According to a regional report, Sony Bank of Japan is currently exploring the potential of a stablecoin tied to the yen that could be utilized by Sony Group along with its associated entities. Insiders revealed that this endeavor’s testing phase employs the Polygon blockchain, with the crypto firm Settlemint lending its support. Polygon and Settlemint […]
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After weeks of testing with roughly 1,500 returns, Direct File, a free tax filing program from the IRS, is now fully open in 12 pilot states, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
While the pilot focuses on “simple tax situations,” the Treasury estimates the pilot could cover about one-third of tax situations for 19 million taxpayers. The Spanish language version opens later on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET.
“Dozens of countries have provided free tax options to their citizens for years,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said during a press call on Monday. “American taxpayers who want to file their taxes for free directly with the IRS should have that option.”
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Treasury officials hope at least 100,000 taxpayers will participate in the Direct File pilot for 2023 filings as the agency makes future decisions about the program, Adeyemo said.
Within five years, the program could save the average filer $160 per year, or a collective $11 billion annually including tax prep fees and time, according to a report from the Economic Security Project released Monday.
The IRS Direct File pilot states include Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. Alaska was originally included but is no longer part of the pilot.
The soft launch and limited rollout were intentionally designed to capture data to make improvements and decisions for the future, a senior administrative official said.
Direct File pilot doesn’t support state returns, but the software will guide users from Arizona, California, Massachusetts and New York to a state-supported tax-prep tool.
You may qualify for Direct File with a simple, straightforward return, with limited types of income, credits and deductions, according to IRS officials.
The pilot will only accept Form W-2 wages, Social Security retirement income, unemployment earnings and interest of $1,500 or less. This excludes filers with contract income reported via Form 1099-NEC, gig economy workers or self-employed filers.
To qualify, you must claim the standard deduction, which is $13,850 for single filers and $27,700 for married couples filing jointly for 2023.
Direct File only accepts a few credits: the earned income tax credit, child tax credit and credit for other dependents. The software also accepts deductions for student loan interest and educator expenses.
The Direct File pilot launch comes amid pushback from the private tax filing industry. There has also been scrutiny from some Republicans who have questioned the agency’s authority to create the program.
When asked about Direct File during a House Ways and Means hearing in February, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said the agency has “a responsibility and an authority to offer taxpayers different approaches for how to meet their tax obligation.”
Taxpayers have several free filing options this season, including IRS Free File, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, Tax Counseling for the Elderly and private company software.
Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia, stated that the current pilot test of the Russian digital ruble was “on track,” with several operations being tested, including opening wallets, and interactions with smart contracts. Nabiullina revealed that over 25,000 transactions were registered, and confirmed the pilot expansion later this year. Russian Digital Ruble Pilot […]
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The first phase of the Palau Stablecoin (PSC) Program has been declared a success by the country’s Ministry of Finance. More work on the United States dollar-pegged national stablecoin is planned, with the goal of introducing the PSC on a national scale, according to a report released on Dec. 7.
The three-month PSC project was carried out with the participation of Ripple and used the XRP Ledger central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform. The Finance Ministry recruited 168 volunteers from among government employees, who were able to spend 100 PSC at participating local retailers. Both the volunteers and retailers responded positively to their experience using the PSC.
Purchases were made using a phone and a QR code or by manually inputting a wallet address. Only the retailers were able to redeem the PSC for U.S. dollars, which is Palau’s legal currency. The PSC was fully collateralized by $20,000 in “a Tier 1 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) United States bank.”
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Among the benefits of the PSC, the study noted that it will reduce fees associated with financial transactions, reduce the carbon footprint of the country’s money and increase inclusion, since no bank account is needed to use the PSC. Not all the country’s islands have banks. The report stated:
“The Republic of Palau continues to demonstrate its commitment to digital innovation and financial modernization with its Stablecoin program.”
Ministry of Finance Republic of Palau Stablecoin Program: Phase 1 Report” dated December 7, 2023, prepared by The Ministry of Finance and @Ripple Inc.
This report provides an analysis and findings of the Palau #Stablecoin (PSC) Pilot Project Phase 1, a pioneering endeavor in… pic.twitter.com/SLtjYqfbI3
— Jay Hunter Anson (@JHX_1138) December 7, 2023
Future phases of the project should emphasize education and legal and regulatory issues, the report said. Users listed peer-to-peer transfers and remittances as future use cases they would like to see.
Palau, which has a population of around 18,000, began exploring digital currency in 2021. Ripple was involved from the beginning. Ripple introduced its CBDC platform in May. Binance helped Palau implement a digital identification program.
The PSC program got underway in July and ran through September.
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The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has announced that it will advance its research on a digital lari central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a limited-access live pilot environment. Nine companies, including Ripple Labs, will take part in the project, and one of them will be selected to move forward to the next stage of testing.
In a paper released in February, the NBG stated that it was considering a two-tier design for its CBDC, with wallets provided by a third party. It would be programmable and support asset tokenization.
In an interview in June, NBG’s head of fintech, Varlam Ebanoidze, said that use cases for a digital lari, or GEL, include the provision of agricultural insurance and automation of real estate transactions. He added:
“We are thinking about integration into the European Union and we want to be interoperable with the digital euro, but have monetary freedom.”
The NBG announced that it was considering issuing a CBDC in May 2021, without providing a timeline for it. The NBG announced in January that it was soliciting expressions of interest from fintech firms to participate in a limited live pilot.
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The NBG announced on Sept. 8 that it would participate as an observer in the Bank of International Settlements’ (BIS) Project mBridge — which involves China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates — joining about 10 other observer countries. It said it would also “leverage knowledge and expertise” from the BIS’s Project Aurum.
GEORGIA #CBDC ➡️ DIGITAL LARI PROJECT @Ripple
NBG (NATIONAL BANK OF GEORGIA) has shortlisted 9 companies that have demonstrated sufficient technology potential, maturity, capacity, relevant experience, and desire to join our on-field exploration:
Ripple Labs, Inc.
… pic.twitter.com/JGs6GwOJhe— XRP DROPZ (@DROPZXRP) September 29, 2023
In addition to Ripple, the pilot’s participants include Augentic, Bitt, Broxus Holdings, Currency Network, DCM, eCurrency Mint, FARI Solutions and Sovereign Wallet. Ripple is known to be involved in CBDC projects around the world, active in countries such as Colombia, Montenegro, Hong Kong, Bhutan and Palau.
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Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire expressed delight at seeing major Web2 companies integrating blockchain technology.
USDC issuer Circle has announced its partnership with Southeast Asian technology startup Grab to pilot Web3 customer experiences in Singapore.
Established in 2012 as MyTeksi, Grab app is a multinational technology company that operates from out of Singapore and serves the entire South Eastern region. The company has a super-app that allows ride-hailing, door-to-door food delivery, and digital payments. Its services are available in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
According to reports, the Grab app has more than 187 million users in 330 cities across Southeast Asia. The partnership with Circle will serve to bring a Web2-based company into a Web 3 experience.
To achieve this, Circle has integrated its new Web3 services platform into the Grab super app. This is available as the Grab Web3 Wallet. Using this wallet, Singapore-based users can set up a blockchain-based wallet, earn rewards, and use non-fungible token (NFT) vouchers
According to Circle, it plans to bring everyday utility to internet-based global brands. This will be done through its Web3 services, which will help traditional firms to adopt stablecoins, digital assets, and smart contracts easily.
Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire expressed delight at seeing major Web2 companies integrating blockchain technology. He said:
“Piloting our technology with Grab’s customers brings us closer to realizing the full potential of responsible digital assets innovation.”
Meanwhile, the collaboration with Grab is a pilot for the SG Pitstop Pack. It will allow Circle to demonstrate the real-world utility of its asset to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Orchid initiative.
This would not be Circle’s first engagement in Singapore. The latest collaboration with Grab is just the latest in a series of strategic partnerships.
In February, Circle collaborated with Tribe, a government-supported blockchain ecosystem builder, to upskill Web3 developers in the region. Later in May, it opened an office in the nation. By June 2023, Circle secured its Major Payment Institution License from the MAS in June 2023.
Head of Global Policy of Circle, Dante Disparte said that “Circle supports Singapore’s forward-thinking vision as a leading global hub for responsible digital asset innovation.”
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An experienced writer with practical experience in the fintech industry. When not writing, he spends his time reading, researching or teaching.
The Bank of Korea has narrowed down three regions for the piloting of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), which does not include the country’s capital, Seoul, according to a report from a local South Korean media outlet.
On July 31, it was confirmed that the Bank of Korea has chosen Jeju, Busan and Incheon as its candidates for the “private target CBDC test bed.”
Eventually, according to the report, the bank plans to select one of the aforementioned regions, along with experimenting with payments and distribution at a public level and securing franchises that can accept payments via CBDC.
An official at the bank is reported to have said:
“The CBDC electronic wallet app will allow not only local residents but also many civilians, such as tourists to [partake].”
The Bank of Korea said that the regional closed tests of the CBDC will be similar to the issuance and distribution of the current local currency scheme in place in various regions of South Korea.
The local currency scheme was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic as a basic income and relief payment solution. Jeju, Busan and Incheon — the regions mentioned as candidates for the pilot — all current issue and distribute their own local currencies such as “Tamranjeon,” “Dongbaekjeon” and “Incheon e-Eum,” respectively.
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An official from a commercial bank in Korea is reported to have said that, in Busan, the number of eligible citizens is “so large that the Bank of Korea is burdened in many ways” and, therefore, the choice was “greatly inclined” to Jeju, which has the second largest population.
According to the local report, the local currency scheme has fewer “technical barriers” to overcome compared to CBDCs.
Multiple banks in South Korea have released information that they are conducting research on stablecoins as CBDC alternatives for efficiency purposes.
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