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China Looks to Ramp up ‘Cross-border’ Digital Yuan Spending
1.1.2024
Source: Keitma/Adobe Chinese bank chiefs are looking to start 2024 by driving up “cross-border” digital yuan spending. Per the Haikou Municipal Commerce Bureau (via Hainan News), the tourism hub of Haikou has begun issuing over $706,000 worth of “offshore tax-free coupons” for digital yuan-paying...
India’s De-Dollarization Push Flounders as Oil Suppliers Cite Rupee Repatriation Concerns
28.12.2023
The Indian Oil Ministry recently acknowledged that the country’s push to pay for oil with rupees has failed because suppliers are not sure if they will be able to repatriate their funds. The decision is intended to help diminish India’s reliance on the U.S. dollar when settling...
Chinese Bank Seals First-ever Cross-border CBDC-powered Precious Metals Deal
21.12.2023
Source: pla2na/Adobe The Bank of China has completed the world’s first cross-border CBDC-powered precious metals deal – a gold transaction worth some $14.1 million. Per the Shanghai Securities News and the China Securities Network, the deal involved the Shanghai Branch of the Bank of China,...
Bank Of China Completes First Cross-Border Digital Yuan Commodities Trade
16.12.2023
The Bank of China Hong Kong, the second largest bank in the region, has completed its first cross-border digital yuan-based trade. The transaction, finalized with its sibling bank, the Bank of China, served to receive the payment for an imported iron ore commodity bulk trade, establishing...
Ripple Releases Framework on the Future of CBDCs Highlights Benefits and Challenges
15.12.2023
Source: AdobeStock / photo_gonzo Blockchain payment firm Ripple has rolled out a whitepaper on the state of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), their utility in cross-border payments as well as challenges towards adoption in several jurisdictions. The framework published on Dec 14 explains...
Hong Kong Firms Make First Cross-border Digital Yuan Commodity Payments
15.12.2023
Source: leungc/Adobe Hong Kong-based firms have made the first “cross-border” commodity payments with the Mainland Chinese digital yuan, as the CBDC takes its first international steps. Per Hong Kong Today, several Hong Kong firms took part in the Bank of China (Hong Kong)’s “Enterprise Digital...
Nigerian Crypto Firm Bitmama to Pay $1 Million for Startup That Raised $3 Million in February
8.12.2023
The Nigerian crypto platform Bitmama is reportedly set to acquire the African remittances startup Payday for $1 million. Reports of Payday’s acquisition come almost a year after the startup raised $3 million in a funding round. Bitmama’s Pivot From Crypto The Nigerian crypto platform...
Russia’s Exved Launches Cross-Border Payment Service Powered By Tether’s USDT Stablecoin
7.12.2023
Source: Adobe Russian digital settlement exchange Exved has officially debuted with the goal of empowering local legal entities to conduct cross-border digital payment services using Tether’s USDT. Russia's Exved platform launches as one of the first cross-border payment solutions...
More Hong Kong Banks Set to Join Digital Yuan Pilot, Gov’t Confirms
1.12.2023
Source: dmitriy/Adobe Hong Kong’s government says more banks based in the country are preparing to join Mainland China’s digital yuan pilot. Mainland China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), wants to expand its CBDC’s cross-border applications. And it seemingly wants even more...
How DeFi Can Bridge the Forex Gap in Africa, According to Banking CEO
30.11.2023
Source: AdobeStock / Confidence Neobank Canza Finance‘s decentralized finance (DeFi) tech provides decentralized foreign exchange (FX) for African currencies, its CEO and co-founder Pascal Ntsama IV said. Canza website stresses that access to financial services and products is “a...
China Links Digital Yuan to ‘World’s Biggest Commodities Market’
27.11.2023
Source: kitti/Adobe A state-owned Chinese bank will link the digital yuan to the “world’s biggest small commodities market” via the latter’s payment platform. Per the People’s Daily, the new “cross-border” CBDC drive is the brainchild of the Bank of China and the city of Yiwu. Not to be confused...
Cambodia’s Bakong Digital Currency Teams Up with Alipay for Expanded Reach
21.11.2023
Source: Adobe / anekoho In a move to enhance cross-border payments, Cambodia’s Bakong digital currency system, a component of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese payment provider Alipay, Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Post recently...
People’s Bank of China Tests Digital Yuan Payment Integration in Hong Kong
18.11.2023
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) are in the second phase of the integration tests of the digital yuan for payments and cross-border transactions in Hong Kong. This new phase includes more banks and the ability to use the Fast Payment System to...
IMF Chief Says Central Bank Digital Currencies Can Replace Cash — Urges Public Sector to Prepare for CBDC Deployment
18.11.2023
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva says central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can replace cash. She has urged the public sector to “keep preparing to deploy CBDCs and related payment platforms,” emphasizing that these platforms “should...
Crypto Platform Strike and Checkout.com Partner to Bring Bitcoin Buying to 65+ Countries
17.11.2023
Source: Pixabay / WorldSpectrum Bitcoin (BTC) wallet and payment platform Strike has partnered with Checkout.com to enable debit-card-based Bitcoin purchases in over 65 countries. Strike leverages Bitcoin’s lightning network to let users make instant and free cross-border fiat currency payments...
Asia-based Crypto Exchange XREX Secures In-Principle Approval for Major Payment Institution License in Singapore
17.11.2023
Source: AdobeStock / Richie Chan On November 16, XREX, an Asia-based cryptocurrency exchange specializing in cross-border payments, achieved a significant milestone by receiving in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license. This...
IMF Director Urges Institutions to Look Toward CBDCs, Highlights Cross-border Utility
15.11.2023
Source: AdobeStock / Kristina Blokhin The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva has publicly praised the deployment of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) by more countries. Speaking at the Singapore FinTech Festival, on the theme “Financial Inclusion...
Ripple exec reiterates need for tech-neutral crypto regulations
14.11.2023
Navin Gupta, managing director of South Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at Ripple, told Cointelegraph that education and introducing non-speculative use cases can help crypto companies navigate through varying regulations
Ripple Partners With Onafriq to Enable Faster Cross Border Payments to Africa
14.11.2023
Ripple and the Africa-focused payment fintech startup Onafriq recently said they are collaborating to enable crypto-based cross-border payments between Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the U.K., and Australia. Using Ripple’s platform helps Onafriq achieve its goal of making...
Ripple Expands Payments Network to 70+ Crypto and Traditional Payout Markets
10.11.2023
Ripple has expanded its payments network to more than 70 crypto and traditional payout markets. “Accumulatively this adds up to 90% of the global foreign exchange market,” the company explained, highlighting that the Ripple network has facilitated over $30 billion in payment volume...