Today in Crypto: El Salvador’s Bitcoin Embassy in USA, Japanese Banking Giant Invests in Infinity, Kansas May Cap Election Donations in Crypto to $100

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Adoption newsEl Salvador is in discussions to open a “bitcoin embassy” in Texas, USA, according to the country’s Ambassador to the US Milena Mayorga. “The state of Texas, our new ally. In my meeting with the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Texas, Joe Esparza, we discussed the opening of the second Bitcoin Embassy and the expansion of commercial and economic exchange projects,” Mayorga wrote.Investment newsJapanese banking giant Nomura's digital assets subsidiary Laser Digital announced a strategic investment in Infinity, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol for institutional lending and borrowing. The investment accelerates Infinity’s development of critical infrastructure for “Institutional DeFi” or “Hybrid Finance,” said an announcement.DBS Bank, a major Southeast Asian bank, reported an 80% year-on-year growth in bitcoin (BTC) traded on the DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx) in 2022, and a doubling in BTC custodised with the bank’s digital asset custody solution. Furthermore, the amount of ether (ETH) held saw a 60% growth in FY 2022. “Overall, such metrics speak to a growing recognition among traditional investors of the long-term potential of digital assets who are actively seeking trusted and regulated platforms to access the market,” it said.Regulation newsThe Kansas, USA, Legislature is discussing a new bill that would enforce a cap of $100 on crypto donations for use in any primary or general election. The cap would be based on the “fair market value” at the time the crypto is received by the payments processor. Also, per the bill, there would be stricter rules enforced on how crypto can be used by political campaigns in Kansas, with a requirement for all crypto donations to be converted into USD immediately upon receipt and then deposited into the campaign account.Charity newsUS-based startup Ripple said that it is donating $1 million in XRP to support NGOs providing earthquake relief in Turkey and Syria, through a relief fund on Crypto for charity – it is donating $250,000 in XRP and will also match 2:1 all crypto donations up to $750,000. “Make a crypto donation at our crypto4charity fund and we will match it 2X,” said the company.DeFi newsEthereum’s liquid staking protocol Lido Finance, is working with Layer-2 blockchain Optimism “to further democratize access to ETH staking,” said a press release. Through their new liquidity mining and user incentives program, Lido and Optimism aim to increase the availability of wstETH with OP tokens, it added. The liquidity mining program will see 1m OP tokens distributed over a 6-month period from today.74% of surveyed institutional investors plan to increase their use of decentralized finance (DeFi) in the next 11 months, according to Avantgarde, a provider of institutional-grade on-chain asset management solutions. 78% of respondents said that the collapse of centralized crypto entities in 2022 (FTX, Alameda, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, and others) made them “more likely” to use DeFi technology today than 12 months ago. Avantgarde polled a total of 50 institutions in the US, each with a minimum of $5m invested in crypto (though two-thirds have an AUM of $50m or higher).Blockchain newsWeb3 communications protocol Push announced its launch on BNB Chain, “as it works to expand its reach and appeal across an ever-diverse list of ecosystems,” said the press release. With this launch, “existing BNB dapps and developers can launch and create their own channels and offer customized notifications in response to on- and off-chain events,” it stated.The DFINITY Foundation, the Swiss not-for-profit foundation responsible for developing the Internet Computer blockchain, announced a partnership with FEDERITALY, an Italian non-profit federation created to protect, promote, and enhance “100% Made in Italy” products and Italian companies globally. “This partnership will leverage the Internet Computer blockchain to bring security, speed and trust to consumers using products with the “100% Made in Italy” label,” said the press release.