Good Afternoon Dinar Recaps,

INTERVIEW WITH CARDANO’S CHARLES HOSKINSON: FOUNDER DISCUSSES RECENT ETHEREUM REMARKS AND INVOLVEMENT WITH ARGENTINA

▪️Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson has clarified his earlier remark on Ethereum and Vitalik Buterin as he projects Bitcoin to reach between $200k and $300k by next year.

▪️According to him, Argentina’s attraction to several crypto projects stems from the desire to find an alternative to the local currency. 

CNF recently reported that Cardano (ADA) co-founder Charles Hoskinson has labeled Ethereum as a “dictator” that solely relies on its co-founder Vitalik Buterin for direction. 

In his presentation at the Token2049 event in Singapore, Hoskinson explained that the entire roadmap of Ethereum is within the control of Buterin. In this case, the project would be vague and visionless if the 30-year-old is removed from the bracket.

The Dictatorship Nature of Ethereum
During an interview with news outlet Ámbito, Hoskinson was asked if he is on bad terms with Buterin or if his statement only referred to the direction of Ethereum.

Responding to this, the Cardano co-founder explained that his expression of “dictator” in his previous presentation was just to put a complex discussion or word into a simple phrase.

According to him, his use of that word was just to imply that Buterin runs Ethereum in an authoritarian manner. In other words, holders of Ethereum and Bitcoin have no say in the direction of the protocol. Per his observation, disagreement with Buterin’s decision would likely arise once the governance model becomes unsustainable.

Ethereum could end up like Bitcoin, where innovation stagnates, or it will need to adopt a more inclusive governance model. Although Vitalik has shown resistance to on-chain governance, he seems to be acknowledging that this stance can be problematic. Most modern blockchain projects, like Cardano, are exploring on-chain governance models.

Why Argentina Attracts Several Crypto Big Players

In the interview, Hoskinson pointed out the growing distrust in the local currencies, forcing individuals to seek alternatives to hedge against inflation. According to him, Argentina is embracing crypto and aggressively learning yield farming, metaverse, and GameFi. Per his observation, this trend would continue as long as the local currency faces higher inflation, capital control, and trade barriers.

In addition to that, he explained that Argentina has emerged as a favorable market to test its products like wallet software, identity software, and microfinance platforms. 

On top of that, he believes that Argentina is the best place to hire people as the first developers working on Cardano in 2016 were from Buenos Aires.

Difference Between Blockchain and Liberalism

According to Hoskinson, the vision of Argentina’s president Javier Milei, such as the concept of private and sound currencies, aligns with that of the industry. However, liberalism has a challenge of implementation. Meanwhile, blockchain presents itself as a third way that belongs to neither government nor private industry.

Sometimes it behaves like a government entity, and other times, like a private actor. This makes it an ideal solution for issues such as voting systems, national identification, or the functions of a central bank. I believe that as Milei deepens his knowledge in that field, he will recognize three key points: 

first, that Blockchain is highly compatible with his philosophy; 

second, that Argentina is already a global leader in cryptocurrencies; and 

third, that the country has enormous local talent to drive and execute these initiatives.

Concluding the interview with a Bitcoin projection, Hoskinson estimated that the involvement of BlackRock in the asset could push BTC to between $200,000 and $300,000 next year.

@ Newshounds News™

Source:  Crypto News Flash

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VISA SEES THE ‘STABLECOIN SANDWICH’ AS PATH TO STABLECOINS GOING MAINSTREAM

While stablecoins offer cheap and fast cross border payments, their usability drawbacks have prevented them from going mainstream, until now. Visa’s Cuy Sheffield said it’s no longer always obvious to the user when stablecoins are being used for payments. 

He referred to the so-called ‘stablecoin sandwich’ where someone makes a conventional payment, and the payment service provider sends stablecoins to the destination. The stablecoin is then converted to the local currency with the last mile sent via the local real time payment system.

“If you used a stablecoin a year ago, it was very explicit,” said Mr Sheffield, during a DC Fintech Week panel. “You knew you were using a stablecoin. You usually had to seek out a crypto wallet, you had to figure out how to manage your private key. We’re starting to see both major fintechs, existing wallets like PayPal and others put frontend interfaces on it that just look like another fiat wallet. And so they use stablecoins on the backend.”

PayPal’s Jose Fernandez da Ponte noted that with cross border payments today, most bank customers don’t know much about correspondent banking or Swift. Stablecoins will evolve in a similar manner.

Mr Sheffield highlighted that for non-crypto users, the concept of making a payment in dollars then having to pay gas fees using the blockchain’s native token doesn’t make sense, and means the user has to get involved in crypto. Some of the new payment apps are starting to abstract away these gas fees.

With a move into mainstream, there’s a need for consumer protection.

Stablecoin risks and consumer protection

Mr Sheffield raised the need for standards to reduce consumer risk. Where tokens don’t comply with the standards, they shouldn’t be allowed to be called stablecoins. 

“If you can compare two products that are marketed to consumers as stablecoins, they could be entirely different around: is there a fiat asset behind it? If so, where are those reserves held? What audits or attestations are done?

 So I think it’s a really challenging environment for consumers if you’re being offered a stablecoin to have to go under the hood and do due diligence,” said Mr Sheffield.

Anna Yuan, formerly with Solana and now the founder of Perena, believes the crypto world now distinguishes between stablecoins as narrow banking-style tokens, versus asset referenced tokens that peg to a currency with reserves in assets such as crypto, trade finance or something else. 

“Those should not be considered for daily average consumer use cases. Those are for the crypto bros,” she said. That would include mutli billion dollar coins such as the DAI and Ethena.

Stablecoin sandwiches and the current regulatory status carry risks. Today, many stablecoin holders are choosing to custody their own stablecoins, particularly in emerging markets. To abstract away blockchain gas costs, most apps take on the role of custodian. The users also don’t know which stablecoins they own and not all stablecoins are equal. Many of these app providers are not licensed.

“That means your assets are no longer yours. And why would you use that when you could use a trusted entity like PayPal to custody your assets,” she said. She’s concerned that bad experiences “could really hurt people’s perceptions of stablecoin sandwiches in the long run.” Ms Yuan also emphasized that it’s important not to do away with self custody for those that want it.

Banks and stablecoins
Meanwhile, Mr Sheffield said Visa spends a lot of time exploring what role banks are going to play. Until now stablecoins were not issued by banks, but a number of large banks are now getting involved. He referred to Societe Generale Forge and its EURCV stablecoin. Plus, Visa recently announced its helping BBVA explore stablecoins.

@ Newshounds News™

Source:  Ledger Insights

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Key points of the Putin's speech at the plenary session of the 16th #BRICS2024 Summit in the outreach format:

🔹Ukraine

🟠Ukraine is being used to create critical security threats to Russia;

🟠Those who want to inflict strategic defeat on Russia do not know the history of the country; these are illusory calculations.

🔹The Middle East

🟠The situation in the Middle East is worrying, as it involves the exacerbation of a long-standing conflict;

🟠Russia consistently opposes any form of terrorist actions;

🟠The escalation of the conflict in the Middle East brings the region to the brink of full-scale war;

🟠Russia seeks to contribute to the stabilization of the situation in the Middle East;

🟠Putin called for an end to violence in the Middle East;

🟠A settlement in the Middle East must be achieved based on universally recognized global principles;

🟠It is impossible to restore peace in the region without rectifying the historical injustice in the Palestinian territories;

🟠The launch of a comprehensive political process is necessary for a settlement in the Middle East;

🟠All BRICS countries are concerned about the situation in Gaza and hope that all options will be used to reduce tensions.

🔹BRICS Plus outreach

🟠The BRICS Plus outreach format has proven itself well, allowing for direct and open dialogue;

🟠As chair, Russia invited the leaders of neighboring countries and partners wanting to join BRICS to the BRICS Plus meeting;

🟠At the BRICS Plus session, Putin invited all interested countries to develop the "North-South" corridor and the Northern Sea Route.

🔹Global politics, UN, and financial mechanisms

🟠The transition to a fair world order is challenging, and some are trying to hinder this process;

🟠The UN is called upon to continue playing a central role in ensuring peace and security;

🟠The representation of African countries, whose leaders gathered at the BRICS summit, should be expanded in the UN Security Council;

🟠Reforming UN development institutions and global financial structures has long been overdue;

🟠The next wave of global economic growth is emerging in the countries of the global majority;

🟠It is necessary to build alternative financial mechanisms free from any diktat;

🟠Putin called for ensuring access for countries in the Global South and East to technologies and helping them adapt to climate change;

🟠Russia is making a significant contribution to ensuring global food and energy security. 

@ Newshounds News™

Source:   Gipper's News Reader

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🌱WHY BRICS IS SHAPING THE FUTURE  |  Youtube

@ Newshounds News™

Source:  Seeds of Wisdom Team RV Currency Facts

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