#retail

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an appeal in its case against Ripple (XRP), challenging a district court decision made a year ago. Back then, the crypto firm secured a victory as the judge ruled that XRP sales to retail investors did not breach securities laws.

PostFinance, one of Switzerland's major banks, is stepping into the cryptocurrency world with a service for retail clients, launching on February 21, 2024. The service will allow users to purchase, store, and even set up savings plans for digital assets. Initially, it will offer access to 11 popular cryptocurrencies.

Nvidia is now taking pre-orders from Chinese distributors for its latest artificial intelligence chip, crafted to adhere to the stringent U.S. sanctions. The new H20 graphics card is priced between $12,000 and $15,000, yet the retail cost in China begins at $15,300.

Major Swiss bank SGKD has joined forces with SEBA Bank to introduce services for storing and trading cryptocurrencies (BTC and ETH), catering to retail investors.

The service is built on the Stellar blockchain and activated by the MoneyGram retail agent network, allowing the exchange's clients to convert digital currency into cash. You can exchange USDC for hryvnias, dollars, and euros at respective MoneyGram branches throughout Ukraine. Currently, the service is available only to users residing in Ukraine who have completed KYC verification with Ukrainian documents. There are no fees for this service until June 2024! For the user, the entire process consists of several steps, which are thoroughly described in the comprehensive exchange instructions on the WhiteBIT website.

The Riksbank has published a report detailing the fourth phase of testing for the e-Krona. Throughout the pilot phase, which spanned from 2020 to 2023, the bank tested the e-Krona's fundamental use cases as a retail currency accessible to the general public. This iteration of the e-Krona was developed on the Corda distributed ledger platform by R3, with the central bank serving as a notary node responsible for verifying and finalizing transactions.

DZ Bank, the second-largest financial group in Germany, plans to unveil a retail cryptocurrency trading project by the end of 2024. This ambitious venture will see participation from dozens of corporate banks and will initially cater to private users who do not seek investment or trading consultations.

Raiffeisen Bank International is set to roll out cryptocurrency trading services for its retail clients by the end of January 2024. This initiative will be implemented using the crypto application Bitpanda.

Walmart is set to retail toys based on the NFT collection, Pudgy Penguins, in its 2,000 U.S. stores. Each toy grants access to Pudgy World, a digital platform on zkSync Era, where users can create characters, play games, and socialize. The range includes 26 toys like Plush Buddies and Igloo Collectibles, priced between $2.99-$11.97. Exclusive to Walmart are Ice Chrome and Gold Chrome figures and a Blind Box with a surprise Clip-On Plush. Each toy comes with a unique birth certificate allowing users to claim traits for their digital characters in Pudgy World by scanning a QR code. Current NFT holders will receive licensing royalties for each corresponding toy sold at Walmart.

Imperial College London has teamed up with AI startup FluidAI to address challenges in the crypto market using artificial intaligance (AI). The collaboration will focus on enhancing the tokenized market for various stakeholders, including institutions and retail investors. FluidAI emphasizes the need to tackle liquidity aggregation issues in the crypto domain. AI can help predict and offer optimal bid and ask prices in the market.

This time the SEC hits the crypto exchange Kraken over a possible violation of the Securities Act. Incoming CEO Dave Ripley has refused to delist tokens determined as securities under the Howey test and is now having troubles with the SEC. This case may be settled in the coming days and will make a decisive difference for the entire crypto community. It is also rumored that the SEC intends to ban retail staking. Genesis and Gemini keep their fingers crossed, as they have already stepped into Kraken's shoes once before.