The Bank of Papua New Guinea has completed its trial for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and is now exploring the next steps for digital payments. The project, conducted with partners including Soramitsu, Mitsubishi, and the Japanese government, aimed to improve financial inclusion, strengthen security, and modernise the country’s payment system.
The trial took place in a controlled environment, allowing authorities to assess both the benefits and challenges of a CBDC. While the results were promising, the central bank highlighted the need to address legal and regulatory gaps before considering a wider rollout. Governor Elizabeth Genia emphasised the importance of engaging more financial institutions and expanding research into cross-border transactions.
Papua New Guinea has been actively exploring blockchain technology since 2018, previously testing digital identity solutions and fintech regulations. Soramitsu, who played a key role in Cambodia’s successful CBDC launch, believes a state-backed digital currency could provide a traceable and efficient financial system. The central bank is now looking at international partnerships to further develop its digital payment infrastructure.
Potential candidates for Donald Trump’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets have emerged, with leading crypto executives vying for spots on the advisory council. Figures such as Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, and Circle’s Jeremy Allaire are reportedly in the running, though the final list remains uncertain.
Trump’s executive order establishing the council was seen as a major shift in the US government’s stance on digital assets. The order also calls for research into a strategic digital asset reserve—potentially including Bitcoin—while explicitly banning the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The advisory group will include officials from key government agencies, such as the Treasury and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but will exclude personnel from the Federal Reserve and the FDIC. The decision was welcomed by crypto advocates, who have accused these institutions of stifling the industry. Meanwhile, the FDIC recently released hundreds of pages of documents revealing its scrutiny of crypto firms, further fuelling debate over regulatory policies.
Czech President Petr Pavel recently signed a bill that exempts cryptocurrency users from paying taxes on long-term gains. Under the new legislation, crypto assets held for over three years will not be taxed when sold, and transactions up to CZK 100,000 (around $4,136) annually won’t require reporting on tax declarations, similar to securities.
The reform is part of the Czech Republic’s Digitalization of the Financial Markets Act, which is nearing its final stages. The bill will be officially published within the next week or two. As a member of the European Union, this move is seen as a significant step for the country’s crypto sector.
In a related development, the Czech National Bank recently approved a proposal by its governor to consider adding assets like Bitcoin to its reserves. However, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde expressed her opposition, stating that she doesn’t foresee Bitcoin entering the reserves of EU central banks.
io.net has partnered with Orbit, an AI-driven platform, to enhance transparency in AI interactions within the blockchain sector. The collaboration aims to streamline the way AI agents operate on decentralized GPU ecosystems by making their actions auditable and transparent.
The partnership will allow AI agents to run on decentralized GPU clusters, improving scalability and cost-efficiency for AI computations. Moreover, it will store AI-generated inferences on-chain, making future actions traceable and verifiable. The move addresses transparency concerns that have plagued AI decision-making in the blockchain space.
By leveraging decentralized technology, the collaboration boosts trust in both the AI and DeFi ecosystems, enabling more secure and automated financial interactions. As AI agents become increasingly autonomous, this partnership paves the way for a new era of accountable and transparent decentralized computing.
Blocksquare has launched a legally compliant real estate tokenisation framework in Luxembourg, marking a major step for Europe’s blockchain industry. The new framework integrates with land registries, allowing property owners to tokenize economic rights tied to real estate while ensuring investors have legally enforceable claims. The development aligns with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which provides the legal certainty previously missing from tokenised property investments.
By leveraging notarised agreements, Blocksquare bridges the gap between blockchain-based assets and traditional legal protections, making real estate investment more accessible to retail investors. CEO Denis Petrovcic highlighted that what once required months of regulatory navigation can now be completed in weeks, streamlining the process for marketplace operators and property owners.
With real-world asset tokenisation reaching over $17.1 billion in onchain value, industry forecasts predict a fiftyfold increase by 2030, potentially hitting $30 trillion. Blocksquare’s initiative in Luxembourg positions it as a key player in driving real estate tokenisation adoption across Europe, making blockchain-based property investment more secure and scalable.
With pro-crypto leadership in Washington, regulatory changes may make crypto more accessible in the US. However, true mass adoption depends on real-world use cases, and emerging markets present the greatest opportunities. Many in the crypto industry still see these regions as charity cases rather than crucial drivers of adoption. Yet, Africa and other developing regions offer the perfect environment for testing and refining blockchain solutions.
Africa’s financial landscape highlights the need for decentralised alternatives. Many people remain unbanked, cross-border fees are high, and inflation erodes savings. These challenges have already pushed crypto adoption up 25-fold since 2021. If transaction fees can be lowered further, crypto could provide affordable financial tools for everyday transactions, helping small businesses and individuals.
The role of emerging markets in shaping new technology is well established. Renewable energy scaled globally after proving its viability in off-grid communities. Similarly, Africa’s urgent financial needs will accelerate crypto innovation. By solving local problems, developers can create systems that will ultimately benefit the entire world.
For crypto to thrive, both regulatory progress and grassroots adoption must move forward together. The shift in US policy is significant, but true innovation will come from where crypto is needed most. From Washington to Nairobi, a global approach will determine crypto’s future.
Parties vying for power in Germany’s February 23 election have outlined diverging financial policies that could affect banking, taxation and cryptocurrency regulation. The conservative CDU/CSU alliance, leading in the polls, aims to strengthen Germany’s position as a financial hub, favouring tax incentives for start-ups and venture capital. Plans also include preserving the three-pillar banking system and increasing tax-free allowances while opposing a wealth tax.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), running second, proposes the most radical changes, calling for Germany to exit the euro and return to the Deutsche mark backed by gold. Advocating deregulation of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading, the party also opposes a digital euro and supports abolishing both the inheritance tax and wealth tax. Mainstream parties refuse to work with AfD, making its proposals unlikely to become policy.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), currently trailing, pledge to tax the super rich and introduce a financial transaction tax. Plans also include reinstating the wealth tax and adjusting inheritance tax to increase contributions from multi-million and billion-euro estates. The Greens align with SPD on higher taxation for the wealthy and propose stricter cryptocurrency oversight, enhanced financial transparency and stronger sustainability regulations.
Polls indicate a potential shift in Germany’s financial landscape, with taxation, cryptocurrency policy and the country’s role in European finance among key issues shaping the election.
El Salvador has reversed its historic decision to make Bitcoin legal tender, following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The law, enacted in 2021, required all businesses to accept Bitcoin alongside the US dollar, but many merchants struggled to adopt it. Widespread scepticism, technical issues, and Bitcoin’s volatility made it unpopular among the majority of Salvadorans.
While the policy brought some benefits, such as increased tourism and global attention, it failed to boost financial inclusion or significantly improve the economy. Reports show that by 2024, 92% of Salvadorans did not use Bitcoin for transactions, and only a small percentage of businesses accepted it. The Chivo wallet, launched to facilitate transactions, faced hacking incidents and technical difficulties, further eroding public trust.
The shift away from Bitcoin came after the IMF made it a condition for a $1.4 billion loan. El Salvador’s Congress agreed to remove Bitcoin’s legal tender status, ensuring that the government and businesses would no longer be required to accept it. However, Bitcoin remains legal for private trade, and the government has continued purchasing it, signalling an ongoing interest in cryptocurrency despite the policy change.
El Salvador has made another significant addition to its Bitcoin reserve, purchasing 12 BTC in just one day, as the cryptocurrency market saw a dip. The Central American country bought 11 Bitcoin for just over $1.1 million, with an average price of $101,816 per Bitcoin on 4 February. It later added one more BTC at $99,114, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 6,068 BTC, valued at over $554 million.
Despite a brief decline in Bitcoin’s price, which fell to around $96,000 before rebounding to approximately $98,000, El Salvador’s commitment to its Bitcoin strategy remains steadfast. The country’s Bitcoin Office proudly announced that El Salvador has accumulated 21 BTC in just one week and 60 BTC in the last 30 days, reinforcing the growth of its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
This latest round of Bitcoin purchases comes after President Nayib Bukele’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month, where his government made adjustments to its Bitcoin policies. These included making Bitcoin adoption in the private sector voluntary and scaling back government involvement in the Chivo crypto wallet. However, the country’s commitment to acquiring Bitcoin remains unchanged, with further purchases planned for 2025.
Despite the IMF agreement, the government has shown no signs of abandoning its Bitcoin ambitions, continuing to buy Bitcoin even after the deal was struck. The country’s Bitcoin plans are expected to intensify, with El Salvador positioning itself as a global leader in Bitcoin adoption.
Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, is diving deeper into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) with several new applications in development. Tether Data, the company’s AI division, is working on a range of tools including AI Translate, AI Voice Assistant, and AI Bitcoin Wallet Assistant. These apps will focus on maintaining the privacy and self-custodial control over both data and money, according to CEO Paolo Ardoino.
The AI Bitcoin Wallet Assistant will allow users to interact with a chatbot interface to manage their BTC wallet, such as checking their balance or making transactions. Meanwhile, the AI Translate tool provides simple chatbot-based translation, and the AI Voice Assistant will enable voice responses instead of text. Tether plans to launch an open-source AI SDK platform, compatible with various devices including mobile phones and laptops.
Tether’s commitment to AI growth has been evident since 2023, with the company acquiring a stake in Northern Data Group, a European crypto miner specialising in cloud computing and generative AI. The firm also began a global recruitment drive for AI talent in March 2023, intending to innovate and set new industry standards.
The firm has been making significant strides in both the AI and crypto industries, as it reported record profits of $13 billion for 2024, and its USDT stablecoin has seen an all-time high market capitalisation of $141 billion. Tether’s AI platform is expected to launch by the end of Q1 2025.
