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Crypto 2020: One Step Up; Two Steps Back

PYMNTS

If 2020 taught us anything about cryptocurrencies, it’s that they’ve reached a tipping point. Or maybe that cryptocurrencies have yet to go mainstream beyond the headlines because fraud still lurks. Bitcoin, of course, exists as one of the most widely recognized cryptocurrencies. Building The (Retail) Use Cases.

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Bahamas Launches Digital Sand Dollar; Adds To Rise Of Central Bank Digital Currencies

PYMNTS

As reported by Reuters , the Sand Dollar – a new digital currency issued and backed by the Bahamian central bank – is now in circulation, and bit by bit, has been making inroads into retail use cases. The money is spendable at a number of retail locations. Central Banks Around the World Eye CBDCs.

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Federal Reserve’s Cunha on the State (and Timeframe) of Digital Dollars

PYMNTS

Earlier this month, as PYMNTS noted , the Federal Reserve said its Boston bank is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to explore the possibility of issuing digital currency. The focus on wholesale payments may bring various retail use cases to reality — including stimulus and disbursement of government payments.

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Bitcoin Daily: Ripple’s $29M Charity Donation, Bitcoin’s ‘Death Cross’

PYMNTS

In investment news, Boston-based Flipside Crypto notched $3.4 Adding to the list of cryptocurrencies that users can buy or trade on its platform, Uphold announced that it has added support for Ripple ’s XRP currency, CoinDesk reported. The company made the donation through DonorsChoose.org. In the U.S., billion, Reuters reported.

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EU Bankers Weigh Risks, Rewards of CBDC – and Cash’s Staying Power

PYMNTS

But as to what a CBDC might look like in the eurozone, ECB executive board member Yves Mersch said a speech earlier this year that retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a game-changer and that retail CBDCs would be a “main focus.”

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Bitcoin Futures Rollout In Jeopardy

PYMNTS

million in investor funding, including from ICE, Microsoft’s venture capital unit and Boston Consulting Group, noted the paper. The long term aim is to regulate cryptocurrency so it can be used by consumers to make retail purchases. The ICE unit has already inked deals with Microsoft and Starbucks and has raised $182.5

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Facebook And Google Payments Efforts Top Week’s News

PYMNTS

Users of Facebook Pay , which the company said is not related to its proposed cryptocurrency Libra, will be able to enter a preferred payment method and then use the option to eventually pay throughout all of the related apps. Amazon To Build $40M Robotics Innovation Hub Near Boston. Deutsche Bank told U.K. Money Laundering Epidemic.

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