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<p><em>Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.</em></p><h2 id="header-0">Adoption news</h2><ul><li><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/el-salvador/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">El Salvador</a> is in discussions to open a &#34;<a href="https://cryptonews.com/coins/bitcoin/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">bitcoin</a> embassy&#34; in Texas, <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/usa/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">USA</a>, according to the country’s Ambassador to the US Milena Mayorga. “The state of Texas, our new ally. In my meeting with the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Texas, Joe Esparza, we discussed the opening of the second Bitcoin Embassy and the expansion of commercial and economic exchange projects,” Mayorga <a href="https://twitter.com/MilenaMayorga/status/1625583540321542161" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">wrote</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="header-1">Investment news</h2><ul><li>Japanese banking giant <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/nomura/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nomura</a></strong>&#39;s digital assets subsidiary <strong>Laser Digital</strong> announced a strategic investment in <strong>Infinity</strong>, a decentralized finance (<a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/defi/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DeFi</a>) protocol for institutional lending and borrowing. The investment accelerates Infinity’s development of critical infrastructure for “Institutional DeFi” or “Hybrid Finance,” said an announcement.</li><li><strong>DBS Bank</strong>, a major Southeast Asian bank, <a href="https://www.dbs.com/newsroom/Bitcoin_trading_volume_up_80pct_at_DBS_Digital_Exchange_in_2022_customer_base_doubles" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reported</a> an 80% year-on-year growth in bitcoin (BTC) traded on the <strong>DBS Digital Exchange</strong> (DDEx) in 2022, and a doubling in BTC custodised with the bank’s digital asset custody solution. Furthermore, the amount of <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/ethereum/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ether (ETH)</a> held saw a 60% growth in FY 2022. “Overall, such metrics speak to a growing recognition among traditional investors of the long-term potential of digital assets who are actively seeking trusted and regulated platforms to access the market,” it said.</li></ul><h2 id="header-2">Regulation news</h2><ul><li>The Kansas, USA, Legislature is discussing a new bill that would enforce a cap of $100 on crypto donations for use in any primary or general election. The cap would be based on the “fair market value” at the time the crypto is received by the payments processor. Also, per the bill, there would be stricter rules enforced on how crypto can be used by political campaigns in Kansas, with a requirement for all crypto donations to be converted into USD immediately upon receipt and then deposited into the campaign account.</li></ul><h2 id="header-3">Charity news</h2><ul><li>US-based startup <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/ripple/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ripple</a></strong> said that it is donating $1 million in <a href="https://cryptonews.com/coins/ripple/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">XRP</a> to support NGOs providing earthquake relief in <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/turkey/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Turkey</a> and <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/syria/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Syria</a>, through a relief fund on <a href="https://www.cryptoforcharity.io/cause-funds/ripple-impact-earthquake-relief" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Crypto for charity</a> - it is donating $250,000 in XRP and will also match 2:1 all crypto donations up to $750,000. “Make a crypto donation at our crypto4charity fund and we will match it 2X,” <a href="https://twitter.com/ripple/status/1625645967922937856" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> the company.</li></ul><h2 id="header-4">DeFi news</h2><ul><li>Ethereum’s liquid staking protocol <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/lido/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Lido Finance</a></strong>, is working with Layer-2 blockchain <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/optimism/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Optimism</a></strong> “to further democratize access to ETH staking,” said a press release. Through their new liquidity <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/mining/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">mining </a>and user incentives program, Lido and Optimism aim to increase the availability of wstETH with OP tokens, it added. The liquidity mining program will see 1m OP tokens distributed over a 6-month period from today.</li><li>74% of surveyed institutional investors plan to increase their use of decentralized finance (<a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/defi/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DeFi</a>) in the next 11 months, according to <strong>Avantgarde</strong>, a provider of institutional-grade on-chain asset management solutions. 78% of respondents said that the collapse of centralized crypto entities in 2022 (<strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/ftx/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">FTX</a></strong>, <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/alameda-research/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Alameda</a></strong>, <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/three-arrows-capital/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Three Arrows Capital</a></strong>, <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/celsius-network/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Celsius</a></strong>, and others) made them “more likely” to use DeFi technology today than 12 months ago. Avantgarde polled a total of 50 institutions in the US, each with a minimum of $5m invested in crypto (though two-thirds have an AUM of $50m or higher).</li></ul><h2 id="header-5">Blockchain news</h2><ul><li><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/web3/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Web3</a> communications protocol <strong>Push</strong> announced its launch on <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/bnb-chain/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BNB Chain</a></strong>, “as it works to expand its reach and appeal across an ever-diverse list of ecosystems,” said the press release. With this launch, “existing BNB <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/dapp/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">dapps</a> and developers can launch and create their own channels and offer customized notifications in response to on- and off-chain events,” it <a href="https://twitter.com/pushprotocol/status/1625812049379971073" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">stated</a>.</li><li>The <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/dfinity/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DFINITY Foundation</a></strong>, the Swiss not-for-profit foundation responsible for developing the <strong><a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/internet-computer/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Internet Computer</a></strong> blockchain, announced a partnership with <strong>FEDERITALY</strong>, an <a href="https://cryptonews.com/tags/italy/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Italian</a> non-profit federation created to protect, promote, and enhance &#34;100% Made in Italy&#34; products and Italian companies globally. “This partnership will leverage the Internet Computer blockchain to bring security, speed and trust to consumers using products with the “100% Made in Italy” label,” said the press release.</li></ul>

Today in Crypto: El Salvador’s Bitcoin Embassy in USA, Japanese Banking Giant Invests in Infinity, Kansas May Cap Election Donations in Crypto to $100

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