The government of Palau is set to begin a pilot project for a United States dollar-backed stablecoin on July 26. The new coin will be issued on XRP Ledger.
The country will release the first Palau Stablecoins (PSCs) in the pilot project to government employees. This comes after several days of testing using volunteers to make purchases with various devices.
The PSC, nicknamed the Kluk, possibly due to its bird logo, is the latest project to run on the Ripple CBDC Platform that debuted in May. Ripple claimed at that time to be in talks with over 20 governments about central bank digital currency (CBDC) issuance. The agreement with Palau predates the new Ripple product, however. Ripple’s partnership with Palau was announced in 2021, with a target launch date in 2022.
Palau is spread across a group of islands in the Oceania region of the Pacific Ocean. It has a population of slightly more than 18,000 and uses the U.S. dollar as its national currency.
The country already has a digital residency program and issues ID supported by Cryptic Labs that is available as a nonfungible token on the Binance BNB blockchain. Palau’s Root Name System ID is valid for identification and Know Your Customer purposes and is recognized by several major international entities. It costs just over $20 per month.
So far during this limited pilot we have successfully tested PSC with WebApp and Android Wallets (multiple OS versions and smartphone models).
iPhone wallet app is coming soon
✔️Minted by Republic of Palau National Treasury ✔️Distribution by Ministry of Finance ✔️Wallet to… pic.twitter.com/I3Gvt9PV7X
Pacific island nations have been a hotbed of crypto development in recent years. For example, the Republic of the Marshall Islands is launching a CBDC and has legalized decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Vanuatu hosts the Satoshi Island “place for the crypto community to call home.” Tonga announced plans to introduce Bitcoin as legal tender, although it seems to have missed its planned January 2023 launch.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
More from Politics
Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.