A Startup Using Ripple’s xRapid for Remittances Just Raised $1.7M: The World Bank estimates that in 2016 migrant workers sent $575 billion in remittances, $429 billion of which went to developing countries. On average, these workers paid 7% in remittance fees. Those over $40 billion in fees went straight into the pockets of remittance service providers such as Western Union and MoneyGram. SendFriend is looking to lower the cost of high remittance fees. Started by David Lighton, a former World Bank employee, SendFriend is a remittance service that aims to deliver solutions that are 65% cheaper than the industry average. The startup raised $1.7 million in capital from MIT Media Lab, MasterCard Foundation, Barclays and Ripple.

A California Asset Manager Has Come Up With a Clever Way to Include Bitcoin in an ETF: A California-based asset manager has figured out a way to sneak bitcoin in an exchange-traded fund, and the CEO says it’s the best way to get a crypto fund approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Reality Shares, the firm behind one of the first ETFs to track the blockchain market, filed a prospectus to list a fund of currencies, which would include exposure to bitcoin futures. If approved, it would be the first fund to offer direct exposure to the spine-tingling cryptocurrency market. It would list on NYSE Arca, an exchange operated by the New York Stock Exchange.

IBM Partnership Uses Blockchain, IoT to Combat Drought in California: A collaborative IBM project using blockchain and the Internet of Things to tackle drought is underway in the United States state of California. IBM Research and sensor tech provider SweetSense have reportedly partnered with non-profit organization The Freshwater Trust and the University of Colorado Boulder to use blockchain and IoT technology to sustainably manage groundwater use in what they describe as “one of the largest and most at risk aquifers in North America” — located in northern California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

FDA Commissioner Suggests Using Blockchain for New Supply Chain Open Pilot: The Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration has suggested the use of blockchain for an open pilot scheme for the pharmaceuticals industry. The pilot focuses on improving supply chains and was announced in a notice published Feb. 8. The Pilot Project Program Under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, which aims to ingratiate industry players with emerging innovative technologies, will accept applications through March 11.

Fake MetaMask App on Google Play Store Hosted Crypto Malware: A form of malware that replaces victims’ cryptocurrency wallet addresses has been discovered for the first time in an app on Google Play Store. Security firm ESET published a blog post on Friday, saying that the malware, known as a “clipper,” intercepts the content of the clipboard and, if it finds the addresses of online cryptocurrency wallets, can replace them with addresses owned by the attacker.