The Bank of Canada is progressing in its plans for a national digital currency, moving past proof of concepts to “executable” plans, according to Reuters.
Bank Governor Tiff Macklem told Reuters that the central bank is working with G7 to develop its digital currency plans, an important aspect of its approach in order to prevent criminals from abusing the currency.
“Currencies move across borders, and so we certainly wouldn’t want to be surprised by some other country,” he said in the report. “It will be important for us to share information on what each of us is doing, is planning on and on the timeline that we might do it on.”
However, he played down the progress by noting that there is no compelling need for a coin “right now.”
In other news, blockchain tech company Ripple plans to invest in MoneyTap, a blockchain payments solution owned by SBI Holdings, according to CoinDesk.
The amount invested was not disclosed, but the alliance is fitting, as MoneyTap was launched in 2018 by SBI Ripple Asia, a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Ripple.
MoneyTap allows its users to transfer funds with a QR code or their phone number, CoinDesk reported. The app uses RippleNet, Ripple’s global financial payments network, to provide international remittances, corporate payments and peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers.
And, cryptocurrency storage platform Casa has added the capability for customers in the U.S. to buy bitcoin, the custodian announced in a blog post.
After adding a bank account to the service, users can buy up to $5,000 in bitcoin a week — or $20,000 a month — with a 0.99 percent fee tacked on to all purchases. Customers have a maximum purchase amount of $240,000 a year.
“When done right, holding your own bitcoin is far more secure than keeping it on an exchange,” the crypto platform said in the post, stating that helping users hold their own digital coins helps give them “full control and full sovereignty” over their money.
Casa users can also opt to keep their personal information private on the platform and buy bitcoin using a pseudonym.
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