El Salvador’s Bitcoin Embassy in US, Japanese Banking Giant Invests in Infinity, Kansas May Limit Crypto Election Donations to $100

Get your daily, bite-sized summary of cryptoassets and blockchain-related news – examine the stories that fly under the radar of today’s crypto news.
__________

Adoption news

• El Salvador is in discussions to open a “bitcoin embassy” in Texas, US, according to the country’s ambassador to the US Milena Mayorga. “The State of Texas, our new ally. In my meeting with the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Texas, Joe Esparza, we discussed the opening of the second Bitcoin Embassy and the expansion of commercial and financial exchange projects,” Mayorga wrote.

Investment news

• Japanese banking giant Nomuraits digital assets subsidiary Laser Digital announced a strategic investment in eternity, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol for institutional lending and borrowing. The investment accelerates Infinity’s development of critical infrastructure for “Institutional DeFi” or “Hybrid Finance,” it said in an announcement.
• DBS Banka major bank in Southeast Asia, reported an 80% year-on-year growth in bitcoin (BTC) traded on DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx) in 2022, and a doubling of the BTC deposit with the bank’s digital asset depository solution. In addition, the amount of ether (ETH) saw a 60% growth in FY 2022. “Overall, such calculations speak to a growing recognition among traditional investors of the long-term potential of digital assets who are actively seeking trusted and regulated platforms to access the market, it says.

Regulatory news

• The Kansas, US, legislature is debating a new bill that would enforce a $100 cap on crypto donations for use in any primary or general election. The fee will be based on “fair market value” at the time the crypto is received by the payment processor. Under the bill, there would also be stricter rules on how crypto can be used by political campaigns in Kansas, with a requirement that all crypto donations be converted to USD immediately upon receipt and then deposited into the campaign account.

Charity News

• US-based startup Ripple said it is donating $1 million in XRP to support NGOs providing earthquake relief in Turkey and Syria, through a relief fund on Crypto for Charity – it is donating $250,000 in XRP and will also match 2:1 all crypto donations up to 750 000 dollars. “Make a crypto donation to our crypto4charity fund and we’ll match it 2X,” so the company.

DeFi news

• Ethereum’s floating stake protocol Lido Financeworking with Layer-2 blockchain Optimism “to further democratize access to ETH staking,” says a press release. Through their new liquidity mining and user incentive program, Lido and Optimism aim to increase the availability of wstETH with OP tokens, it added. The liquidity mining program will see 1 million OP tokens distributed over a 6-month period starting today.
• 74% of institutional investors surveyed plan to increase their use of decentralized finance (DeFi) in the next 11 months, according to Avant-garde, a provider of chain-based asset management solutions. 78% of respondents said that the collapse of centralized crypto entities in 2022 (FTX, Alameda, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, and others) made them “more likely” to use DeFi technology today than 12 months ago. Avantgarde polled a total of 50 institutions in the US, each with a minimum of $5 million invested in crypto (although two-thirds have an AUM of $50 million or higher).

Blockchain News

• Web3 communication protocol Press announced the launch on BNB chain, “as it works to expand its reach and appeal across an increasingly diverse list of ecosystems,” the press release said. With this launch, “existing BNB dapps and developers can launch and create their own channels and offer custom alerts in response to on-chain and off-chain events,” it tired.
• The DFINITY Foundationthe Swiss non-profit foundation responsible for developing Internet computer blockchain, announced a collaboration with FATHER’S LANGUAGE, an Italian non-profit association created to protect, promote and improve “100% Made in Italy” products and Italian companies globally. “This partnership will leverage the Internet computer blockchain to bring security, speed and confidence to consumers who use products with the ‘100% Made in Italy’ label,” the press release said.