The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority and the United Arab
Emirates Central Bank recently announced the launch of a pilot
project to create a digital currency, Aber, for use in financial
settlements between the two countries. The two institutions
described Aber as a "proof of concept" of the feasibility
of the use of the cryptocurrency for remittances, including
determining whether the cryptocurrency improves the remittance
process and reduces costs, and assessing any related technical
risks.
This week, Bitspark, a Hong Kong-based money transfer platform,
reportedly launched the first stablecoin, Sparkdex HKD, pegged to
the Hong Kong dollar. While U.S. dollar stablecoins have dominated
the stablecoin market, Bitspark hopes to lead the way to increased
currency diversity in the sector. Also this week, Binance, the
world's largest cryptocurrency exchange adjusted by trading
volume, announced that it has partnered with payment processing
firm Simplex to enable the
