The following is a guest post and opinion from Konstantins Vasilenko, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer at Paybis.

There is a stark mismatch between the target and actual audience of crypto products. Crypto’s greatest upcomers rarely make an appearance in the news, nor do they enjoy the privilege of extensive localization and optimization efforts from the devs’ side. Today, most platforms are still building and optimizing for Western markets exclusively, resulting in high drop-off rates in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Yet, it is precisely these regions that drive crypto adoption forward. In 2024, the top 3 spots in Chainalysis’ crypto adoption ranking were secured by India, Nigeria, and Indonesia, and only four developed economies made it to the top 20 overall. Emerging markets are the most promising in terms of user count growth tempo: proprietary data from Paybis shows a 66% year-on-year user increase in developing economies, overshadowing the developed markets by a factor of two. And that has been the case for years.

The tested solution to boost engagement and secure a loyal customer base is crypto on-ramps, which have already proved their utility in the US and Europe. However, conversion rates on on-ramps tend to be notably lower in developing markets: 14% fewer users initiate KYC, 20% fewer are approved, and 11% fewer complete transactions. Replicating Western flows without localization has proven ineffective: platforms must localize to fit local KYC flows, local payment methods, and behaviors. Without localized on-ramps, mass adoption will remain a pipe dream.

Devs Still Optimize for Western Markets

Crypto may be borderless in theory, but in practice, it still has a passport. The comfort level of the same app might vary drastically from country to country, as platforms often assume fluency in the North American or European banking system or similarity in user habits.

To put it simply, something that works in Toronto might not work in Lagos. In Nigeria, over 96% of users register via mobile, making it the primary access method. It is simply incomparable to developed countries like Canada, Australia, or Japan, where desktop-first behavior dominates. Flows often fail when ported to countries with informal economies and lower banking penetration.

The challenge of KYC flows is compounded, considering how often some platforms lack on-ramps. Instead of a streamlined flow, a user has to go through repeated KYC verifications only to start using services. Without improvements to user experience, there is little chance that consumers will migrate to DeFi alternatives en masse. In emerging markets, crypto remains a geek-for-geeks type of product. Tech-savvy niches are satisfied, but the demographic that needs crypto the most is excluded.

Payment Localization Is the Future

To unlock growth in emerging markets, platforms must localize. Recent case studies suggest that the key to doing it successfully is integration with the payment systems people already trust and use.

Take South America, where PIX, the Brazilian government-backed instant payment system, has been a game-changer. Platforms that integrate with PIX have seen a marked reduction in drop-offs thanks to the seamless and familiar user experience. Brazilian platform Mercado Bitcoin integrated PIX in 2020. By enabling instant zero‑fee deposits via the country’s native payment rail, the platform saw onboarding completion rates jump, while early drop‑offs significantly declined. Users no longer needed cards or complex bank transfers—only the payment methods they already used on a daily basis.

Localization also means adapting verification processes to local norms, offering mobile-first and multilingual interfaces, and designing for environments where mobile usage is still dominant and digital literacy varies widely.

Fix the On-Ramps, Reduce the Drop-Offs

Emerging markets already dominate global crypto adoption metrics. But interest alone doesn’t guarantee sustainable adoption. Without localized on-ramps, platforms will continue to lose potential users at the very first step of the conversion funnel: the bridge from fiat funds to trusted and accessible crypto.

The next wave of crypto adoption will not be conquered by the best technology. Its crest will fall to the platforms that make this technology accessible, intuitive, and locally relevant.

West Virginia’s Bitcoin (BTC) strategic reserve bill would give the state more sovereignty from the federal government and freedom from a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC), State Senator Chris Rose told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview.

“You hear these rumors that there are people at the federal government that will want to have a central bank digital currency,” Rose said. “And people don’t want that. People want decentralized currency. They want freedom.”

The bill, introduced in February, seeks to allow the state treasury to invest up to 10% of public funds in precious metals like gold and silver, stablecoins, or any digital asset that has had a $750 million market capitalization or higher over the last 12 months. Currently, the only digital asset with such a market cap is Bitcoin.

Rose, the bill’s sponsor, said that the reason they decided on the market cap requirement was to allow the state to have exposure to cryptocurrency, but not to get trapped “in any things like memecoins.”

Adopting Bitcoin on the state level would “give us a little more state sovereignty,” Rose added. “And I think that’s one reason why you see a lot of people who normally buy [Bitcoin] for themselves want to see their state government do the same.”

He added that a 10% allocation of state funds would be a “good way to introduce [Bitcoin] to the state” while avoiding any fear from people who don’t understand digital assets. “It’s a good way to cap that where they feel comfortable, but also give us at least a decent exposure as well.”

Bitcoin: “a very powerful” investment and freedom tool

Rose said that one of the roadblocks to getting the bill passed is fear, in particular among those who don’t understand cryptocurrency. “Just like any other state, we have people who understand it. We also have people that don’t understand it, and people are always afraid of what they don’t know.”

He added that “once they understand it, they realize it’s a very powerful investment tool and freedom tool for every one of us to adopt.”

West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, who has envisioned a future state economy powered by crypto and other tech, won’t be a roadblock, Rose said. And the state treasurer, whom Rose consulted before introducing the bill, won’t either.

However, according to WVNews, a West Virginia publication, some lawmakers and financial experts remain skeptical. Investing state funds into Bitcoin may be risky due to the asset’s volatility and price swings, which can cause financial instability and make Bitcoin a controversial choice for state investments.

Although Bitcoin strategic reserve bills have been popping up in state legislatures around the United States, some bills have failed to pass or have scrapped key provisions, including some of those in traditionally conservative states.

Currently, 47 strategic Bitcoin reserve bills have been introduced in 26 states according to Bitcoin Laws. While, in most of the states, the bills have only been introduced or referred to committees, some have made headway in three: Arizona, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Related: Texas Senate passes Bitcoin strategic reserve bill

Rose clarified that the 10% of state funds allocated to precious metals, stablecoins, or Bitcoin would be sourced from two key areas.

“It would be the assets under the pensions fund and under the severance tax fund,” Rose said. “They would be able to divest some of those ETF funds into these assets. We wanted to keep it separate from the petty cash fund, which is day-to-day, just paying the bills of the state. We wanted to keep it to our longer-term assets,” he added.

Magazine: X Hall of Flame, Benjamin Cowen: Bitcoin dominance will fall in 2025

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/west-virginias-btc-reserve-bill-is-freedom-from-a-cbdc-state-senator/feed/ 0 28646 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cardano-founder-hoskinson-shuts-down-kanye-west-rumors/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cardano-founder-hoskinson-shuts-down-kanye-west-rumors/#respond Mon, 24 Feb 2025 07:16:57 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cardano-founder-hoskinson-shuts-down-kanye-west-rumors/

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has categorically dismissed rumors linking hip-hop artist Kanye West, now known as Ye, to a proposed token launch on the Cardano blockchain. In a brief video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Hoskinson poured cold water on speculation that Ye might roll out a cryptocurrency project under Cardano’s umbrella.

No Kanye West Project on Cardano

“Hey guys, I wanted to make a quick video to say Kanye West is not going to launch something on Cardano,” Hoskinson said. “I know some people are talking about it, but it doesn’t even look like he’s actually doing anything of value. Looks like he sold his Twitter account for 17 million dollars to the Barkmeta guys for them to do a scam. Even if he didn’t, I don’t think we want that. It’s too much drama.”

He added: “Cardano is a serious project. We’re not a launching place for these types of things. So thank you all for the drama for the weekend, but I don’t think there’s any Kanye at all.”

Notably, the controversy began on Friday, when three sources close to Ye’s circle claimed that the artist was planning to release a token named YZY—a nod to his Yeezy fashion brand. According to these sources, 70% of the token’s allocation would be reserved for Ye, with 10% going toward liquidity provisioning and 20% set aside for investors.

Rumors suggested that YZY would serve as a means for Ye to bypass mainstream payment and e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, which cut ties with him in response to recent antisemitic statements and other hate-filled rhetoric. Ye’s moves in the crypto space are seen by some as a potential lifeline after he was dropped by key partners, including Adidas and Balenciaga, for praising Adolf Hitler and making repeated antisemitic remarks in live interviews and on social media.

In parallel with talk of Ye’s crypto ambitions, whispers circulated that the artist sold his personal X account (@kanyewest) for $17 million to a memecoin group known as @barkmeta, presumably to facilitate a large-scale scam. Crypto influencer, Loki The Bird (@lokithebird), fueled the speculation by writing: “Kanye West sold his account to the BarkMeta Doginals crew for $17M—they’re gearing up to scam the entire space. Share for awareness and save Web3.”

There was also an image circulating, showing two phones allegedly logged into @barkmeta and @kanyewest simultaneously. However, Ye swiftly denied any involvement with these individuals or any sale of his account, stating, “This is fake, I don’t know this person.”

Hoskinson’s dismissal of any official connection to Ye underscores Cardano’s broader commitment to maintaining its position as a “serious project.” While the open-source nature of blockchain technology means that permission is not strictly required to build on Cardano, Hoskinson clarified: “He wants money and help to launch it. No one serious in Cardano is going to do it,”effectively closing the door on any partnership.

At press time, ADA traded at $0.74.

Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com

State Senator Chris Rose has introduced legislation to permit the West Virginia Treasury to diversify its holdings by including digital assets and precious metals.

The Inflation Protection Act of 2025, submitted on Feb. 14, proposes allowing investment in digital assets with a market capitalization exceeding $750 billion.

Currently, this applies only to Bitcoin (BTC), with Ethereum’s (ETH) $328.3 billion market cap being more than 50% below the mandated threshold.

The bill would cap investments in digital assets and precious metals at 10% of total treasury funds, offering flexibility to hold assets either on-chain or through exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Proponents argue that such diversification could provide a hedge against inflation and fiscal instability, particularly as concerns rise over the long-term impact of deficit spending at both state and federal levels.

Growing trend among states

West Virginia is among almost two dozen US states that are considering digital asset reserves as a strategy to protect public funds from currency devaluation. The trend began with Wyoming in 2024.

On Feb. 6, Utah’s House of Representatives approved a similar bill, which now awaits a Senate vote. If passed, it would authorize the state’s treasury to allocate funds into Bitcoin, high-value altcoins, and stablecoins, reflecting a broader acceptance of digital assets as legitimate reserve instruments.

Kentucky introduced legislation the same day to permit up to 10% of state funds to be allocated to Bitcoin and other digital assets. The move follows increasing legislative interest in digital currencies as an alternative store of value amid concerns over inflation and rising national debt.

Michigan followed suit on Feb. 13, with Representatives Bryan Posthumus and Ron Robinson proposing a digital asset reserve bill. Unlike similar measures in other states, the Michigan proposal does not specify limitations on asset types, potentially allowing for a broader range of crypto investments.

Other states include Texas, Wyoming, North Dakota, North Carolina, South Dakota, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Iowa, Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, lawmakers and regulators in several other states have called for similar legislative action.

At the federal level, President Donald Trump recently directed a working group to explore the feasibility of a national digital asset reserve as part of an executive order signed last month.

The initiative has fueled speculation that individual states may act ahead of federal policymakers in integrating Bitcoin into government financial strategies, particularly as the regulatory landscape for digital assets continues to evolve.

Potential economic implications

Analysts suggest that increasing state-level adoption of Bitcoin reserves could drive additional demand for digital assets, potentially influencing market prices and broader financial market trends.

According to a recent analysis by asset management firm VanEck, states pursuing such legislation could contribute up to $23 billion in Bitcoin demand.

This trend may also encourage greater institutional involvement in the digital asset space as state treasuries begin treating Bitcoin as a legitimate reserve asset alongside traditional stores of value such as gold.

As more states pursue similar initiatives, financial experts predict that legislative efforts to integrate digital assets into public funds will gain further traction. However, critics warn that Bitcoin’s price volatility could pose risks to public treasuries, requiring careful risk management strategies.

The West Virginia bill will now proceed to committee review before further legislative consideration, with lawmakers and analysts closely watching how the state navigates the challenges and opportunities of digital asset adoption.

Mentioned in this article

Plus: Did a whole country just rug pull?

GM. Some crypto days are sweet strawberries, others are moldy kiwis – and we’ve sifted through the weird mix so you don’t have to.

Kanye West didn’t pull the rug, but DaBaby and the Central African Republic might have.

News drops: the University of Austin is hopping on the BTC train, Pump(.)fun co-founder responds to allegations + more

Market flavor today

Mood of the day: not great, not terrible.

The Fear & Greed Index is still stuck in neutral, at 43 today. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s been bouncing between $96K and $98K since Friday.

Enthusiasm took a bit of a beating thanks to Donald Trump’s continued trade battles – he now wants a 25% tariff on any steel or aluminum shipped into the US.

On top of that, he’s threatening to match tariffs on countries that charge extra for American goods, and he has plans for new tariffs on the EU, superconductors, oil, gas, steel, and copper.

What does this mean for crypto?

• Investors could see Bitcoin as a hedge against economic instability;

• On the other hand, if global trade slows down and the economy takes a hit, riskier assets – including crypto – might struggle to attract investments.

And rn, markets are still trying to figure out which way this will go.

However, according to economist Alex Krüger, the shock from Trump’s tariff plans won’t last long – instead, people will start focusing on how his government operates.

Krüger believes Trump is good for crypto in the long run, but the short-term outlook depends on the Fed. Many hope for rate cuts, but the Fed is waiting to see if tariffs cause economic trouble before making a move.

Krüger’s best estimate? A rate cut in June.

Meanwhile, Bill Barhydt, the founder and CEO of Abra, has some ambitious targets for the current crypto cycle:

• Bitcoin around $350K;

• Ethereum at $8k;

• Solana at $900;

• Sui at $25.

And if things go really well, he thinks prices could double these estimates.

His reasoning? The US government is heavily motivated to push interest rates lower because of its $7T debt that needs refinancing. Lower rates make it cheaper to manage this debt.

To push rates down, the government may cut taxes and flood the financial system with liquidity, which essentially means pumping more money into the economy.

Now, here’s where crypto comes in: whenever there’s an increase in liquidity, risk assets – which include stocks and crypto – tend to benefit the most. That’s cuz more money in the system = investors have more capital to deploy.

That said, not everyone’s convinced of a smooth ride ahead. BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes warns that as people realize Trump’s election hasn’t dramatically changed US politics, crypto prices could drop back to $70K – $75K.

So, while some see explosive growth, others think a pullback is still in the cards. Either way, volatility is surely here to stay.

Memecoin harvest

These tokens are the party crashers of crypto – no plan, no invite, but they’re the center of attention

	Name		24H Change
	Central African Republic Meme CAR		▲ 135K%
	TCC TCC		▲ 14.2K%
	Liberland Dollar LLD		▲ 754%
	Solana Social Explorer SSE		▲ 130%

Data as of 06:50 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

If you’re into hip-hop, you’ve probably already seen Ye (or Kanye West, if we’re talking birth certificates) having… a moment again.

This isn’t even about his controversial Grammy appearance (which was wild, btw) – the stuff he’s been posting on X has been super unhinged, to say the least (well, before his account was deactivated).

And in the middle of all that mess, he dropped something interesting:

So yeah, apparently, he was offered $2M to launch a memecoin and said no.

I guess kind of surprising that a guy who did all this drew the line at scamming his fans.

But you know who wasn’t too good for that? Another rapper, DaBaby.

He launched the BABY memecoin – it immediately hit $27M in trading volume, but then, in five minutes, the price decreased by 33%.

UN-BE-LIE-VA-BLE!! A celebrity pump and dump? No way… who could’ve seen that coming?

Yeah, obviously, we all know the drill with these launches – insiders buy in early, hype builds, people FOMO in, the rug gets pulled, and the insiders walk away with bags while everyone else holds worthless tokens.

Nothing new.

But you know what is new? We just had a whole COUNTRY launching a memecoin.

Yes, the Central African Republic dropped its own memecoin, CAR, except… nobody really knows if it’s legit or not.

The official X account of CAR’s president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, announced that the government had launched an experimental token meant to “unite people” and “support national development.”

Naturally, people thought his account got hacked. But here’s the thing: the post stayed up for over 15 hours – way longer than most hacked posts before they get deleted

Then came a video announcement, which some AI tools flagged as a deepfake. But these same tools have also messed up in the past with legit interviews from the president

So… could it be real? Well, blockchain analysts found that CAR’s distribution matched the allocation on its official website.

FYI: for a token launched on Pump(.)fun (where literally anyone can create a fake token), this level of accuracy in distribution is highly unlikely unless it is official.

But regardless of whether it’s real or fake, the market reaction was insane.

Within 12 hours, CAR hit a $850M market cap. For some perspective, the Central African Republic’s entire GDP is $2.4B – so that memecoin briefly reached about 30% of the nation’s whole economy.

And it gets even crazier. One X user, @Linkkzyy, claims there was a “test version” of the same token (same image, ticker, description, dev wallet, etc.) launched two days before that was hard rugged – meaning investors got completely wiped out. Then, they apparently launched the “real” version afterward.

So, if that’s true, it means we might’ve just witnessed the world’s first memecoin rugged by a country.

…Flying cars, they said.

News drops

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino thinks quantum computers will eventually crack old, untouched Bitcoin wallets and put those coins back into circulation. That’s a problem for the far future, tho’.

The University of Austin plans to invest $5M in BTC. As investment chief Chun Lai put it, better in now than left behind later.

Pump.fun was blamed for ruining the altcoin cycle last year, but co-founder Alon Cohen responded that retail simply lost interest in tech altcoins. He argued that memecoins were already popular, and Pump(.)fun just made it easier to trade what people actually wanted.

The infamous UK landfill – home to one man’s lost hard drive with 8,000 BTC – is set to close. The site has been in use since the early 2000s and will be capped within two years.

Not sure if BYDFi is worth your time? We broke it down so you can decide if it’s a hit or a hard pass.

Juicy memes

The perceived odds of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, launching a token have plummeted after he posted on social media that he is “not doing a coin” in a post where he added that “coins prey on the fans with hype.”

That post saw the perceived odds of Kanye launching a token this month, which at one point reached 40% on the popular prediction market Polymarket, plunge to around 10% as traders reacted to it.

Various memecoins, called “Ye,” have popped up since the rapper started the conversation about crypto on social media, in anticipation that the rapper is going to launch a token. However, after the denial, these have seen their value plunge. One of the tokens has lost more than 65% of its value since the rapper’s post, while a second one is down 89%, according to Dexscreener data.

Ye’s post, in which he said he only does things he is “passionate and knowledgeable about” while being “too rich to do anything else,” came after a previous one in which the rapper said he turned down a $2 million offer to launch his own token. After his posts, the rapper appeared to want to get in touch with Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, in a cryptic post.
Read more: JPMorgan Closed Kanye’s Account. Yes, There’s a Crypto Angle

American rapper and record producer Kanye West has been in the news lately following his surprise appearance at the Grammys 2025. The hip-hop superstar has been actively posting on X, teasing a possible crypto collaboration with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.

‘Crypto Yeezy’? 

In a February 7 post on X, West shared that he was offered $2 million to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency project in his name. This revelation came amid the series of erratic, abusive, and somewhat disturbing posts made by the 47-year-old singer.

According to the chat screenshot, Kanye West was offered an up-front payment of $750,000 for the promotional contract. The arrangement would also include a subsequent payment of $1.25 million 16 hours after the billionaire rapper posts about the project.

The captured messages showed that West would then be supposed to announce to the public that his X account was hacked and the post was not from him. This scheme was projected to rob unsuspecting fans and crypto community members of “tens of millions of dollars.”

Kanye West mentioned that he refused the offer and cut his work relationship with the individual who proposed it. Despite the abusive and anti-semitic posts that followed this revelation, several members of the online community and crypto projects urged the Hollywood star to launch a coin.

Source: X

Most notably, Solana-based token generation and trading platform Pump.fun responded to one of West’s posts — about “channeling Andrew Tate”, encouraging him to launch his own cryptocurrency. However, Kanye West appears not to be considering the platform for his crypto endeavors.

In a post on X captioned “concerning crypto,” West shared another chat screenshot where he asked an anonymous associate to “resend that crypto connect.” This individual responded with “Brian Armstrong, CEO & Founder of Coinbase,” saying they would ask for the crypto founder’s phone number.

Celebrity Tokens Making A Return In 2025?

Kanye West wouldn’t be the first Hollywood celebrity to launch a token if he were to do so. Notably, rapper Iggy Azalea launched her Mother Iggy (MOTHER) token in May 2024, garnering significant attention at a time when celeb token launches were in fashion.

Other celebrities allegedly involved in token launches in the past year include Davido, French Montana, and Lil Pump. While Kanye West is one of the biggest names in the global music industry and pop culture, his erratic and controversial nature adds an interesting dimension to how investors will approach a token launched in his name.

The total crypto market cap on the daily timeframe | Source: TOTAL chart on TradingView

Featured image from Matt Winkelmeyer, chart from TradingView