Hong Kong rolled out the red carpet for crypto businesses to help revitalize the embattled financial hub. Signs are now emerging the push has under-the-radar backing from Beijing, providing impetus for mainland Chinese firms to return, Reuters reports.

Representatives from China’s Liaison Office and other officials have been frequent guests at the city’s crypto gatherings over the past months, swapping business cards and WeChat details, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private information.

On Feb. 20, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission officially released a statement outlining its plan to allow retail investors to trade cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, only exchanges that are licensed by the agency will be able to facilitate the same. Investor protection is one of the key focus areas of the SFC, and exchanges will have to be wary of the exposure limits, risk profiles, etc.

Banco do Brasil has announced that citizens can now pay their taxes with cryptocurrency. According to a post on their official website, Brazil’s oldest bank stated that this financial development is possible via a partnership with Bitfy, a popular blockchain solutions company with investment in BB’s Corporate Venture Capital Program (CVC).

Through this collaboration, Brazilians holding cryptocurrencies with Bitfy can now easily pay their taxes, fees, and governmental obligations using their assets. The mechanism behind this service is similar to customers paying for a ticket by capturing a barcode. Using the Bitfy app, taxpayers need only select their preferred cryptocurrency for payment and then scan a barcode before going on to confirm payment.

United Arab Emirates Central Bank has launched a Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) program which intends to enhance the pace of digital transformation of the financial services sector. Specifically, this initiative aims to promote digital transactions and encourage innovation in the space. This, in turn, will sharpen UAE’s prospects to become the financial and digital payment hub.

Explicitly, the program has nine initiatives and launching a central bank digital currency is one among them. According to the official statement, the CBDC will be launched to cater to the gaps and hindrances associated to international payments. Additionally, it will “help drive innovation for the domestic payments,” according to the statement.

The CBDC will be launched for both cross border and domestic use.

Read full press release. 

Once again, Dubai has been at the forefront of driving cryptocurrency adoption. 

According to a recent reports, the Canadian University Dubai (CUD) will start accepting tuition payments in cryptocurrency. The university’s existing as well as prospective students will be able to pay their fees with cryptocurrencies. 

The university's official Twitter account tweeted: 

“CUD is now accepting Crypto as a payment method and have adapted to the transforming digital payment space.”

Source: Watcher.Guru 

The Bank of England (BoE) and Britain's finance ministry think the UK is likely to need to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) later this decade, the Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday, citing an unreleased government report.

"On the basis of our work to date, the Bank of England and HM Treasury judge that it is likely a digital pound will be needed in the future," the Telegraph quoted BoE Governor Andrew Bailey and finance minister Jeremy Hunt as saying in the joint report.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asked the BoE to look into the case for a CBDC in 2021 when he was finance minister, and in October financial services minister Andrew Griffith said Britain could not avoid the issue indefinitely.

A CBDC would allow a wider range of businesses - and potentially individuals - to hold electronic money in accounts directly with the BoE, potentially cutting out banks which have this right at present.

Source: Reusters 

Twitter chief Elon Musk has reportedly instructed his developers to build the platform’s payments system in such a way that crypto functionality can be added in the future, Cointelegraph reports. 

The payments feature will support fiat currencies to start but be built to accommodate cryptocurrencies should the opportunity arise.

Twitter has long teased bringing payments to the social media platform — forming part of Musk’s stated plan to make Twitter an “everything app.”