Bitget, the leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, has announced the listing of Ripple USD (RLUSD) on its spot trading platform. RLUSD, an enterprise-grade USD-backed stablecoin issued by Ripple, enters the Bitget ecosystem at a time when demand for secure and compliant digital assets continues to rise, particularly among institutional participants and developers focused on enterprise-grade blockchain use cases. As a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, RLUSD is natively issued on both the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ethereum, leveraging the unique strengths of each blockchain. The asset is backed by a segregated reserve held in USD fiat and cash equivalents. Bitget’s decision to list RLUSD aligns with its strategy to support strong, high utility-driven assets across its growing spot market, which serves as a curated space for projects that advance blockchain adoption through real-world applications. “We’re excited to partner with Ripple, a team that has consistently pushed forward… Read More at Coingape.com
Renowned economist Peter Schiff has raised an issue between Donald Trump’s tariffs and the president’s plan to make the US a Bitcoin superpower. Schiff believes that Trump is unlikely to achieve his goals with the tariffs while making the US a BTC superpower, as they both contradict each other.
Peter Schiff Explains How Trump’s Tariffs and Bitcoin Plans Contradict
In an X post, Peter Schiff stated that Donald Trump’s goals of solving the problems leading to the US’s huge trade deficits and making the country a Bitcoin superpower are at odds with one another.
The economist explained that the more the US diverts its scarce resources to crypto, the more it will depend on the rest of the world to produce the stuff that Americans need. Peter Schiff, who is a Bitcoin skeptic, has on several occasions criticized Trump’s tariffs and his Bitcoin plans.
He believes that the tariffs will only harm the US and lead to higher inflation or recession. The economist also believes that plans like the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve are a waste of resources. Schiff even urged former President Joe Biden to sell the US’s Bitcoin holdings before Trump took office earlier this year.
With Trump not backing down on his tariff plans, Schiff predicts that the Fed will likely cave and move to cut interest rates instead of raising them to help curb inflation. He predicts a Gold rally to new highs if that eventually happens.
The Bitcoin Criticism Continues
As a follow-up to his original post, Peter Schiff again criticized Bitcoin and Trump’s Strategic BTC Reserve plans. He stated that the flagship cryptocurrency does not create any value for the US. Instead, he claims resources are just wasted as money moves from Bitcoin buyers to sellers.
Meanwhile, Peter Schiff also commented on Gold’s correction towards the end of this week while the Bitcoin price surged past the $95,000 mark. He stated that this was just a counter-trend move, which happens from time to time. He urged market participants not to read anything more into it.
For years, crypto in Africa was synonymous with Bitcoin (BTC). Today, that narrative has flipped, with companies like Yellow Card, a crypto exchange operating in Africa, clearly reflecting this shift.
In an exclusive with BeInCrypto, Yellow Card co-founder and CEO Chris Maurice reveals how it is building a pan-African stablecoin network to leapfrog traditional finance (TradFi). This is amid growing regulatory clarity, collapsing fiat systems, and a remittance revolution.
Stablecoins Are Transforming Africa’s Financial Scene
The pan-African exchange operates in over 20 markets, and Maurice says stablecoins now account for over 99% of its transactions. This makes Yellow Card a bellwether for what might be the most transformative trend in emerging markets finance.
“When we first launched Yellow Card in 2019, people were exclusively buying Bitcoin. Now, the most popular asset is Tether (USDT),” Maurice told BeInCrypto.
As it happened, necessity, not speculation, has driven this evolution. Africa leads the world in peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading volume. However, unlike global crypto hubs chasing volatile returns, Africans are choosing stablecoins out of financial survival.
Local currencies are eroding under inflationary pressure in countries like Nigeria, which ranks second globally in crypto adoption (per Chainalysis). Stablecoins offer a reliable store of value and seamless means of cross-border payments.
This is especially critical in a continent with $48 billion annual remittances and persistent banking limitations.
“Stablecoins are solving practical financial services challenges in Africa. People aren’t in love with the tech. They need faster, cheaper ways to move money to survive and thrive,” Maurice added.
Infrastructure Built for the Unbanked
Yellow Card has gone beyond trading services. Its infrastructure integrates mobile money systems (like M-Pesa in Kenya) and local fiat currencies such as the Nigerian naira and Ghanaian cedi. According to the firm’s CEO, this helps onboard users without bank accounts.
By managing compliance, currency exchange, and payments internally, the firm enables businesses to operate without battling unreliable local rails.
“Our mission is to let companies invest, hire, and grow in emerging markets without needing to stress over infrastructure. We’ve built the back office [meaning] cybersecurity, AML, [and] data protection, so they can focus on growth,” he articulated.
The Regulatory Dam Has Broken
Maurice also observed that African regulators kept crypto in limbo for years. In Yellow Card’s view, 2024 marked a tipping point.
“There is regulatory momentum in Africa that is only accelerating. The dam has broken,” he said.
South Africa now classifies crypto as a financial product. It has licensed major exchanges like Luno and VALR. Countries in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), Mauritius, Botswana, and Namibia have followed suit with licensing regimes.
Meanwhile, regulatory incubators are emerging in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Against this backdrop, Maurice says Yellow Card has actively helped draft legislation in Kenya and supports crypto frameworks in Morocco.
Fighting the Informal Market
Still, challenges remain. In countries like Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Morocco, outright bans have driven users underground into high-risk P2P networks. Yellow Card pushes for frameworks that level the playing field for compliant players.
“We face a lot of competition from companies that don’t maintain high AML standards…A level playing field is all we seek,” he said.
With $85 million in venture funding, Yellow Card is deploying capital into compliance and partnerships. With this, the company positions itself as the go-to infrastructure provider for global firms looking to tap African markets.
From Africa to Emerging Markets Everywhere
Cross-border payments are perhaps Yellow Card’s most powerful use case. The company’s co-founder says its stablecoin-powered rails are helping businesses reduce working capital needs, expand to new regions, and hire faster.
“We’ve had clients tell us we’ve enabled them to scale into new countries and reduce their costs dramatically. That’s real economic impact,” said Maurice.
The company is not stopping at Africa. Its infrastructure extends into other frontier markets, with a wave of strategic partnerships expected in 2025.
“Yellow Card has built a series of easy buttons for developed world companies to expand into complicated, high-growth markets,” he noted.
“Stablecoins are already a standard part of the financial infrastructure in Africa. CFOs and treasurers in traditional industries are now routinely using them to store and transfer value,” he added.
Africa’s crypto market is still small compared to global giants. Nevertheless, as the world shifts from speculation to utility, the continent’s fragmented financial systems may offer a glimpse into crypto’s most impactful use case: economic empowerment. For Yellow Card, the mission is clear and increasingly urgent.
“We’ve built a company for longevity and scale. Crypto adoption in Africa is stablecoin adoption,” Maurice concluded.
Binance is listing Bubblemaps (BMT), causing a 100% rally for the newly launched altcoin. The exchange also put BMT in its HODLer Airdrops program, further driving engagement and market interest.
BMT will provide key benefits to Bubblemaps, powering its analysis platform and allowing increased community participation in its research and investigations.
Now, Binance is listing BMT and adding it to the HODLer Airdrops program.
“Binance is excited to announce the 12th project on the HODLer Airdrops page – Bubblemaps (BMT). Users who subscribed their BNB to Simple Earn (Flexible and/or Locked) and/or On-Chain Yields products… will get the airdrops distribution. Binance will then list BMT at 2025-03-18 15:00 (UTC) and open trading,” the firm claimed in an announcement.
At the time of writing, BMT price is up nearly 100% today, and its daily trading volume has surged 230%. Current market sentiment suggests significant hype and speculative around the new token.
Bubblemap’s data analytics tools have been instrumental in investigating crypto crimes, and it’s opening these to community participation. BMT holders will be able to submit cases and vote on on-chain research priorities through the new IntelDesk feature, helping decide new goals.
Meanwhile, BMT is the 12th asset to be in Binance’s HODLer Airdrops program. This program rewards BNB holders by periodically distributing free tokens from new projects.
This is mutually beneficial for both parties; Binance can reward its loyal users, and the exposure gives these new projects a real notoriety boost.
Ultimately, Bubblemaps’ token getting listed on Binance seems like a win for everybody. Sophisticated crypto investigations can be a thankless business, and BMT’s success directly subsidizes the platform’s work.
