positioning portfolios ahead of next week's release of Nvidia's earnings. Egilinsky also discussed some of the other bigger-cap companies, including Alphabet, Amazon and Apple.
Facebook and Instagram will require political ads running on their platforms to disclose if they were created using artificial intelligence, their parent company announced on Wednesday.
Arturo Béjar testified before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday about social media and the teen mental health crisis, hoping to shed light on how Meta executives, including Zuckerberg, knew about the harms Instagram was causing but chose not to make meaningful changes to address them.
