Fintech News in Brief

Just when you think things can’t get any better with the crypto and finance ecosystems, you get proven wrong almost instantly. Every day is accompanied by new reasons crypto is here to stay. Especially, the last few weeks encapsulate terrific feats you don’t want to miss. In this piece, we’ll highlight a few of the noteworthy events relevant to the crypto and finance industry as a whole.

Nomura establishes a digital asset company

Nomura, the revered Japanese investment bank, reportedly, is set to create a cryptocurrency arm in a bid to offer its clients BTC and other digital currency services, including NFTs and their coins, DeFi and stablecoins among others. According to Steve Ashley, head of Nomura wholesale division, he submitted that this event serves as a major leap for the business in its bid to upscale its digital asset-related investments and businesses. Just recently, the company launched OTC crypto derivatives services. And even with the volatility governing the correct market with cold heart sympathy, Nomura doesn’t seem to be slowing down its crypto penetration pace. Of course, this is good news for its stakeholders as they can now enjoy more flexibility in diversifying their portfolios.

MasterCard set to launch biometric checkout program

MasterCard is no new name in the financial sphere. In fact, you can’t mention payment networks without mentioning MasterCard in the first two positions. To further cement this position, the fintech heavyweight is set to establish a technology system to establish a standard for biometric payment tailored to checkouts. It is partnering with other major players, including Fujitsu, Aurus, NEC, PaybyFace, etc., to bring this innovative development to your doorstep. This program will offer an extensive framework of guidelines specs and standards that cater to data protection, security, and optimizing biometric performances, especially for in-store biometric transactions. With this customers can easily visit supermarkets, enroll their face, and access the payment data via the Payface application, and they only need to smile or make any facial gesture to pay. This can be done without their cards or even their mobile devices.
MasterCard President, Cyber intelligence, Ajay Bhalla, reiterated that the company’s goal with this program is to offer a more compelling shopping experience for all stakeholders, including consumers and merchants while offering the best convenience and security.

But do you know what’s even more intriguing? You can still enjoy this if you have most of your assets stored in crypto.

This development can further help streamline Überstate.io bid to offer an all-around 360° crypto experience. The company offers an accessible approach to diversifying your real estate portfolio and using your digital assets for real-life utility. With the partnership with a heavyweight payment network, VISA, this accessibility was already set to attain terrific heights. Now, partnering with MasterCard is well as sending a positive message to every stakeholder, making the crypto space as overarching as possible for everyone. With this, you can transact well over 30 crypto assets without the hassle, using them for your groceries, digital payments, and everyday purchases.

Instagram kickstarts NFT testing

Instagram recently announced its intent to work with a negligible fraction of its users to test the NFT feature. With this, users can share their NFT arts on their feeds, use them as profile pictures, share on stories, as well as messages by connecting the app with a third-party digital wallet. On launching, the potential apps include MetaMask, Rainbow, and Trust wallet, with plans to include Phantom, Dapper, and Coinbase as this innovation progresses.
Instagram will allow users to post these collectibles at zero fees, which of course, will appease a range of owners and creators (they’ll be attributed as well). In the early stages, the support for this feature will be limited to Polygon and Ethereum NFTs and as it progresses, Flow and Solana will follow suit.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, also hinted that Facebook users should expect something similar and the firm is on the path to including Augmented Reality NFTs on Instagram stories with Spark AR at the nucleus of this innovation.

El Salvador unveils the layout of its crypto haven

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador president recently unveiled the much-awaited Bitcoin City layout, submitting that the development is coming along gracefully. Constructed near Conchagua, the bitcoin-loving president posted architectural designs and mockups of the beautiful city, even with the current slump clouding the crypto market. Remember, El Salvador was the first country to adopt BTC as its official currency, while investing millions of dollars in the digital asset.
BTC city was first announced six months ago and as it stands, it seems this dream is not so far from actualization. The project is embarked with the sole aim of facilitating economic growth and attracting global investment to El Salvador. Besides, the city will demand no municipal, income, or property tax, nor take a toll on the environment with zero CO or CO2 emissions.

Central African Republic set to adopt BTC as an official currency

CAR is following the footsteps of El Salvador, having approved BTC as a legal tender. According to the president, this will place CAR as one of the most visionary, forward-thinking, and boldest nations globally. 4.83 central African Republic residents can now enjoy what it feels like to transact in DeFi, and the terrific benefits embedded therein.

Spotify set to kickstart NFT tests on artists' accounts

Besides their latest playlists and tracks, artists on Spotify can now use their profiles to promote merchandise and concerns. Moving forward, Spotify will allow artists to also promote their NFTs on their pages. As Music Ally initially reported, Spotify has already kickstarted its NFT gallery test, with the feature only available to a select few United states users, limited to android devices. If you’re an artist and double as an NFT enthusiast, here is a nonpareil opportunity for you.

MetaMask now has a rival

Robinhood is, yet again, taken another plunge into the teeming web3 ecosystem, launching its innovative wallet that allows everyone to access exchanges, trade tokens, swap them, as well as buy into the NFT trend. This wallet will function similarly to MetaMask. However, Robinhood promises a sleeker and more intuitive design to introduce more interaction and an engaging feel with web3 destinations. It will as well be the perfect fit for newbies, who potentially find MetaMask difficult to navigate. As we know it, Robinhood is a brand that views crypto beyond the lenses of an asset. It believes DeFi can have a range of operating systems that will potentially power the future of finance.

Website: https://uberstate.io/