A small Spanish city has debuted an “Elio” digital currency to help with transactions, Finance Magnates reported. The digital currency, which is pegged to the euro, will let the City Council of Lebrija provide economic assistance to just under 600 chosen beneficiaries. The council has made a digital wallet for the digital currency, according to an official cited in the report.
In other news, OKCoin has opted to halt XRP trading and deposits on the platform effective Jan. 4, 2021, according to a post. The company said it has been closely following the news around the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s suit against Ripple and two of its executives. It noted that users who have borrowed from the XRP/USD margin pair are mandated to return the borrowed value prior to 7 p.m. Pacific Time on Jan. 3, 2021.
On another note, professional football player Russell Okung will be the first player from a significant American sports league to get paid via “bitcoin,” CoinDesk reported. The athlete still technically receives his paycheck in fiat currency, but a company called Strike gets a direct deposit from his team and converts the dollars into bitcoin. Half his salary is going to bitcoin and the other half is going to fiat, the athlete told CoinDesk.
And the Indian government is mulling an 18 percent goods and services tax (GST) for bitcoin transactions, the Times of India reported. A finance ministry division, The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), introduced the idea to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). The CEIB has reportedly put forward the idea that bitcoins be considered under the “intangible assets” category.
In other news, GMO Internet Inc. has received the New York Department of Financial Services’ green light to create GMO-Z.com Trust Company, Inc. and release what it bills as “the world’s first” regulated stablecoin pegged to the Japanese yen, according to an announcement. This enables the the firm to roll out a stablecoin pegged to the Japanese yen and another stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.
