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A New Trend for Fintech - Cross-border Payment

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is working with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) on a pilot program to use the digital yuan (e-CNY) for cross-border payments. According to the HKMA, as the renminbi is already in use in Hong Kong and the status of e-CNY is the same as cash in circulation, it will bring even greater convenience to Hong Kong and Mainland tourists.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #CrossBorder #DFC

·hkma.gov.hk·Dec 5, 2020

A New Trend for Fintech - Cross-border Payment

US Financial Services Chair Tells Joe Biden to Rescind OCC Crypto Guidance

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, wants President-elect Joe Biden to rescind or monitor all of the crypto-asset-related guidance issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). She called on Biden to rescind guidance by the OCC that national banks may hold stablecoin reserves as a service to bank customers, along with similar guidance that allowed federally chartered banks and federal savings associations to provide crypto-asset custody services for customers. https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/120420_cmw_ltr_to_biden.pdf

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #Regulation #DFC

·coindesk.com·Dec 5, 2020

US Financial Services Chair Tells Joe Biden to Rescind OCC Crypto Guidance

Crypto’s New Villain: Meet the Legal Scholar Behind the STABLE Act

Rohan Grey, the legal scholar who helped draft the controversial Stablecoin Tethering and Bank Licensing Enforcement (STABLE) Act with Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, wants you to know that he cares about anonymous digital cash—but he’s not about to give a free pass to those who he believes pose a systemic risk to the US monetary system.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #Regulation #DFC

·decrypt.co·Dec 5, 2020

Crypto’s New Villain: Meet the Legal Scholar Behind the STABLE Act

Chinese city of Suzhou to give away $3 million in digital yuan via lottery

Suzhou will give away 100,000 red packets of 200 yuan worth of DC/EP to city residents via a lottery, as part of the Peoples Bank of China central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot. Local citizens can register for the lottery on December 5 and 6 and the results will be announced the day before the annual Double 12 online shopping festival. Lottery winners can spend the free digital yuan from December 11 to 27 at shops that support the DC/EP payment as well as at selected online shops on e-commerce giant JD.com. In addition, the government said selected winners from the lottery will be invited to test out the offline payment feature that's built into a DC/EP wallet. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/P7JoXI7G2EcRM1AuyZfP_w

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #DFC

·theblockcrypto.com·Dec 4, 2020

Chinese city of Suzhou to give away $3 million in digital yuan via lottery

Project Helvetia: Settling tokenised assets in central bank money

Project Helvetia, an experiment between the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub Swiss Centre, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the financial market infrastructure operator SIX, successfully shows the feasibility of integrating tokenised assets and central bank money. The project demonstrates the functional feasibility and legal robustness of settling tokenised assets with a wholesale CBDC (PoC1) and with linking a DLT platform to existing payment systems (PoC2) in a near-live setup. However, the experiment should not be interpreted as an indication that the SNB will issue a wholesale CBDC.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #Tokenization #SettlementSystems #DFC

·bis.org·Dec 3, 2020

Project Helvetia: Settling tokenised assets in central bank money

US Bill Would Require Stablecoin Issuers to Get Bank Charters

A new U.S. Congressional bill would require prospective stablecoin issuers to obtain a banking charter, and notify and obtain approval from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the appropriate banking agency 6 months prior to its issuance. Such issuers would also be required to conduct an ongoing analysis of any systemic risk; and have FDIC insurance or maintain reserves at the Federal Reserve for easy conversion back into U.S. dollars, on demand. https://tlaib.house.gov/media/press-releases/tlaib-garcia-and-lynch-stableact

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #Regulation #DFC

·coindesk.com·Dec 3, 2020

US Bill Would Require Stablecoin Issuers to Get Bank Charters

Timothy Lane on the Future of Digital Currencies

Deputy Governor Tim Lane identified two scenarios that could trigger the Bank of Canada to issue central bank digital cuurency (CBDC. One of them was the disappearance of the acceptance of cash, and the second was the emergence of digital currencies that might turn out to be disruptive in some way or might undermine Canada’s monetary sovereignty. And he now says the last nine months have seen developments that look like they’re in the direction of some of those things coming to pass sooner than expected. In the end,part of the question is, if cash to is not modernized to keep up with changing technology, is there a gap in the system?

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #DFC

·cigionline.org·Dec 2, 2020

Timothy Lane on the Future of Digital Currencies

Visa Partners With Ethereum Digital Dollar Startup That Raised $271 Million

Visa is connecting its global payments network of 60 million merchants to the U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC) developed by Circle Internet Financial on the ethereum blockchain. The digital currency is now valued at $2.9 billion. While Visa itself won’t custody the digital currency, effective immediately, the partnership will see Circle working with Visa to help select Visa credit card issuers start integrating the USDC software into their platforms and send and receive USDC payments.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #USDC #VISA #DFC

·forbes.com·Dec 2, 2020

Visa Partners With Ethereum Digital Dollar Startup That Raised $271 Million

Gradual change seen in euro area payment behaviour

The European Central Bank (ECB) reported that Euro area consumers are gradually shifting towards cards for in-person retail payments, although cash remained the most used instrument at the end of 2019. In 2019, euro area adult consumers used cash for 73% of their point-of-sale and person-to-person retail transactions (48% in value terms). In a previous ECB study conducted in 2016, the figure was 79% of these transactions (54% in value terms). The ECB carried out an ad hoc survey in July 2020 that found that 40% of respondents had used cash less often since the start of the pandemic.

#Fintech #Cash #Payments #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Dec 2, 2020

Gradual change seen in euro area payment behaviour

Russia's Sberbank may issue its own cryptocurrency, says CEO

Russian state-owned Sberbank is working with JP Morgan on possibly issuing its own "Sbercoin" crypto-asset in 2021. The move follows the introduction of a new law, announced in July and coming into force on January 1, that makes permissible crypto-asset trading but forbids Russians from using crypto-assets as a means of payment. Olga Skorobogatova, Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor, said in a webinar that she opposed private companies that build digital rubles, but that the Russian central bank is still considering minting its own digital ruble. https://www.rbc.ru/crypto/news/5fc502c59a79472910473c16

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #Stablecoins #DFC

·rbc.ru·Dec 2, 2020

Russia's Sberbank may issue its own cryptocurrency, says CEO

Ruble or Rubble? Russian Institutions Have Concerns About Proposed CBDC

The Bank of Russia has started a series of consultations dedicated to the potential launch of the digital ruble, a CBDC pegged to the Russian ruble. The central bank has not yet decided if it wants to actually launch the project, but it is gathering feedback from would-be participants and users of the new payment system.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #DFC

·coindesk.com·Dec 2, 2020

Ruble or Rubble? Russian Institutions Have Concerns About Proposed CBDC

Cash in the time of Covid

In the United Kingdom during the Covid-19 pandemic the way people use cash has changed, with less being used for transactions. However, the total value of banknotes in circulation has increased as people appear to choose to hold more cash. These trends have persisted for a number of years, but have been magnified by the pandemic. People seem to be holding more cash for contingency reasons, in line with cash’s established role as an emergency means of payment. Also, cash use — particularly in non-retail environments — may have recovered as lockdown measures eased and economic activity picked up, but cash is taking longer to be deposited.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #Cash #DFC

·bankofengland.co.uk·Dec 1, 2020

Cash in the time of Covid

Shaping the future – Challenges in the European payments market

Dr Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank: "The Eurosystem has not yet decided whether to introduce a digital euro or not. And even if we were to opt for CBDC, its careful introduction would be an immense logistical and technical endeavour and, therefore, would be bound to take time... Some important issues... still require further analysis. Athorough understanding of the effects and trade-offs of CBDC is imperative for us before we can weigh up the arguments and draw firm conclusions."

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #FastPayments #DFC

·bundesbank.de·Dec 1, 2020

Shaping the future – Challenges in the European payments market

Libra Rebrands to 'Diem' in Anticipation of 2021 Launch

The Libra Association is changing its name to Diem to denote "a new day" for the project, as it gears up for the potential 2021 launch of a single, dollar-pegged stablecoin. The organization also finalized its leadership team, which includes Dahlia Malkhi as chief technology officer, Christy Clark as chief of staff, Steve Bunnell as chief legal officer and Kiran Raj as executive vice president for growth and innovation and deputy general counsel. Diem also recommitted to not proceeding until it has received regulatory approval, including a payment systems license for the operational subsidiary from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). https://www.diem.com/en-us/updates/diem-association/

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #Facebook #DFC

·coindesk.com·Dec 1, 2020

Libra Rebrands to 'Diem' in Anticipation of 2021 Launch

From the payments revolution to the reinvention of money

European Central Bank Executive Board member Fabio Panetta is not keen to allow stablecoin issuers to invest their reserve assets in the form of risk-free deposits at the central bank. "It would be tantamount to outsourcing the provision of central bank money, and could endanger monetary sovereignty if, as a result, the stablecoin were to largely displace sovereign money as a means of payment. Money would then be reduced to a 'club good' offered in return for the payment of a fee or membership of a platform."

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #CBDC #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Dec 1, 2020

From the payments revolution to the reinvention of money

Saudi, UAE central banks share cross border digital currency trial results

BTW the Aber pilot benefits greatly from the fact that both the Saudi Riyal and UAE Dirham are pegged to the U.S. dollar at the same exchange rate, so there's no need to make the CBDC basket currency-based.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #CrossBorder #DFC

·ledgerinsights.com·Nov 30, 2020

Saudi, UAE central banks share cross border digital currency trial results

'Basis Cash' Launch Brings Defunct Stablecoin Into the DeFi Era

Basis Cash (BAC) is based on the stablecoin Basis that had $133 million in funding before U.S. securities regulators stepped in and the team behind it returned everything in late 2018. Like most stablecoins, BAC is pegged to the U.S. dollar, so one BAC should be equal to the crypto equivalent of one USD. Basis Cash’s price will be managed by two other crypto assets: Basis Bonds and Basis Shares. 50,000 BAC will be distributed over a five-day period (10,000 per day) to folks that deposit DAI, yCRV, USDT, SUSD and/or USD into its smart contract.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #DeFi #DFC

·coindesk.com·Nov 30, 2020

'Basis Cash' Launch Brings Defunct Stablecoin Into the DeFi Era

Beijing preps for digital yuan trial expansion for trade

Beijing municipality, which was not one of the five regions that were part of the first round of trials for China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), is reportedly preparing to create a digital yuan pilot program and explore cross border data flow. One of the first five initial test regions, Xiong’an New Area, reportedly already has plans to use the digital renminbi for cross-border trade. The Ministry of Commerce had previously outlined such an expansion as part of a three-year plan, but the timing was unclear. Also, the digital currency is the responsibility of the central bank rather than the Commerce Ministry.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #DFC

·ledgerinsights.com·Nov 30, 2020

Beijing preps for digital yuan trial expansion for trade

SAMA and CBUAE Issue Report on Results of Joint Digital Currency Project "Aber"

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) published the results of their joint "Aber" wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) pilot project. The wCBDC was issued by SAMA and the CBUAE, and used only by them and participating banks, as a settlement unit for domestic and cross-border commercial bank transactions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The final results of the pilot project were consistent with the results of similar pilots conducted by a number of central banks.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #DFC

·sama.gov.sa·Nov 29, 2020

SAMA and CBUAE Issue Report on Results of Joint Digital Currency Project "Aber"

Facebook’s Libra currency to launch next year in limited format

Facebook-led digital currency Libra is reportedly preparing to launch as early as January, in a single coin backed one-for-one by the dollar. The other currencies and the composite would be rolled out at a later point. Libra’s exact launch date would depend on when the project receives approval to operate as a payments service from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The Novi wallet was ready from a product perspective, but would not be rolled out everywhere initially, with the company prioritising half a dozen high-volume remittance corridors including the United States and some Latin American countries. Novi needed its own licence in each U.S. state, sand is till waiting on up to 10, including a New York Bitlicense.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #Facebook #DFC

·ft.com·Nov 27, 2020

Facebook’s Libra currency to launch next year in limited format

CBDC: Can central banks succeed in the marketplace for digital monies?

This paper provides an overview of the existing payment ecosystem and derives a systemic taxonomy of CBDCs that distinguishes between new payment objects and new payment systems. Using this systemic taxonomy, it is able to categorize different CBDC proposals. In order to discuss and evaluate the different CBDC design options, it develops two criteria: allocative efficiency, i.e. whether a market failure can be diagnosed that justifies a government intervention, and attractiveness for users, i.e. whether CBDC proposals constitute attractive alternatives for users compared to existing payment objects and payment systems. The analysis shows that there is no justification for digital cash substitutes from the point of view of allocative efficiency and the user perspective. Instead, the analysis opens the perspective for a retail payment system organized or orchestrated by the central bank without a new, independent payment object.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #DFC

·cepr.org·Nov 24, 2020

CBDC: Can central banks succeed in the marketplace for digital monies?

Monetary Policy with Reserves and CBDC: Optimality, Equivalence, and Politics

This paper analyzes policy in a two-tiered monetary system. Noncompetitive banks issue deposits while the central bank issues reserves and a retail CBDC. Monies differ with respect to operating costs and liquidity. It maps the framework into a baseline business cycle model with "pseudo wedges" and derives optimal policy rules: Spreads satisfy modified Friedman rules and deposits must be taxed or subsidized. It generalizes the Brunnermeier and Niepelt (2019) result on the macro irrelevance of CBDC but shows that a deposit based payment system requires higher taxes. The model implies annual implicit subsidies to U.S. banks of up to 0.8 percent of GDP during the period 1999-2017.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #DFC

·cepr.org·Nov 24, 2020

Monetary Policy with Reserves and CBDC: Optimality, Equivalence, and Politics

Moneyness: Stablecoins as a route into Venezuela?

Circle, an issuer of stablecoin USDC, belatedly announced that it had partnered with the opposition Guaidó government to deliver financial aid to Venezuelan health care workers. Circle says it helped to get million of dollars to Venezuelans by leveraging "the power of USDC...to bypass the controls imposed by Maduro over the domestic financial system, and stablecoins have now become a tool of US foreign policy. But if you pick through the transaction chain carefully, USDC's role was trivial and that leg of the transaction could have been done via Fedwire, the Federal Reserve's large value payment system.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #Venezuela #DFC

·jpkoning.blogspot.com·Nov 23, 2020

Moneyness: Stablecoins as a route into Venezuela?

Digitalization, retail payments and Central Bank Digital Currency

This Banco de España paper written by the Banco Central del Uruguay's Jorge Ponce provides a rationale for central banks to have a deeper involvement in retail payment systems by building and keeping control of core components of these systems, considering competition and financial stability arguments. Central bank digital currency (CBDC) and fast payment systems (FPS) are assessed as alternative tools serving central banks to foster efficiency, resilience and security in retail payments, as well as to preserve financial stability. It concludes that, while central banks should build and keep control of the core components of either a CBDC or a FPS, private sector involvement will be optimal in a tiered architecture where payment services providers compete for customers, innovate and offer overlay services.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #FastPayments #DFC

·bde.es·Nov 23, 2020

Digitalization, retail payments and Central Bank Digital Currency

Stablecoins: risks, potential and regulation

This Banco de España paper written by a couple of Bank for International Settlements staff discusses the regulatory challenges around stablecoins, and in particular potential “global stablecoins” such as Facebook’s Libra proposal. It makes the point that any regulatory responses should take into account the potential of all stablecoin uses, including embedding a robust monetary instrument into digital environments, especially in the context of decentralised systems. Looking forward, in such cases, one possible option from a regulatory standpoint is to embed supervisory requirements into stablecoin systems themselves, allowing for “embedded supervision”. Yet it is an open question whether central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and other initiatives could in fact provide more effective solutions to fulfil the functions that stablecoins are meant to address.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #Regulation #DFC

·bde.es·Nov 23, 2020

Stablecoins: risks, potential and regulation

Monetizing Privacy with Central Bank Digital Currencies

This NY Fed blog post discusses the implications of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that offers consumers a low-cost, privacy-preserving electronic means of payment—essentially, digital cash. Central banks are better positioned, relative to private intermediaries, to commit to safeguarding data from outside vendors, because a central bank has no profit motive to exploit payments data. By helping consumers to monetize privacy, central banks would not be proposing a radical transformation to the payments landscape. Rather, they would be preserving aspects of payments that existed prior to the digital revolution. However, this would require regulators and lawmakers to rethink how to adapt current anti-money laundering practices.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #Privacy #DFC

·libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org·Nov 23, 2020

Monetizing Privacy with Central Bank Digital Currencies

China to Hold Second Lottery Trial of the Digital Yuan

On December 12, a shopping festival known as "Double 12" in China, the city of Suzhou will reportedly hold a giveaway designed to gauge usability of the digital yuan. The trial will be similar to one held in Shenzhen in October, that allowed residents to apply for a 200 yuan share of 10 million units of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a kind of lottery, worth around $1.5 million in total. The Suzhou event will trial additional aspects of the technology not activated in Shenzhen, including the digital yuan's offline feature that allows users to touch smart devices to make transfers.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #CBDC #DFC

·coindesk.com·Nov 23, 2020

China to Hold Second Lottery Trial of the Digital Yuan

Are pixie fairies behind Bitcoin’s latest bubble?

Tethers are the main source of liquidity for unbanked crypto exchanges, which account for most of bitcoin’s trading volume. Currently, there are $18 billion (notional value) worth of tethers sloshing around in the crypto markets. And nobody is quite sure what’s backing them. Due to Tether’s lack of transparency, its failure to provide a promised audit, and the fact that the New York AG is currently probing the firm along with crypto exchange Bitfinex, its sister company, for fraud, a good guess is nothing. Tethers, many suspect, are being minted out of thin air.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #Tether #DFC

·amycastor.com·Nov 22, 2020

Are pixie fairies behind Bitcoin’s latest bubble?

Analysis of Stablecoins during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper overviews stablecoin stability mechanisms, the current stablecoin market landscape, and the performance of major stablecoins during the 2020 financial market crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from this analysis indicate that stablecoins’ performance during the financial crisis and, in particular, the market crash present a direct relation with their specific behavior attributed to different design aspects, including their popularity.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #DFC

·files.ifi.uzh.ch·Nov 21, 2020

Analysis of Stablecoins during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Argentina and Brazil Get Their Own Stellar Stablecoins

Settle Network and Stellar are issuing two stablecoins in Latin America. The ARST is tied to the Argentine peso (ARS), while the BRLT is tied to the Brazilian real (BRL). The new stablecoins allow users to virtually send ARS and convert them to BRL in a matter of seconds, opening a new possibilities for international remittances and cross border payments.

#Fintech #CryptoAssets #Stablecoins #DFC

·decrypt.co·Nov 21, 2020

Argentina and Brazil Get Their Own Stellar Stablecoins