● Bitcoin developers initiated a discussion on "Rejecting non-standard Taproot transactions to solve Bitcoin network congestion issues"
Bitcoin developer Erik Aronesty initiated a discussion on the Bitcoin development mailing list titled "Should developers reject non-standard Taproot transactions from full nodes?" In response, Bitcoin core developer Michael Folkson said that his proposed solution would not work and should not prevent new use cases. Erik Aronesty responded: "It may be easier to reject any transaction with a fee higher than the sum of the outputs."
● Visa is working with Microsoft, tokenization platform Agrotoken and others to explore Brazilian CBDC use cases, which will serve the Brazilian agricultural sector
Payment giant Visa is working with Microsoft, tokenization platform Agrotoken, and software company Sinqia to explore use cases for Brazil’s central bank digital currency and develop an agricultural programmable finance platform designed to help Brazilian farmers better negotiate contracts. (Blockworks)
● Binance NFT Marketplace plans to add support for Bitcoin Ordinals in May
Binance NFT Market plans to add support for Bitcoin Ordinals later in May. Binance said that users will be able to purchase and trade Bitcoin NFTs directly from their Binance accounts. For Bitcoin NFT creators, Binance NFT Market will provide royalty support, enabling them to create additional income opportunities.
● The Federal Reserve’s first financial stability report this year: There are a lot of liquidity risks in the financial market, and stablecoins are still vulnerable to bank runs
The Federal Reserve warned on Monday that banking industry concerns about slowing economic growth could lead to a reduction in loan issuance, which in turn could accelerate the economic downturn. The report said that bank funding remained relatively stable overall, but there were a lot of liquidity risks in other corners of financial markets. It also pointed out that "short-term funding markets remain structurally fragile. High-quality and tax-free money market funds, as well as other cash investment tools and stablecoins, remain vulnerable to runs." (BlockBeats)
● The British government may authorize tax authorities to confiscate crypto assets from tax evasion companies
The UK government is considering giving HM Revenue and Customs the power to confiscate digital assets from custodial wallets of tax evading companies. The government considered the proposal in light of new rules regulating digital asset payments, which are currently being sought for public consultation. In addition, the amendments proposed in the consultation document would allow tax agencies to access custodial wallets and PayPal accounts, and the government would consult "wallet operators" to develop proposals and understand the challenges of implementing the proposal. It is reported that HM Revenue and Customs collected £787 billion ($994 billion) in the last tax season and expects to gain $12 million from personal crypto taxes. (BeInCrypto)
● Zimbabwe's central bank launches gold-backed digital currency, which will be stored in a special account created by the bank
Zimbabwe's central bank on Monday launched its gold-backed digital token, aimed at expanding the value-preserving tools available in the economy, increasing investment tools and making money markets more accessible to the public. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said the digital token will be redeemable in the same way as existing gold, sold through banks in local and foreign currencies. (Voazimbabwe)