Latam Insights: Bolivia Mulls Chinese Yuan for Trade Settlements, Steve Hanke Proposes 30-Day Solution for Venezuelan Inflation

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic development news from Latin America during the last week. In this issue, Bolivia mulls using the Chinese yuan in international trade settlements, inflation reaches 108.8% in Argentina, and…

President Raisi Calls on Central Bank of Iran to Ditch US Dollar in Trade, Shift to National Currencies

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has called on the Central Bank of Iran to lay the groundwork necessary to ditch the U.S. dollar for bilateral trade settlements and to make the switch to use the Iranian real whenever possible. The Central Bank…

Bitcoin Community Divided: Scaling Challenges Trigger Intense Debate as Mempool Overflows

This week, the Bitcoin community has been abuzz with discussions about the network’s scaling challenges. As the blockchain’s transfer fees continue to surge, the backlog of transactions stuck in the mempool has hit an unprecedented high. Crypto enthusiasts have been sharing…

Bitcoin Cash Smart Contracts ‘Comparable to Those on Ethereum’ Possible via May Upgrade, ‘1000x Efficiency Advantage’: Dev Jason Dreyzehner

Pro-freedom technologies advocate and software developer Jason Dreyzehner recently spoke with Bitcoin.com News via email about the upcoming Bitcoin Cash network upgrade on May 15. One of the most talked about improvement proposals set to go through on that date —…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov States De-Dollarization ‘Can No Longer Be Stopped’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has spoken on the current shift to national currencies and the de-dollarization international markets are currently experiencing. In a press conference after addressing the UN Security Council on April 25, Lavrov stated this shift could not…

China Pushes Digital Yuan for Wage Payments in Changshu

Changshu, a city in China with more than 1.5 million inhabitants, will pay public workers’ wages with the Chinese central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan. The move marks an acceleration of the adoption plans that Beijing has for the…

Economist and Political Scientist Refute Claims of US Dollar’s Demise Despite Trend of De-Dollarization News

This year, there has been a flurry of news reports and opinion editorials discussing an alleged de-dollarization trend amid a wave of disclosures associated with the BRICS bloc. In a recent article, the American political scientist and author Ian Bremmer insisted…

Analysts Weigh In on BRICS Currency as Tool to Face US Dollar-Based Sanctions

Analysts have begun considering using a future BRICS currency to sidestep U.S. sanctions and the dollar’s influence in international markets. While the rise of the U.S. dollar was significant to spur an era of economic growth after World War II, the…

US Prosecutors Seek to Further Restrict Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s Internet Access

The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Damian Williams, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are requesting “proposed modifications” to the bail conditions of former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried. The SDNY prosecutor is asking the court to…

Xapo Bank Integrates Lightning Network Payments Through Lightspark Partnership

On March 2, Xapo Bank announced its partnership with Lightspark, a company led by David Marcus, former crypto boss at Facebook. The partnership aims to extend the utility of bitcoin and the Lightning Network. Xapo revealed on Thursday that it is…