Top Developments and News in Cryptocurrencies for the Past Week

by 99Crypto

As we enter the third trading week of February, the blockchain development and digital currency spaces continue to generate notable headlines. Here are a few of the most significant:

Apple Announces New Cryptocurrency Payment System

Coinbase and Crypto.com account holders who will be able to use their cryptocurrency debit cards directly on the new Tap-to-Pay system recently unveiled by Apple. The technology giant is upgrading its Apple Pay platform to include contact-less payments. The goal is to make things easier at Point-of-Sale terminals not only for iPhone users but also for merchants.

YouTube is Getting Into the NFT Game

Non-fungible tokens that represent digital video creations could soon be used on YouTube. On a recent blog post published by Google, the company reiterated its intention to enable the issuance of NFTs; moreover, YouTube will also consider incursions into the metaverse through video content produced for virtual reality headsets.

Ripple Enjoys Brief Rally

A couple of years ago, Ripple ranked just below Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of market capitalization, but other tokens have since surpassed the XRP token. One of the problems faced by Ripple Labs, developer of the centralized XRP blockchain, is that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has not given up on holding the company accountable for issuing unregistered securities. The case against XRP took another turn this week, and it was largely in favor of Ripple Labs, thus generating an increase of trading volume and a 30% currency exchange price appreciation.

Bitcoin and EOS: The Swiss Court of Justice Has Delayed Its Ruling On the Legality of Blockchain

In a recent ruling, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court temporarily halted its ruling on whether Bitcoin and EOS are legal payment systems. The decision stemmed from a lawsuit involving a French bitcoin trader and a group of bitcoin exchanges in Switzerland. The judgment, in effect, is delaying the final decision until later this year. Switzerland has been fairly liberal in terms of staying away from regulating cryptocurrencies, but there have been quite a few lawsuits filed by traders against Swiss exchanges.