Today in crypto, Rakbank has become the first traditional bank in the United Arab Emirates to enable crypto trading for retail users through its mobile app, powered by Bitpanda, legendary hedge fund manager Ray Dalio suggested investors allocate 15% of their portfolio into Bitcoin and gold amid a US debt crisis, and PayPal is launching a new checkout feature that enables US merchants to accept crypto payments.
Rakbank becomes the first UAE bank to offer crypto trading for retail
The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (Rakbank), a government-owned bank in the UAE, is the first conventional bank in the country to offer retail crypto trading.
In a Tuesday news release, the bank announced the launch of a crypto brokerage service through its mobile banking app, allowing customers to buy, sell and swap cryptocurrencies directly from their UAE dirham accounts.
“We recognize the opportunity this solution will provide to customers in the UAE, as we believe they deserve a more efficient and seamless crypto buying, selling and swapping journey that is fully regulated and entirely in AED [dirhams],” said Raheel Ahmed, group CEO of Rakbank.
The new offering is powered by Austria-based Bitpanda, with transactions facilitated by Bitpanda Broker MENA DMCC, a Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA)-regulated entity in Dubai.
Rakbank said customers can trade crypto without needing to transfer funds to an external exchange or convert between fiat currencies, eliminating foreign exchange fees. The integration uses Bitpanda’s infrastructure to execute trades and manage custody.
“We are proud to be the first conventional bank in the UAE to enable simple, secure, and regulated access to a world-class digital assets platform,” Ahmed said.
Ray Dalio suggests putting 15% in Bitcoin, gold amid US “debt doom loop”
American billionaire and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio has recommended a 15% portfolio allocation into Bitcoin or gold to optimize for the “best return-to-risk ratio” in light of America’s crippling debt problem and currency devaluation.
“[If] you were optimizing your portfolio for the best return-to-risk ratio, you would have about 15% of your money in gold or Bitcoin,” the founder of hedge fund firm Bridgewater Associates said during an appearance on the Master Investor podcast on Sunday.
Dalio said he has “some Bitcoin, but not much,” and is still “strongly preferring gold to Bitcoin,” however.
But the exact split between Bitcoin and gold “is up to you,” Dalio said. His 15% suggestion marks a sharp increase from the 1% to 2% Bitcoin allocation he recommended in January 2022.
PayPal launches crypto checkout tool, adds support for over 100 tokens
Payments platform PayPal is set to roll out a new feature for US merchants to accept payments with over 100 cryptocurrencies, targeting overseas transactions and more utility of its own stablecoin.
According to a Monday announcement, businesses will be able to accept Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), USDt (USDT), USD Coin (USDC) and XRP (XRP), among others. The tool integrates with crypto wallets including Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, OKX, Kraken, Binance, Phantom, and Exodus.
Transactions paid with cryptocurrencies will be automatically converted into PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD or fiat currency at checkout, allowing merchants to receive crypto payments without dealing with price volatility.
PayPal will charge merchants a 0.99% transaction fee for crypto payments, which it claims is 90% lower than typical credit card processing costs. For comparison, Visa’s fees start at 1.75% of a transaction cost.
The feature aims to simplify cross-border transactions, which PayPal said are often expensive and challenging for small and medium-sized businesses. For now, it is only available to US-based merchants, with the exclusion of New York residents.
