Dozens kidnapped in northwest Nigeria after bandits invite them to talks

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By Reuters and Posted by TOE Armed bandits in northwest Nigeria abducted dozens of villagers whom they invited to a meeting ‌about potential peace negotiations, authorities and residents said on ‌Monday, highlighting the region’s worsening security. Police said 39 people were seized on Sunday ​when they went to a meeting in the forest near Magamin Diddi village in the Maradun municipality of northwest Zamfara State. Some local residents and officials said the number could be as ‌high as 50. According to ⁠a Zamfara State Police Command statement, the victims were meeting relatives of a bandit leader in ⁠an attempt to broker peace and ease restrictions on movement imposed on the community. Zamfara is at the centre of a long-running security ​crisis in ​which armed groups, locally referred ​to as bandits, carry ‌out mass kidnappings, killings and village raids. The violence has disrupted farming and displaced thousands. Security forces have deployed personnel and...
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Circle Introduces USDC Payment To Chilean Customers With This New Partnership

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Stablecoin company Circle seems to be making good strides in its goal of global USD Coin (USDC) adoption, having struck a new partnership deal with Mercado Pago, the “largest fintech company in the Latin American (LATAM) region”. 

This payment platform is a subsidiary outfit of retail giant Mercado Libre, which Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire referred to as “the Amazon of LATAM with 200 million users”.

Mercado Pago To Support USDC On Payment Platform

On Tuesday, August 29, Jeremy Allaire revealed via a post on X (formerly Twitter) that Mercado Pago will offer Circle-issued USDC as a payment option to its Chilean customers. 

According to the announcement on Circle’s website, USDC’s integration on the online payment platform will address the demand for “trusted digital dollars” for facilitating transactions in Chile.

Matias Spagui, senior director of Mercado Pago, reacted to the development, saying:

The US dollar is one of the most stable currencies in the world and a simple vehicle to ensure wealth preservation amidst general uncertainty. With the launch of this stablecoin, we seek to diversify access to cryptocurrencies and offer the more than two million Mercado Pago users an alternative that matches the value of the dollar.

As the name USD Coin implies, USDC is a stablecoin that tracks the value of the United States dollar. Interestingly, Bitcoinist recently reported that about 70% of this stablecoin’s adoption came from outside the US – with the LATAM region one of its best markets.

This latest integration of USDC on the Mercado Pago payment platform will likely contribute to the increasing adoption of the dollar-backed stablecoin in Chile and the larger Latin American market.

Mercado Libre, the parent company of Mercado Pago, has been intent on adopting cryptocurrency payments as far back as 2021. The company collaborated with Paxos to integrate the Pax Dollar (USDP) stablecoin for Mexican users earlier in 2023.

Circle To Launch Native USDC On Base

On Tuesday, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire also announced that the USDC will be launched natively on the Coinbase-incubated Base network next week. This native USDC is expected to gradually replace the bridged USDbC liquidity from Ethereum.

This development comes following the change in arrangement between Coinbase and Circle, prompting the cryptocurrency exchange to acquire an equity stake in Circle. With the new framework, Circle disclosed that USDC will be expanding to six new blockchains between September and October – with the Base network seemingly the first.

According to the two companies behind USDC, this new agreement brings changes to the stablecoin’s governance and funding. Specifically, it led to the dissolution of the Centre Consortium, which was originally responsible for the governance of the Circle-issued USDC.

Circle



from Bitcoinist.com https://ift.tt/uaF3EU1

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