Read U.Today’s crypto news digest to make sure you’re not missing any of the latest events in the industry!
Take a look at what happened in the world of crypto by reading U.Today’s top four news stories.
Ripple expands operations into Middle East as partner bank opens
Despite already having a significant presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Ripple continues expanding its operations in these regions. According to a recent tweet by professor Daniel Kahneman, the company’s partner bank, QNB, launched a corridor between QNB Qatar and QNB Finansbank (Turkey) on RippleNet. In October 2021, the bank launched a cross-border remittance service developed in partnership with Ripple. QNB also plans to expand into key remittance corridors in the future.
Charles Hoskinson excited about Cardano’s adoption
As stated by Input Output Global’s head of ecosystem growth, Morgan Schofield, Cardano’s smart contracts platform now hosts four million NFTs. He added that the number of “individual” NFTs is far higher as some items actually boast thousands of pictures attached. The number impressed Cardano’s founder Charles Hoskinson, causing him to admit that he was wrong about the real progress of Cardano adoption.
At the moment, Cardano’s native token, ADA, remains in the green, changing hands at $1.17, according to CoinMarketCap.
Businesses in Florida to be able to pay taxes in crypto
At Tuesday’s press conference, Governor Ron DeSantis shared a new plan for businesses in Florida that would allow them to pay taxes in crypto, adding that the state is already working on it. DeSantis is known for his pro-crypto stance and for being fully involved in the process of turning Florida into an emerging hub for crypto investment. Back in December, DeSantis proposed a program that would let businesses pay state fees in cryptocurrencies.
Ripple is under siege as 63 central banks collaborate on new payment system market
Ripple fintech giant seems to be facing a new threat. Following news of the company’s partners making progress on a SWIFT replacement system and RippleNet being listed as a SWIFT competitor, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub has announced that it is creating a platform, “Project Dunbar,” for international payments that would directly compete with Ripple. Project Dunbar, much like Ripple, aims to “facilitate direct cross-border transactions between financial institutions in different currencies” in a cheap and efficient manner.