El Salvador Is Relaunching Chivo Wallets

El Salvador, the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, has relaunched its in-house Chivo wallet. They aim to address existing challenges with local BTC transfers. With the AlphaPoint integration, the updated Chivo wallet promises instant low-fee Bitcoin transactions while addressing issues related to stability and scalability.

Within the first month of establishing BTC as legal tender, President Nayib Bukele announced that the Chivo wallet was carrying 2.1 million Salvadorans. By the end of the year, Salvadorans would reach 75%. However, mass adoption has encountered many obstacles, including system problems and funding.

The government of El Salvador is seeking a permanent solution for more than 4 million BTC users. Thus, they have partnered with white-label infrastructure provider AlphaPoint, focusing on the stability and uptime, scalability, and social impact of the Chivo wallet.

Chivo intends to expand its current consumer-facing use cases to other everyday transactions. It could be simplifying payments for home utilities, taxes, and many other daily Bitcoin transactions. Thus, for this, the government of El Salvador is exploring the possibility of offering Bitcoin loans at lower interest rates.

El Salvador’s Director of International Affairs for Technology and Economy, Monica Taher, hosted a Facebook live event.

Monica to share the schedule for low-interest BTC loans to small and micro-businesses.

Crypto Mom Says SEC Proposed Exchange Rules Could Threaten DeFi

SEC commissioner Hester Peirce has warned that the agency’s proposed rules could affect the regulation of companies involved in DeFi.

Additionally, Peirce said the SEC’s recent 654-page proposal to revise the definition of exchange as defined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 could impact the digital asset space. The SEC commissioner reportedly opposed making the proposal public. She said the text could impose additional rules on decentralized finance or DeFi firms.

The text of the proposal does not include terms such as “digital assets,” “cryptocurrency,” or “decentralized finance.”

Instead, it provides a platform using non-fixed transaction benefits and communication protocols to bring buyers and investors together.

The rule change, if implemented, will reportedly increase the resilience and greater access to the Treasury market. It will expand regulation to include a Treasury market platform.

The SEC chairman has previously called projects in the DeFi space “highly centralized” in some respects and thus subject to similar regulation as projects considered securities.

The proposed rule change will be open for public comment within 30 days of being listed in the Federal Register if approved by commissioners. Regulators may then vote on the measure, taking any submitted feedback into account.

Mcdonald’s To Celebrate Chinese New Year In Metaverse

To kick off the Chinese New Year tradition with innovative technology, McDonald’s teamed up with fashion brand “Opening Ceremony” and its co-founder Humberto Leon to create an exclusive clothing line for the zodiac and hold events Metaverse. This year celebrates the tiger and the qualities of charisma, confidence, courage.

“McDonald’s Zodiac Hall: New Years with Humberto Leon 2022” offers fast food and fashion lovers an immersive virtual reality experience. The digital event will run from January 31 to February 15. The McDonald’s Gallery will host visitors, featuring Leon’s work in AltspaceVR and Spatial metaverses.

Fans will receive horoscope readings based on birth year, zodiac animal, and future predictions for 2022.

Zodiac animals in VR space are rendered in parallax style inspired by Chinese cork carving dioramas and 3D wooden puzzle models. According to Chinese-Peruvian American designer Leon, Chinese New Year is not only a time to celebrate with family and friends, but it also provides us Asian-Americans to share our culture with people in the various communities we call home. Excellent opportunity for a legacy.

Meta Joins Patent Alliance, Promises Free Crypto Patents For All

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) has welcomed Meta to its membership. The social media giant has vowed to make its core crypto patents accessible to all.

Meta, formerly Facebook, has joined COPA, which advocates for public patents in crypto- and blockchain-related technologies. On Monday, the group released a statement announcing Meta and noted that Shayne O’Reilly would be its representative.

By joining COPA, Meta will be one of 30 other businesses that have pledged not to enforce their core cryptocurrency patents. COPA General Manager Max Sills describes core cryptocurrency patents as any technology that allows the creation, mining, storage, transmission, settlement, integrity, or security of cryptocurrencies.

By forming an association and requiring member companies to contribute their patents to the collective patent pool, COPA hopes to stimulate blockchain innovation by reducing the risk of patent litigation.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey praised the development on Twitter, saying, “it’s great.”

Dorsey has repeatedly declared that the crypto market is best served when everyone’s interests are done, not just the rich.

Meta’s interest in the cryptocurrency market has been evident over the years. The decision to join COPA came after the official closure of Meta’s Diem project. Meta also reportedly sold the project to Silvergate Bank for $200 million. Additionally, Meta owns Novi, a digital wallet company formerly known as Calibra. Novi was initially part of the Libra project and later became the now-defunct Diem.

Last year, COPA sued Australian Craig Wright, best known for claiming to be the inventor of Bitcoin, for his attempt to copyright the Bitcoin white paper — an issue that has plagued the crypto community for years.