Cosmos will support USDC’s CCTP, which is already operational on the testnet.

Upgrades are being made to Cosmos’ native USDC.

Circle, the business that issued USDC, declared today at the Cosmoverse conference that it will integrate Noble, a Cosmos-based token technology, into its cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP).

On the Cosmoverse main stage, Circle’s engineering director Marcus Boorstin showed the usage of CCTP for USDC transfers by transferring money from Avalanche to Noble via Metamask in a testnet scenario.

According to Boorstin, this will be the first time CCTP has been connected with a chain that is not an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Simpleness is a fundamental component of the design, according to Noble co-founder Jelena Djuric, who stated that USDC transactions can be made in “basically one-click.”

The capability of CCTP will be extended to all Cosmos chains that are connected to IBC since Noble itself is integrated with the Cosmos Inter-blockchain communication protocol (IBC), doing away with the requirement for bridges when transferring USD Coin (USDC).

Additionally, according to Noble co-founder Stefan Coolican, customers who presently possess USDC on EVM chains may transmit their tokens directly to Cosmos chains that are connected with IBC without the requirement of a bridge.

“What you’ll be able to do with CCTP when it’s live is you’ll be able to send it to a burn address on Ethereum, where Circle’s API is watching and will issue an attestation of burn that gets relayed to the destination chain,” explained Coolican.

It’s a quick, affordable method to integrate native USDC into any Cosmos-based application, continued Coolican.

Before the official mainnet launches later this month, a testnet will be accessible to ecosystem players that are keen to try out CCTP’s cross-chain features.

According to DeFiLama, USDC has a circulating supply of nearly $25 billion and is now the second-largest stablecoin by market cap. Of this total, about $20 billion is spent on Ethereum. There is now a small stablecoin market within the Cosmos ecosystem. Since September 12, it has been operational on the Cosmos mainnet.

“Noble’s role as an asset issuance hub for Cosmos enables USDC to proliferate seamlessly throughout the ecosystem via IBC,” said Rachel Mayer, vice president of product at Circle, to Blockworks. With the addition of CCTP to Noble, we are able to address Cosmos’ interoperability issues with Ethereum and a number of other blockchain networks, allowing developers to enroll USDC users into their appchains from outside the ecosystem.

Brazilian authorities are introducing a new national identity scheme that uses blockchain technology. The first states to issue identification documents on-chain will be Rio de Janeiro, Goiás, and Paraná.

According to a recent announcement from the government, over 214 million Brazilians will soon use blockchain technology for digital identity.

The first three states to issue identity cards on-chain using a private blockchain created by Serpro, Brazil’s national data processing agency, will be Rio de Janeiro, Goiás, and Paraná. According to a regulation issued on September 25, the entire nation should be able to create identification cards using blockchain technology by November 6.

The immutability and decentralization of blockchain makes it a suitable solution for the nation’s digital identity initiative, according to Alexandre Amorim, president of Serpro:

“Blockchain technology is essential for safeguarding private information and eliminating fraud, providing Brazilians with a more secure online experience. The National Identity Card project’s security and dependability have been greatly improved by using the b-Cadastros blockchain technology.”

The national ID initiative is essential, according to the local government, in tackling organized crime, enabling government sectors to collaborate, providing a more straightforward method to access services, and simplifying administrative records. A similar project, allowing people to access identity papers through a digital wallet, was recently announced by the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Brazil has been attempting to standardize identification issuing throughout its almost 30 states for the past three years. According to the release, the newly adopted technology would enable a more secure data interchange between the Federal Revenue and other government agencies.

An future digital currency issued by the central bank is another important development in the nation. In August, the government provided further details on the initiative and changed the name of the digital currency to Drex.

The central bank intends to increase corporate access to finance via a tokenization system connected to the Drex, according to earlier reports. According to a local developer, the Drex code was found to enable a central authority to freeze payments or lower balances.

A strategy for evaluating the success of Web3 projects in Colombia, Argentina, Kenya, the Philippines, and other emerging markets was released by Stellar Development Foundation.

The Stellar Development Foundation, who created the Stellar network, has published a financial inclusion methodology for evaluating the success of blockchain projects in developing markets. A white paper that was released on September 25 provided an explanation of the framework that was created in collaboration with consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers International (PwC).

By reducing fees to 1% or less, the teams came to the conclusion that blockchain payment solutions dramatically enhanced access to financial goods. They discovered that blockchain-based goods had sped up payments and assisted customers in avoiding inflation.

Some blockchain developers assert that their products can improve “financial inclusion,” i.e., they can give unbanked individuals in poor countries access to services. Making this claim has proven to be a successful method for several Web3 initiatives to raise money. For instance, based on this concept, the UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) has highlighted eight blockchain initiatives that it has so far supported.

However, Stellar and PwC warned in their paper that initiatives to improve financial inclusion risk failing if they lack a framework for assessing what is required for success. According to them, “robust governance and responsible design principles are key to successful implementation of any technological innovation.”

The two teams put up a framework to determine if a project will probably enhance financial inclusion in an effort to support this governance. Access, quality, trust, and utilization are the framework’s four criteria. These parameters are further divided into smaller sub-parameters. As an illustration, “access” is further divided into affordability, connectivity, and simplicity of initiation.

A suggested method of measurement is included in each description of a sub-parameter. As an illustration, Stellar and PwC use the metric “# of CICO [cash in/cash out] locations within relevant target population region” to measure “connectivity”. In order to prevent initiatives from depending solely on speculation, this is meant to assist ensure that they can monitor their success empirically.

The teams also recommended a four-phase evaluation procedure that projects should go through in order to address the issue of financial inclusion. In the initial step of the project, a solution, target population, and pertinent jurisdiction should be determined. They should identify obstacles that impede the target group from accessing financial services in phase two. They should utilize “level charts and guidance” in phase three to identify the main obstacles to user onboarding. In order to maximize the utilization of finances, they should create final phase solutions that “prioritize key parameters”.

The teams found at least two blockchain technologies that have demonstrated promise for boosting financial inclusion using this paradigm. Paid services come first. Based on an analysis of 12 applications used in Colombia, Argentina, Kenya, and the Philippines, the teams discovered that traditional financial apps charge an average of 2.7–3.5% to move money between the United States and the market under review, but blockchain-based solutions only charged 1% or less. They discovered that by making electronic payments accessible to those who couldn’t normally afford them, these programs expanded access.

Savings was the second sensible answer they discovered. According to the researchers, an Argentine stablecoin application enables users to invest in an asset that is resistant to inflation, preserving their capital when they otherwise would have lost it.

In underdeveloped financial areas, the Stellar network has been at the vanguard of payment inclusion. It established a scheme in December 2022 to help charitable groups disperse monies to benefit Ukrainian migrants fleeing violence. On September 26, it disclosed a collaboration with Moneygram to provide a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet that may be used in more than 180 nations. The usage of cryptocurrencies in emerging nations has drawn criticism from certain financial and monetary professionals. In a document released on August 22 by the Bank of International Settlements, for instance, it was claimed that bitcoin had “amplified financial risks” in emerging market countries.