The Malaysian Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) is reportedly backing the adoption of cryptocurrencies, with the deputy minister calling the government to legalize crypto. Deputy communications and multimedia minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin has urged Malaysia’s regulators to legalize certain use cases of cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFT), local news agency Harian Metro reported on Monday. Zahidi pointed out that such measures would significantly support young people as the cryptocurrency industry has been growing increasingly popular among the younger generation. He also said that the KKMM is exploring ways to increase the participation of young people in the industry. …

Cocoa product startup Koa launched a blockchain-based program this week that improves the transparency of its cocoa supply chain and ensures its Ghanaian farmers are being paid properly. The program is supported by partnerships with German supply chain company Seedtrace and South African telecoms company MTN Group. Koa said it hopes to “improve transparency and accountability” by ending what it calls “scandals and cocoa farmer poverty.” Corporations such as Oreo and Chips Ahoy producer Mondelez have been accused of paying farmers a rate below a living wage by the Conseil du Cafe-Cacao which regulates cocoa production in Ivory Coast and …

According to a recent job posting, Visa is inviting new college graduates to join its 18-month rotational Crypto Development Program. Applicants will alternate between three departments of Visa's current crypto ecosystem: Crypto Product, Crypto Solutions, and Digital Partnership, where they are given training, development, mentoring, networking, and leadership exposure on top of practical experience in the industry. The job listing does not require any specific majors, although those studying the liberal arts, business, computer science, and related fields are preferred. In addition, only applicants who graduated or will graduate from a Bachelor's degree program between Dec. 2021 to Aug. 2022 …

The research branch of Nansen, a popular blockchain data firm, has published a meticulous twelve-page report quantifying the performance of Ethereum-based nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, since the turn of the year, unveiling a number of compelling indications as to the economic and cultural future of the ecosystem. Citing the profound impact of traditional financial indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, the report contemplates the vast potential for comparable models focusing on NFT's, arguing that both education and adoption could be significantly enhanced through their wide-scale utilization. Last month, Nansen released six NFT …

Amid the United States and the European Union taking measures to prevent Russia from using cryptocurrencies for potential evasion of sanctions, some countries in Asia have also been moving to respond to the situation. Japan to fine crypto exchanges for violating sanctions Japan became the latest country in Asia to call cryptocurrency firms to comply with sanctions against Russia, requesting them on Monday to not process crypto transactions involving sanctioned individuals or entities in Russia and Belarus. The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the Ministry of Finance issued a joint statement on sanctions against Russia, stressing that crypto is …

Cryptocurrency bulls continued to face stiff headwinds headed into the week of March 14 that began with a vote in Europe about whether or not to outlaw proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, which was ultimately rejected. Despite these pressures, however, several cryptocurrency projects have managed to post gains in excess of 20% on Monday thanks to new partnerships and protocol updates. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Request Network (REQ), Hifi Finance (MFT) and Selfkey (KEY). Metaverse payments with Request Network Request Network (REQ) is an Ethereum-based decentralized payment system that allows …

PayPal was a massive innovation in the payments processing industry. The financial brainchild of Peter Thiel, Max Levchin and eventually, Elon Musk aimed far ahead of its time, facilitating instant payments between customers, businesses and more while utilizing the internet. Solana (SOL) Pay is considered by many to be the next innovation in the payments processing arena, facilitating payments while taking nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and Web3 into account. Some are going so far as to call Solana’s new payment protocol the Visa or PayPal of Web3. This post will break down Solana Pay and how it works so you can …

U.S.-based fintech giant Stripe has significantly ramped up its crypto initiatives after it launched a service that enables payments for NFTs and digital assets via fiat currency. Businesses can use Stripe’s new application programming interfaces (APIs) to accept fiat payments for crypto, provide digital wallets, payout users in fiat, leverage identity and know-your-customer (KYC) solutions, and utilize data to detect and block fraudulent transactions. Stripe co-founder John Collinson shared an announcement via Twitter on March 11, and the firm also partnered with FTX, FTX US, Blockchain.com, Nifty Gateway, and Just Mining to launch the crypto business suite. Stripe now supports …

The National Bank of Romania has greenlighted an acquisition in the blockchain industry, authorizing the blockchain startup Elrond to acquire a payment processing platform. Elrond, a blockchain firm focused on distributed applications, received approval to purchase the electronic money institution Capital Financial Services, which acts under the brand Twispay, according to an announcement released on Thursday. Twispay provides an international payment solution supporting multiple fiat currencies and integrating various payment methods. The firm is a principal member of Visa and Mastercard, meaning that it directly participates in issuing cards and is allowed to acquire merchants. The firm is also licensed …

The United States Federal Reserve is moving forward with its real-time payment project FedNow Service by starting experimenting with the blockchain infrastructure. On Tuesday, the Fed officially launched the FedNow Service Provider Showcase, aiming to provide financial institutions and users with a range of services to help them implement FedNow Service, which launches in 2023. At launch, the showcase includes more than 70 profiles and service providers that support instant payments, including a New York-based blockchain company, focused on instant payment solutions, blockchain interoperability and central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The platform is known for being involved in Chinese blockchain …

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, is moving to boost its fiat-to-crypto payments technology by launching its own crypto payment provider. The crypto exchange officially announced on Monday the launch of Bifinity, Binance’s official fiat-to-crypto payment company to connect crypto service providers with the traditional financial system. Bifinity supports more than 50 cryptocurrencies, including major coins like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), as well as popular payment platforms like Visa, Mastercard and others. The new crypto payment platform specifically allows merchants and businesses to adopt and provide crypto services to their customers via offering buy-and-sell crypto services …

The city of Lugano, the economic capital of Italian-speaking southern Switzerland, is adopting cryptocurrencies for tax payments as part of a new collaboration with the provider of Tether (USDT) stablecoin. Tether Operations Limited, the blockchain-based platform that powers USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has signed a partnership with the administration of Lugano, according to a joint announcement on Thursday. Tether and the city administration have established a center of excellence for blockchain adoption with a goal to become a major European blockchain hub. The collaboration intends to demonstrate the real-world use cases of blockchain by applying it …