Blockchain & crypto news from India
Small government services for citizens are slowly incorporating blockchain technologies to reduce paper work and increase efficiency. California’s Santa Cruz County has recently shared its decision to experiment with blockchain wallets to offer services such as user registrations for parking bikes and recreational vehicles, licensing of pets, and building permits given over the counter. The…
The retail pilot for RBI’s CBDC, launched December last year, is now in its fifth month. With over five thousand merchants enrolled to participate by eight banks, the e-Rupee is the answer to the rise of cryptocurrencies as a payment medium, and will be the national digital currency of India with the use of a…
Brazil’s Central Bank will launch the country’s CBDC in 2024. Currently the digital Real currency is in the testing phase. The Digital Real is an innovative way to introduce a national virtual currency by simply tokenizing bank deposits. The IMF too has praised this concept. Tokenizing bank deposits is an easy way to introduce digital…
Other than for scams and frauds, cryptocurrency has its uses in the world of charity too. Crypto payments are fast – millions can be transferred from one part of the world to another without too many people in the know. Setting an account is easy, and there are no intermediaries. The usefulness of digital currencies…
While the Western world is in no hurry with the CBDC, two more countries have announced their upcoming CBDC pilots. Japan has been experimenting with the CBDC technology for some time, and will now launch a pilot CBDC in April 2023. The testing phase was done by PoCs, and the pilot will further test the…
The Central Bank of the UAE (CUAE) has announced a transformation program for the emirate’s financial sector, and its nine initiatives include a CBDC. In order to make UAE a “financial and digital payment hub”, the CUAE has launched the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Programme (FIT). The wider aim is to push the CUAE among the…
Though far from official and not likely to be used, “Britcoin” is trending as the name of the digital pound, whose initial plan has been released by the Bank of England and the Treasury. The digital pound will be the CBDC of Britain, and is not likely to see the light of day until a…
One can live entirely on Bitcoin and Tether in the City of Lugano located in the southern-most part of Switzerland. The news was shared by Lugano Plan ₿, which is a a joint initiative between the City of Lugano and Tether, and will be holding a forum this year in October, to be organized by…
Italy, among the top ten crypto friendly countries, has levied a capital gains tax (with loss set off) on gains above Euros 2,000 (a little above $2,000). The tax is applicable for trading of virtual assets, defined as electronic value operating on distributed ledger or similar technology. Before this, Italy defined cryptocurrencies as virtual currencies…
Turkey’s central bank has reported carrying out the first payment transaction on their Digital Lira network, their CBDC in pilot phase. In the subsequent stages, the network looks forward to the participation of banks and fintech firms for closed-circuit testing. A press release from the organization said: “Against this backdrop, the CBRT will continue to…