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From an explosive report on Bakkt to a new payments partnership at Ripple, here’s a look at some of the stories breaking in the world of crypto.

Bitcoin

A new Bitcoin futures product – which will settle in Bitcoin instead of cash – is reportedly about to get the green light.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Bakkt’s Bitcoin futures are “expected to soon get regulatory approval” from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Bakkt, a scalable on-ramp for institutional, merchant and consumer participation in cryptocurrencies, is backed by the Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. In addition to Bitcoin futures, Bakkt plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange and has partnered with Microsoft and Starbucks to allow people to buy, sell, store and spend cryptocurrencies on a global network.

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Its approval would mark the first Bitcoin futures contracts to pay out in crypto instead of cash.

Ripple and XRP

One of the biggest banks in Turkey says it will use Ripple’s cross-border payments technology to power payments to and from the UK. Akbank says it will work with Santander UK to establish the new remittance corridor.

Direkt Bankacılık Genel Müdür Yardımcımız Tolga Ulutaş: “Akbank’tan Santander UK’e Ripple üzerinden blockchain altyapısı ile GBP para transferleri başladı.” pic.twitter.com/IHKh5KZ73J — Akbank (@Akbank) December 14, 2018

Meanwhile, the enterprise blockchain software company R3 is revealing more on how its new crypto payments app featuring XRP works behind-the-scenes.

The company just released an overview and a new video detailing how Corda Settler moves value across the XRP ledger.

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LItecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Monero, Dogecoin, Zcash

New analysis from DataLight shows crypto ATM adoption spiked in 2018.

After Bitcoin, the most popular coin on crypto ATMs is Litecoin, followed by Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Monero, Dogecoin and Zcash.

Tron

TronCard is gearing up for launch. The crowdsourced Tron-based DApp accelerator Sesameseed just released a comprehensive overview of its key features.

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The card is designed to work with Poppy, a payment processor on the Tron blockchain, and other popular Tron wallets to enable TRX payments at retail stores and peer-to-peer.