DAY LONG NEWS ROUNDUP: LATEST NEWS 15/12/21

• Avinandan Banerjee
• December 15, 2021

When you are into crypto investments, then keeping a track of all the important events becomes an inevitable task. Here, we have tried to bring your attention to some of the most crucial news items related to crypto that can help you make informed choices. Take a look:

Cove Markets to join Robinhood Crypto

Working as a top-tier trading platform on a global front, Robinhood Crypto has acquired leading cross-exchange API channel Cove Markets to expand its operational capacities for users. On Tuesday, Robinhood released an official blog post to broadcast the news about its latest acquisition in the industry. The strategic deal will play a significant role in increasing the volume of order routing and transaction processing on the Robinhood ecosystem.

According to the announcement, the pact will help investors to get safe and easy access to a variety of decentralized exchanges. Cove Markets will allow investors to trade across seven renowned crypto exchanges including Coinbase Pro, Kraken, Bitfinex, etc. This will expose them to a wide range of more than 50 cryptocurrencies and altcoins for boosting their earnings. As part of the process, Cove’s co-founders Scott Knudsen and Victoria Glava along with their team will join Robinhood Crypto.

The Chief Operating Officer of Robinhood Crypto, Christine Brown stated that the team is elated to join hands with Cove Markets. The firm is looking forward to strengthening its trading ecosystem through Cove Market’s long-earned knowledge and powerful infrastructure. The teams will work together to create better cryptocurrency trading opportunities for the customers.

The team at Robinhood Crypto is taking all the necessary steps to strengthen its hold in the crypto market space. The firm entered into a collaboration with Chainalysis to seek reliable data and tools for supporting its native crypto wallet. Cove Markets, on the other hand, allows customers to manage their crypto accounts effectively and create strong portfolios constituting high-yielding tokens.

NFTs are now supported in the Coinbase Wallet

Hailing from the United States as a globally-acclaimed cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase has expanded its self-custody wallet by adding support for Non-Fungible Tokens trading for investors. With this operational development, Coinbase is looking forward to grabbing the attention of NFT fans who will now willingly hop on to its trading channel. The exchange will enrich users to view their NFT holdings, keep a track of them, and access renowned NFT marketplaces including OpenSea securely.

The addition of NFT support on the Coinbase wallet is likely to increase the adoption volume of its browser extension. The team has clarified that the investors need to have the latest version of the Coinbase browser extension to avail the newly-installed services.

Talking about its 2022 plans, Coinbase stated that they are willing to expand support for Non-Fungible Tokens while making decentralized trading tools more accessible and economical. Coinbase Wallet has a DEX integration function that allows customers to convert their assets easily via multiple crypto exchanges. Recently, the platform launched a new standalone browser extension for wallet users that allows them to access a pool of crypto assets on the top-tier DEXs safely.

Well, it seems that NFT is becoming the trend-setter of the crypto field as firms are actively placing their bets on it. With big brands like Coinbase supporting NFTs, the popularity of these digital collectibles is likely to increase exponentially in the near future. The report released by Cointelegraph Consulting revealed that the total NFT sales are likely to reach $17.7 billion in 2021. The industry witnessed a sharp rise during August where sales were more than $1.6 billion worth.

 

Stellar is used by a Ukrainian bank to test an electronic Hryvnia

Ukraine’s top commercial bank Tascombank is launching a pilot project for the country’s native fiat currency, hryvnia in collaboration with Stellar Development Foundation (SDF). Along with Stellar and Tascombank, Bitt, a popular fintech firm will also play a significant role in rolling out the project in the country. The hryvnia pilot run will be facilitated under the supervision of the National Bank of Ukraine with constant support from the Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT).

As per the report, the chief reason for the pilot run is to test the issuance of e-money on an open blockchain field. Tascombank is designing and testing the hryvnia on Stellar to facilitate its easy deployment on Bitt’s fintech ecosystem called Digital Currency Management System or DCMS. DCMS will provide technical assistance to Tascombank for minting, storing, issuing, distributing, and redeeming the decentralized currency. Stellar will aid Tascombank in satisfying the asset control requirements, facilitating interoperability, and providing flexibility of an open decentralized ledger channel.

The deputy minister of the MDT, Oleksandr Bornyakov stated that the pilot project will work as a significant tool for promoting innovative changes in payment and financial infrastructure in the country. It will offer a technological ground for the launch of e-money in Ukraine. The CEO of SDF Denelle Dixon informed that the pilot has already been rolled out successfully. The electronic hryvnia currency will be issued as e-money on the blockchain designed under Ukraine’s regulatory guidelines, added Dixon. The first trial of the hryvnia is done at Diia, a public IT firm owned by the MDT. The firm is using decentralized technology to manage programmable payroll for its employees.