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UK government moves forward with regulatory framework on stablecoins for payments
“If crypto technologies are going to be a big part of the future, then we, the U.K., want to be in — and in on the ground floor,” said Economic Secretary of the Treasury John Glen.
The United Kingdom's Economic and Finance Ministry has said it intends to amend its existing regulatory framework to incorporate stablecoins used as a means of payment.
In a Monday announcement, HM Treasury said certain stablecoins could potentially become “a widespread means of payment” for retail customers in the United Kingdom following a consultation with various organizations, universities, and individuals that was begun in January 2021. The U.K. government body said it intended to “take the necessary legislative steps” to bring stablecoins into its regulatory framework, “primarily by amending existing electronic money and payments legislation.”
The Finance Ministry said amending its regulatory framework to include stablecoins as a means of payment was just one part of a “package of measures” aimed at incorporating crypto assets and blockchain technology into the United Kingdom. The government body also announced a Cryptoasset Engagement Group “to work more closely with the industry,” exploring how the country’s tax system could encourage development in the crypto market, establishing a "financial market infrastructure sandbox" aimed at innovative firms, and introducing a nonfungible token issued by the Royal Mint in summer 2022.
“It’s my ambition to make the U.K. a global hub for crypto-asset technology, and the measures we’ve outlined today will help to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country,” said Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer. “This is part of our plan to ensure the U.K. financial services industry is always at the forefront of technology and innovation.” Read More
As More Parachains Go Live, Polkadot’s Vision Becomes Reality
Gavin Wood’s vision of an interoperable network of customized blockchains is really taking shape. While 11 parachains have launched so far, by this time next year, Polkadot will have grown to more than 40 individual blockchains living on its network, dramatically expanding what has already become one of the most innovative ecosystems within the crypto space.
Polkadot is a Layer Zero protocol that serves as the nerve center of multiple parachains – Layer One blockchains built for different applications and use cases. This infrastructure enables the creation of a unique ecosystem of truly interoperable blockchains that all share the same network security and capabilities, with no need for complex token bridges to connect them all.
Polkadot’s Relay Chain can support anywhere from 100 to 250 parachains, and, as mentioned, almost a dozen projects are already building on it. To launch a parachain and gain access to a myriad of benefits the Relay Chain provides, projects must compete for a slot via an auction where the winner is determined by whichever locks up the most DOT tokens. Read More
Ledger Announces Partnership With Animoca Brands Subsidiary, The Sandbox
Ledger will offer security services, while The Sandbox will accommodate the wallet provider in its metaverse to educate users about crypto.
One of the largest providers of hardware cryptocurrency wallets, Ledger has announced a partnership with NFT gaming metaverse – The Sandbox. The move is expected to help metaverse users to increase security and to manage the self-custody of their digital assets.
At the Non-Fungible conference in Lisbon, Ledger’s chief experience officer Ian C Rogers revealed that the new collaboration aims to bring the security of the wallet manufacturer into the blockchain game.
Ledger also plans to provide custom Ledger Nanos to the owners of SAND as part of the deal, while The Sandbox will accommodate in its metaverse for the wallet provider to educate people about cryptocurrency.
The Sandbox tweeted,
“We’re partnering with Ledger to secure the Metaverse and increase security, education & support for users! They will be building a hub on their LAND, providing users with support alongside learning and gamified experiences inside TheSandbox.” Read More
A Decentralized Google Maps? Solana-Based Hivemapper Raises $18M to Build It
Hivemapper rewards users with tokens for passively capturing mapping data with dashcams in a model inspired by Helium.
The digital mapping industry is dominated by centralized giants like Google, TomTom, and Apple, but blockchain startup Hivemapper sees significant potential in a decentralized, open-source alternative that is built by a wide network of users.
Today, Hivemapper announced a $18 million Series A funding round to bring its vision to life. The round was led by Multicoin Capital and featured a number of additional participants, including Solana Ventures, Craft Ventures, Shine Capital, and 75 & Sunny Ventures.
Angel investors in the round include Nova Labs (formerly Helium Inc.) founder and CEO Amir Haleem, Solana Labs co-founders Anatoly Yakavenko and Raj Gokal,, Masterclass founder and CEO David Rogier, former Tinder CEO Elie Seidman, and former Apple Maps executive Jaron Waldman. Haleem will join Hivemapper’s board of directors as part of the raise.
Hivemapper is a decentralized mapping service that uses dashboard-mounted cameras on contributors’ cars and incentivizes users to drive around and record their surroundings. The network is built on the Solana blockchain, and users are rewarded with HONEY crypto tokens for their automatic contributions to the overall map. Read More
We have a lot to be grateful for within Markethive. It’s like stepping out of the rat race into an oasis of humanity at its best. As an inbound marketing, business-based blockchain platform with an inherent entrepreneurial spirit, we have all the tools to get our message out to the whole world. We have a social media interface with a collaborative ethos rarely experienced on legacy social media.
We are starting to see new integrations in the blogging section in preparation for the customized, more intuitive interface and dashboard of Markethive and, of course, the Markethive Wallet that will facilitate the Merchant accounts for members as well as personal transactions, the Vault, etc.
The new-look Blogcasting Hub is located at the top of all blogs in the system. Blogcasting is a term introduced by Markethive and is an enhanced broadcasting system. In the traditional broadcasting sense, only the people who physically subscribe to your blog or newsletter are usually notified of your updates via email.
With this blogcasting system, your social networks are informed of your blog as and when you publish them. What this means is the potential reach is into the millions. Read More
Lightning Labs Launches Taro Protocol, Enables Instant Stablecoin Transfers Via Bitcoin Network
Lightning Labs, the Bitcoin infrastructure technology firm behind the Lightning Network, has announced the launch of Taro, a new protocol on top of the Bitcoin (BTC) network.
The announcement was made by Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark and Olaoluwa Osuntokun, the firm's CTO. With the Taro protocol, Lightning Network users may now be able to issue and transfer assets, including stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) over the Bitcoin blockchain. Assets issued are placed on transactions executed over the Lightning Network, with support for liquidity on issued assets coming later within the year.
The Taro protocol is designed to expand on the Lightning Network's capabilities by providing support for multiple asset types, including stablecoins, as well as cross-chain atomic swaps, which would enable users to trade crypto assets between different blockchains without the need for a centralized exchange. The Taro protocol follows developments from the activation of the Taproot upgrade for Bitcoin Core, which was implemented in November 2021. With Taproot, the Bitcoin blockchain's security, privacy, and mean transaction throughput was effectively enhanced, while also opening a slew of functionalities such as on-chain smart contract execution. Read More
Layer-1 blockchain project proposes infinite scalability as part of trilemma solution
Become the “Ethereum Killer” is now a coveted title that comes with solving the blockchain trilemma.
The perfect blockchain comprises three elements: security, decentralization, and scalability. The first two are said to go hand in hand, with decentralization being the backbone of blockchain technology, which requires no central authority or intermediary to operate. For this reason, Bitcoin initially arose as a solution with the ability to transfer funds without involving a central bank. Without an intermediary, security is maintained through a method of validation, where network nodes must approve a transaction.
At its foundation, early blockchains met these two criteria. Therefore, where blockchains are lacking is in the third component, scalability. With platforms like Ethereum (ETH) becoming the gold standard for decentralized applications (DApps), the number of transactions has only continued to increase, contributing to slower transaction times and higher gas fees. Consequently, an unscalable network doesn't present a strong case for technology adoption when factors such as convenience are at play. Read More
Cardano Foundation and the University of Zurich expand academic blockchain research
The university will use Cardano’s insights to conduct further research on blockchain-related topics.
Non-profit organization Cardano Foundation has announced a three-year collaboration with the Blockchain Center of the University of Zurich (UZH BCC) to further research initiatives and explore blockchain education development.
Through the partnership, the foundation will work with the Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (BDLT) Group at the University of Zurich to explore research topics like the efficacy of consensus protocols and analyze attack vectors specific to Ouroboros, among many others.
According to Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard, the partnership allows the foundation to provide information to UZH BCC to expand the university's knowledge of the Cardano platform and at the same time, further develop Cardano, itself. Gregaard also explained that:
“As blockchain moves from the margins to the mainstream, considerably more academic research is required to enhance understanding and, ultimately, bring about adoption. This is why we have even specifically called out education as a core goal of the foundation for the year ahead.” Read More
Forex exchange layer demonstrates the possibility of DeFi cross-border payment use case
Remittance payments are essential to support vulnerable classes of society; unfortunately, high fees often limit their impact.
At present, fiat-backed stablecoins have proven their use for domestic payments; unfortunately, they often lack the liquidity necessary to fulfill the remittance use case. Consider that converting Tether (USDT) to U.S. dollar (USD) can essentially be done in a one-to-one ratio. However, when currencies must be exchanged for, say, the Japanese yen (JPY), transacting parties may run into stablecoins lacking liquidity.
Since its inception, Jarvis Network has taken advantage of stable and liquid on-chain fiat to increase the number of users onboarding into DeFi. Their efforts have resulted in a solution to the remittance use case, a product of working alongside Curve and fiat-backed stablecoins.
With Curve, Jarvis effectively fills this gap as a Forex exchange layer as the cement that connects all fiat-backed stablecoins that have an effective fiat on and off-ramp, moving funds internationally with an instant settlement. The model can then be extended to a broader range of stablecoins, thereby fulfilling the remittance use case. Read More
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
