Today in Crypto: Nigeria’s Government Approves a National Blockchain Policy, CEX Trade Volumes Fall for 1st Time in 3 Months, INX Works with BitGo to Launch a Pilot Wallet Management Solution for Regulated Security Tokens

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Blockchain news

• Nigeria’s federal government approved a national blockchain policy on Wednesday. According to a statement, “the vision of the Policy is to create a Blockchain-powered economy that supports secure transactions, data sharing, and value exchange between people, businesses, and Government, thereby enhancing innovation, trust, growth, and prosperity for all.” A multi-sectoral Steering Committee will oversee the implementation of the Policy, and the government directed relevant regulators to develop regulatory instruments for the deployment of blockchain across various sectors of the economy, it said.

Exchange news

• Centralized exchanges’ trading volumes have fallen this month for the first time in three months, according to blockchain data provider Kaiko. “Trade volumes on CEXs declined in April after rising for three consecutive months and surpassing pre-FTX levels in March. Overall, however, the crypto market remains significantly larger than it was before the 2020 bull run,“ it said.
• Bitget announced the launch of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project, Blockchain4Youth, and it plans to invest $10 million in the initiative over the next 5 years. The project “aims to create a blockchain future by empowering and inspiring younger generations to use Web3 and crypto tools to create and engage in a decentralized space.” The initial phase includes blockchain courses, certifications through Bitget Academy, and campus lectures in partnership with universities worldwide. The announcement said Bitget would introduce scholarships in the coming months. 

Wallet news

• The INX Digital Company, the holding company for the INX Group, announced it launched a pilot enterprise-level wallet management solution for regulated security tokens through collaboration with its long-standing partner, crypto custody service provider BitGo. Institutional investors like family offices and venture capital funds now have “the highest standards of wallet management” through BitGo’s policy management solution allowing the setting of policies with spenders, viewers, approvers, and administrators, the press release said.

Scam news

• A Hongkonger lost USDT 590,000 after being lured into investing in cryptocurrency, the South China Morning Post reported. A police source said the victim was a 66-year-old businesswoman who fell prey to a scam after she responded to a WhatsApp message from a bogus crypto “expert” in December. She was told the so-called expert needed the details to pay her the profit she had made. But the hyperlink led her to an online platform controlled by scammers, who collected her confidential data.

Payments news

• Crypto exchange CryptoOrange partnered with payments platform Paysafe to offer new ways for its customers to buy and sell crypto internationally. Per the press release, Paysafe also joined hands with the exchange to support its geographical expansion, particularly in the Latin America region where it recently acquired two local payments companies offering an extensive payments network across Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia.

Investment news

• Fintech pioneer GTN partnered with Mongolian fintech Denode to provide retail investors in Mongolia “with a comprehensive range of tokenised assets from various regions, enabling global market access,” said the press release. Denode is a blockchain-based digital trading platform operating within a regulated financial environment, and this collaboration will enable it to enhance its services and cater to the dynamic needs of investors locally and globally, it added.

DeFi news

• Decentralized exchange Curve Finance developers deployed smart contracts for the decentralized stablecoin crvUSD, deploying the coin on the Ethereum mainnet. “As many figured – deployment of crvUSD smart contracts has happened! This is not finalized yet because UI also needs to be deployed. Stay tuned,” they stated, adding that “after some peer-review of deployments, it was found that current version of crvUSD needs a redeployment which will follow shortly today [veCRV wouldn’t  get fees with this one, due to a mistake in deployment script].”