Clone Launches Public Mainnet

Hi NoRamp Community,

Daily News:

1) Marathon Digital Unveils Platform For Developing Bitcoin Sidechains

2) Nokia Aims for Metaverse Expansion in 2030 Strategy

3) Clone Launches Public Mainnet

4) Baubap Secures $120M in Debt Financing

5) Softpay Shakes up Payments in Norway With BankAxept Integration

Marathon Digital Unveils Platform For Developing Bitcoin Sidechains:

• Marathon Digital, a leading bitcoin miner, is expanding its focus with Anduro, a new programmable application layer for creating sidechains, including two initial sidechains, Coordinate and Alys, designed for the Ordinals community and tokenized real-world assets, respectively.

• The launch of Anduro aims to add a revenue stream and foster developer innovations, with Coordinate providing a dedicated space for unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) and Alys focusing on Ethereum-compatible tokenization of assets.

• Anduro's sidechains utilize merged mining, allowing miners to earn BTC from transactions on the sidechains while continuing to mine bitcoin on the base layer, potentially increasing Bitcoin's adoption and offering a new source of fee revenue for Marathon Digital.

Nokia Aims for Metaverse Expansion in 2030 Strategy:

• Nokia is preparing for increased network demand by 2030 due to advances in the metaverse, Web3, and AI, with plans to invest in network infrastructure and services to address a predicted 22%-25% rise in demand from 2022 to 2030.

• The company aims to cater to emerging ecosystems like the Internet of Value, decentralization, blockchain, and smart contracts, with a focus on human augmentation, spatial computing, and split processing in the metaverse, and has established labs to study metaverse technologies.

• Nokia's Technology Strategy 2030 emphasizes AI, cloud computing, the metaverse, Industry 5.0, and API networks, expecting a surge in connected devices and mass adoption of the metaverse across various sectors, with supply chains and manufacturing facilities undergoing extensive transformations. The strategy highlights the need for advanced, dynamic, and intelligent network infrastructure with real-time performance optimization, zero-touch automation, and advanced security features.

Clone Launches Public Mainnet:

• Clone, an open-source protocol for trading non-native tokens on Solana, has announced the public mainnet launch of Clone Markets and Clone Liquidity on March 1st, introducing liquid markets for non-native assets through "cloned assets" (clAssets) to create a seamless and accessible trading environment.

• Clone's innovative clAssets and the Comet Liquidity System aim to address the lack of a reliable spot trading environment for non-native tokens on Solana, enabling liquidity providers to offer deep liquidity and low slippage with only USDC as collateral for all Clone pools.

• The launch includes the first clAssets, clARB and clOP, making Arbitrum and Optimism network tokens tradable on Solana, and introduces a new token, cloned SUI (clSUI), with plans to rapidly expand the range of trading opportunities. Clone's mainnet launch aims to increase token diversity on Solana and enable users to trade a wide range of tokens within a single platform, enhancing Solana's DeFi ecosystem.

Baubap Secures $120M in Debt Financing:

• Baubap, a consumer microlending platform in Mexico, has secured $120 million in debt financing in a pre-Series A round led by US-based SixPoint Capital Management, aiming to expand its credit lending activities for underserved borrowers.

• Founded in 2018, Baubap offers an app-based service that provides microloans of up to MXN 5,000 ($300) within 15 minutes using alternative data sources, currently servicing half a million active loans a month with plans to attract 1.4 million new customers this year.

• The latest funding follows previous rounds of $20 million in debt financing from Park Cities Asset Management in November 2022 and $3 million in seed funding from Grupo Grameen in March 2021, with CEO Roberto Salcedo stating the raise will support millions of Mexicans by providing alternatives to expensive informal loans.

Softpay Shakes up Payments in Norway With BankAxept Integration:

• Softpay, a prominent payment solutions provider, has integrated Norway's leading card scheme, BankAxept, to offer fast and secure transactions for merchants and customers, enhancing the FinTech industry.

• The integration aims to provide a convenient and cost-effective transaction processing option for businesses across Norway, leveraging BankAxept's wide acceptance and cost-efficiency, and is particularly beneficial for businesses like local hairdressers, restaurants, and global retail giants.

• Softpay's tap-to-phone technology transforms any Android device into a contactless payment terminal, allowing merchants to accept BankAxept cards and various other payment options, including digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, thereby catering to a wider customer base and adapting to evolving consumer payment preferences.

NoRamp:

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