Morgan Stanley has suggested in a research report that while few people currently use cryptocurrency to pay for everyday goods because of high transaction fees and low merchant adoption, the tide is changing.

Russia is reportedly planning to run “pilot transactions” of the digital ruble that could be used for international payments as early as next year.

Popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance is enforcing tougher know-your-customer (KYC) checks on Russian users. They are also limiting services for “Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia” with crypto holdings above €10,000 ($10,900).

Sponsored: H.E. Justin Sun, Founder of TRON, announced yesterday in an open letter on Twitter that an all-new stablecoin is launching on the TRON blockchain, USDD (or Decentralized USD), marking its official entry into the field of decentralized stablecoin. 

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin is Closer to Being a Currency: Morgan Stanley
• Russia’s Central Bank to Run Real-World Digital Ruble Pilot
• Binance Cracks Down on Russian Users Over Latest EU Sanctions
• Crypto Market Movers – ZRX, MPL, KNC
• Sponsored: TRON Founder H.E. Justin Sun Announces the Launch of USDD — A Decentralized Stablecoin

Bitcoin is Closer to Being a Currency: Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley has suggested in a research report that while few people currently use cryptocurrency to pay for everyday goods because of high transaction fees and low merchant adoption, the tide is changing.

The bank noted that payments company Strike has recently partnered with point-of-sales supplier NCR and payments firm Blackhawk Network, meaning a large number of stores in the U.S. will soon accept BTC as a payment method using the Lightning Network.

To Morgan Stanley, partnerships with brick-and-mortar stores are an important milestone in the “evolution of bitcoin usage as a medium of payment,” as 85% of sales in the U.S. occur in shops and not online.

As the fee to send a BTC transaction using the Lightning Network is close to zero, it’s more practical for making small payments, Morgan Stanley said, adding that the ability for merchants to accept crypto may lead to a fall in its volatility.

Russia’s Central Bank to Run Real-World Digital Ruble Pilot

Russia is reportedly planning to run “pilot transactions” of the digital ruble that could be used for international payments as early as next year.

According to the governor of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, the digital ruble is already being tested and the central bank is preparing for real-world digital ruble transactions. Nabiullina told Russia’s State Duma:

“We have fairly quickly created a prototype... now we are holding tests with banks and next year we will gradually have pilot transactions.”

Nabiullina added that Russia is looking to see more countries accept the central bank’s payment system that offers an alternative to Visa and Mastercard, MIR, after these services suspended operations in the country over its invasion of Ukraine.

Binance Cracks Down on Russian Users Over Latest EU Sanctions

Popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance is enforcing tougher know-your-customer (KYC) checks on Russian users. They are also limiting services for “Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia” with crypto holdings above €10,000 ($10,900).

The move comes after the European Union’s fifth package of sanctions against Russia and will require users to complete their proof-of-address verification. Accounts that meet the criteria will be put “into a withdrawal-only mode,” meaning they will no longer be able to deposit or trade.

“The limit also covers all spot, futures, custody wallets, and staked and earned deposits. In addition, all deposits to accounts for Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia with over €10,000 will be restricted,” Binance’s announcement adds.

Russians living outside the country who can verify their address and those residing in the country but with less than €10,000 in their accounts will be unaffected.

Crypto Market Movers – ZRX, MPL, KNC

Several tokens are leading the charge in the last 7-day period. Some of these are well-known cryptocurrencies with more liquid trading pairs, so we’ll be focusing on these over low-cap cryptos that may have higher percentage changes.

Kyber Network (KNC) - KyberNetwork is an on-chain protocol that allows instant exchange and conversion of digital assets (e.g. crypto tokens) and cryptocurrencies (e.g. Ether, Bitcoin, ZCash) with high liquidity.

0x (ZRX) - 0x is an open protocol that facilitates the decentralized exchange of Ethereum-based tokens and assets. Developers can use 0x to build their own custom exchange apps with a wide variety of user-facing applications i.e. 0x OTC, a decentralized application that facilitates trustless over-the-counter trading of Ethereum-based tokens.

Maple (MPL) - Maple Finance is an institutional capital marketplace powered by blockchain technology. On a mission to redefine capital markets through digital assets, Maple expands the digital economy by providing undercollateralized lending for institutional borrowers and fixed-income opportunities for lenders.

TRON Founder H.E. Justin Sun Announces the Launch of USDD — A Decentralized Stablecoin

H.E. Justin Sun, Founder of TRON, announced yesterday in an open letter on Twitter that an all-new stablecoin is launching on the TRON blockchain, USDD (or Decentralized USD), marking its official entry into the field of decentralized stablecoin. 

TRON DAO will partner with other blockchain industry leaders to establish USDD. In another open letter, Sun mentioned that a TRON DAO Reserve would be established to ensure the sustainable development of USDD.

At the start, USDD will be issued as a TRC token on the TRON network. The TRON DAO Reserve will serve as a transparent mechanism to manage the reserves backing the USDD.

USDD will not rely on any centralized institutions for redemption, management, and storage. Instead, it will achieve full on-chain decentralization. USDD will be pegged to the underlying asset, TRX, and issued in a decentralized manner. 

When USDD's price is lower than 1 USD, users and arbitrageurs can send 1 USDD to the system and receive 1 USD worth of TRX. When USDD's price is higher than 1 USD, users and arbitrageurs can send 1 USD worth of TRX to the decentralized system and receive 1 USDD. Regardless of market volatility, the USDD protocol will keep USDD stable at 1:1 against the US dollar via proper algorithms in a decentralized manner. 

Taken together, this decentralized currency protocol with a stable price will significantly expand use cases of crypto, making it truly accessible with far-reaching implications for the blockchain space and the real economy.

After four years of growth, TRON has seen over 87 million on-chain users and 3 billion transactions in its ecosystem. The circulating supply of TRC-20 USDT has exceeded that of ERC-20 USDT, standing at $41 billion, making TRON the world's largest stablecoin network. In December 2021, the TRON network became fully decentralized and was restructured into the TRON DAO, the world's largest decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). 

The end goal is to make equitable access to financial services a fundamental human right. In time, financial services will become a necessity like water and air, accessible to people worldwide. 

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