Central Bank of Nigeria to introduce USSD code to boost eNaira

The Central Bank of Nigeria reportedly plans to introduce the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) code to its eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform to ensure people without smartphones, but with basic featurephones and access to mobile data, could still transact on it. [Read more]

MoneyGram Launches Global Crypto-to-Cash Service on the Stellar Network

MoneyGram launched its stablecoin-powered payment channel, giving users the ability to send USD Coin (USDC) payments worldwide that can be withdrawn as cash by recipients. The service is being rolled out across several key remittance markets, including Canada, the United States, Kenya and the Philippines. Global cash-out functionality will be available by the end of June. To encourage adoption, the USDC transfer service will carry zero fees for the first 12 months. The new transfer service was built on the Stellar (XLM) blockchain and allows Stellar wallet users to send USDC to recipients around the world. [Read more]

Upcoming events I’m affiliated with:

The CBDC Think Tank is hosting a CBDC Papers Lecture Series on June 17 and 24 starting at 7am EST and running for 4 hours each day. [View list of papers and register here]