Ripple Partners With Republic of Palau, 74 Japanese Firms to Issue a Digital Yen + More News
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Adoption news
- Ripple (XRP) has announced a partnership with the Republic of Palau to explore the country’s first national digital currency and its use cases with the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The partnership will initially focus on developing strategies for cross-border payments and a USD-backed digital currency for Palau, which could see the implementation of a government-backed national stablecoin in the first half of 2022 for which Ripple would provide Palau with technical, business, design and policy support.
- A consortium of 74 Japanese firms is planning to issue a digital yen that will work similar to bank deposits by the end of 2022, the consortium’s secretariat, DeCurret, said in a white paper and a progress report published on Wednesday.
- US movie theatres chain Regal Cinemas has partnered with digital payments platform Flexa to start offering cryptocurrency payments for tickets and confectionery. They will accept bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), dogecoin (DOGE), litecoin (LTC), and others.
- Online payments company Stripe isn’t ruling out accepting cryptocurrency as a method of payment in the future, according to co-founder John Collison, per CNBC. However, this will not happen soon, he added.
- The team behind the Floki Inu token has signed a sponsorship deal with Italian football giant S.S.C. Napoli. Thanks to this deal, the Floki Inu logo depicting a Shiba Inu dog wearing a Viking helmet will be displayed on the back of Napoli’s jerseys and across LED signs around the team’s home stadium for the remainder of the current season.
Politics news
- Crypto entrepreneur Brock Pierce has said he is getting back into politics, and has filed a “statement of organization” with the US Federal Election Commission. He is weighing running for the seat of retiring Senator Patrick Leahy, and he added that the filing allows him to start raising campaign money.
Legal news
- The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is trying to gain access to up to AUD 29m (approximately USD 21m) worth of BTC stored on a cold wallet belonging to a Gold Coast resident suspected of being the mastermind behind a large-scale fraud scheme, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The ASIC alleges that Aryn Hala lured several dozen investors with promises of annual investment returns of over 20%, while using the victims’ money for personal benefit.
Regulation news
- US banking agencies have set an agenda for how to begin tackling oversight of the cryptocurrency industry, according to a joint statement issued Tuesday that addressed custody, crypto-backed loans and the possibility of capital standards for the sector. While the announcement doesn’t affect any current regulations, the series of topics the officials intend to clarify in the next year would govern how the agencies may regulate the crypto industry as it intersects banking and is brought into federal oversight.
Security news
- Game software company and VC Animoca Brands has provided an update about the hack of the Phantom Galaxies Discord server that occurred on November 19, and reassured the victims of the hackers’ scam that the company will cover their losses (265 ETH, worth about USD 1.1m), with details to be announced shortly. However, they add that there is no evidence that smart contracts were compromised, and no funds were stolen from the game or from its developer and publisher.
NFTs news
- Non-fungible token (NFT) platform OpenSea and auction house Christie’s have announced a partnership to auction a series of non-fungible tokens to art collectors around the world. The NFTs are curated by Christie’s Specialist and Head of Digital and Online Sales Noah Davis, Crypto Collector and Curator Ronnie Pirovino, and digital media platform nft now. The auction will be open for browsing on OpenSea December 1-3rd, and open for bidding December 4-7.
Investments news
- Australian superannuation fund Rest Super intends to invest in cryptocurrencies “carefully and cautiously.” The firm’s chief investment officer Andrew Lill said that offering members exposure to crypto and blockchain tech could provide a “stable source of value” amid a time in which investors are flocking to crypto as a hedge against fiat-based inflation.
- Play-to-earn company Avocado Guild has raised USD 18m in a Series A co-led by Animoca Brands and QCP Soteria Node.
- Swiss blockchain nonprofit ORIGYN Foundation has announced it has raised USD 20m in a funding round that brings the company’s value to USD 300m. One of the investors joining the round was the Hilton heiress Paris Hilton, while the funding will be used to further the expansion of the company.
- DAO incubator for decentralized financial (DeFi) projects New Order has raised USD 4m to launch their product. The DAO will launch in early December, and several incubated projects will be announced in the next months.
