In today’s edition of Bitmama’s weekly crypto news roundup, we cover interesting developments in the cryptocurrency industry. Top picks – Swiss luxury brand Hublot adopts bitcoin payments, Solana just announced its flagship Saga smartphone, Tether, to issue GBP-pegged stablecoin as early as next month.
Let’s get started.
Swiss luxury brand Hublot adopts bitcoin payments
The Swiss luxury watchmaker – Hublot – allowed its customers to buy certain limited products in cryptocurrencies by partnering with the bitcoin payment service provider – BitPay.
Embracing cryptocurrencies as a means of payment has turned into a move practiced by numerous companies part of the fashion industry. The Switzerland-based renowned watchmaker – Hublot – is the latest member of that club.
In a recent announcement, the firm said it launched a limited collection called “Big Bang Unico Essential Grey,” which consists of 200 watches. Those products could be purchased only on Hublot’s US e-Boutique platform as clients can pay with cryptocurrencies.
Last month, another Swiss luxury watchmaker – Tag Heuer – also said “yes” to such payments. The enterprise accepted leading cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Shiba Inu, plus five stablecoins as a means of settlement on its US website.
Solana just dropped its flagship Saga smartphone
Solana just announced its flagship Saga smartphone. Saga is designed and manufactured by OSOM, a leading Android development company known for building computing hardware for Google, Apple, Intel, and other tech giants. The smartphone boasts of a 6.67″ OLED display, 12 GB RAM, 512 GB storage, and the latest flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform with a feature of a Seed Vault that keeps private keys and seed phrases separated safely from the application layer.
“We chose the Saga name because the story of crypto is still being written,” said Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana.
During the presentation held in NYC, Solana’s CEO Anatoly Yakovenko recalled he had seen people pulling out their laptops in the middle of the date, so they don’t miss an NFT opportunity.
“The only companies with the resources to materialize the self-custody mobile future we’re all dreaming of, Apple and Google, have had no updates to give on their roadmaps for crypto,” he wrote, pointing out the need for mobile crypto solutions.
Along with the Saga smartphone, the event also included the introduction of the Solana Mobile Stack. This open-source Android framework allows developers to create rich mobile experiences for wallets and apps on Solana. SMS offers a number of products, including a seed vault, a custody solution, a mobile wallet adapter, Solana Pay for Android, and its dApp store.
Tether to issue GBP-pegged stablecoin as early as next month
Tether is about to start issuing a new stablecoin pegged to the British pound (GBP), even as the UK prepares to recognize stablecoins as means of payment. A new stablecoin pegged to the British Pound Sterling (GBP) could be operational in early July, Tether said in a press release. While primarily known for it’s US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT, Tether already runs a number of other pegged tokens, including the euro-pegged EURT, the offshore Chinese Yuan-pegged CNHT, and the Mexican Peso-pegged MXNT.
Tether looks to seize a first mover position as the UK prepares to recognize stablecoins as a payment method, part of the country’s bid to become a global crypto hub.
“We believe that the United Kingdom is the next frontier for blockchain innovation and the wider implementation of cryptocurrency for financial markets,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
“Tether is ready and willing to work with UK regulators to make this goal a reality and looks forward to the continued adoption of Tether stablecoins,” Ardoino added, suggesting that the crypto community no longer perceives the UK as a hostile environment, the dominant view as recently as March. Solana just announced its flagship Saga smartphone.
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