DFC

5302 bookmarks
Newest
Kyrgyz central bank advances digital som experiments
Kyrgyz central bank advances digital som experiments
[November 20, 2024] The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBK) convened a meeting with the relevant ministries and agencies of the Kyrgyz Republic to discuss Phase II of the project for testing the prototype of the Digital Som platform in the context of state and social payments. During the meeting, the National Bank presented a draft architecture for the implementation of the "Balaga Suyunchu" (a one-time payment upon the birth of a child) project on the Digital Som platform. An agreement was reached to continue joint implementation of the project with technical specialists.
#Kyrgyzstan#Fintech#CBDC#DFC
·nbkr.kg·
Kyrgyz central bank advances digital som experiments
Central Bank of Colombia wholesale CBDC proof-of-concept
Central Bank of Colombia wholesale CBDC proof-of-concept
Colombia's Banco de la República (BanRep) is exploring the use of a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a tokenized financial market based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). As part of this agenda, BanRep, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, Ripple and Peersyst, is conducting an experiment to issue wholesale CBDC and tokenized securities. This involves building a scalable blockchain prototype in a test environment with simulated participants. The experiment evaluates efficiencies in delivery versus s payment (DVP) for primary issuance and in the clearing and settlement of transactions in the secondary market, as well as direct CBDC transfers between the wallets of financial entities on the blockchain.
#Fintech#Tokenization#CBDC#wCBDC#DepositTokens#Colombia#Ripple#DFC#Settlement
·bis.org·
Central Bank of Colombia wholesale CBDC proof-of-concept
China links CBDC payments to 10 ASEAN, 6 Middle eastern countries
China links CBDC payments to 10 ASEAN, 6 Middle eastern countries

According to Nigerian news outlet Proshare, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has announced that its digital RMB cross-border settlement system will be fully connected to the ten ASEAN nations and six Middle Eastern countries. Needless to say, the crypto press took the ball and ran with it, some even saying that the full-scale launch had taken place on exactly March 17, 2025. However, this is likely fake news based on cobbling together disparate stories from over the last few years, like those around the ongoing mBridge proof-of-concept project. https://www.ledgerinsights.com/fake-news-china-links-cbdc-payments-to-10-asean-6-middle-eastern-countries/ https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7316086740497195008/

#CBDC#China#CrossBorder#Fintech#Payments#wCBDC#FakeNews#DFC
·proshare.co·
China links CBDC payments to 10 ASEAN, 6 Middle eastern countries
Support for Brazil's Drex WCBDC reportedly waning
Support for Brazil's Drex WCBDC reportedly waning
Valor Economico is reporting that some of the firms involved in the Banco Central do Brasil Drex (BCB) wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) project are reducing resource commitments to it. This is reportedly due to frustrations with the BCB's privacy requirements to hide transaction data from all the banks involved except the one that is executing it, while allowing the BCB to see everything and be able to reverse transaction with a court order to that effect. All this must be achieved without harming the digital currency's programmability and composability allowed by its distributed ledger technology (DLT) based platform.
#Brazil#CBDC#Fintech#wCBDC#DFC
·valor.globo.com·
Support for Brazil's Drex WCBDC reportedly waning
Digital Pound accepting applications
Digital Pound accepting applications
The Bank of England (BOE) is now accepting applications to conduct hands-on experimentation to explore the feasibility of different digital pound (DP) use cases in a simulated environment (no real customers or real money payments will be involved). Its goals include assessing the viability of potential business models for payment interface providers (PIPs) and external service Interface providers (ESIPs), and assessing the requirements necessary for a DP to provide a platform for innovation. The Lab is expected to run from August 2025 to July 2026, during which there will be two phases (see below). Applications are open to all private and public sector companies and organisations from technology, payments, banking, retail and other relevant sectors.
#CBDC#Fintech#Sandboxes#UnitedKingdom#DFC
·bankofengland.co.uk·
Digital Pound accepting applications
Digital pound experiment report: Offline payments
Digital pound experiment report: Offline payments
The Bank of England (BOE) published a report on their project aimed to assess whether it is technically feasible to implement an offline payment functionality for a digital pound. The project confirmed the technical feasibility, there are trade-offs, particularly around user experience and preventing double spending and counterfeiting, that make implementing it challenging. It showed that there are several technology choices that could be made for offline payments today, but those are dependent on policy choices, such as risk appetite, product proposition and liability, which impact the options available for mitigating security risks.
#CBDC#Offline#UnitedKingdom#Fintech#DFC
·bankofengland.co.uk·
Digital pound experiment report: Offline payments
Digital pound design note – Intermediary roles and scheme rulebook
Digital pound design note – Intermediary roles and scheme rulebook
The Bank of England (BOE) published an an overview of its initial thinking and work on the potential roles and responsibilities of digital pound (DP) intermediaries and a preliminary conceptual framework for a DP rulebook (or similar document) aimed at facilitating the proper management of the DP were one to be launched. It includes five broad elements; (I) the key participants in the DP ecosystem, (ii) the governance and oversight of the DP payment system, (iii) intermediaries' obligations and minimum standards, (iv) the core functions intermediaries are expected to support, and (v) the governance of intermediaries.
#CBDC#UnitedKingdom#Fintech#DFC
·bankofengland.co.uk·
Digital pound design note – Intermediary roles and scheme rulebook
ECB publishes progress report on digital euro rulebook
ECB publishes progress report on digital euro rulebook
The European Central Bank (ECB) published the fourth update on the work of the digital euro Rulebook Development Group (RDG) in developing a draft digital euro scheme rulebook. The draft rulebook sections have been updated to reflect more than 2,000 comments received as part of the RDG’s interim review in 2024. The report also provides an update on the RDG workstreams since the last update published in September 2024.
#CBDC#ECB#Eurozone#Fintech#DFC
·ecb.europa.eu·
ECB publishes progress report on digital euro rulebook
Offline Payments Based on a Trusted Platform Module
Offline Payments Based on a Trusted Platform Module
The Journal of Cybersecurity published a paper that proposes a secure offline payment model utilizing a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to enhance the security of digital currency transactions. Additionally, the monotonic counter, the basic component of the TPM, is integrated into this model to prevent double spending in a completely offline environment. The research presents a protocol model that combines these easily implementable technologies to facilitate the efficient processing of transactions entirely offline. However, it is crucial to acknowledge the security implications associated with the TPMs and near-field communications upon which this protocol relies.
#CBDC#Fintech#Offline#Payments#DFC
·mdpi.com·
Offline Payments Based on a Trusted Platform Module
The CBDC veil is lifted: what the digital euro is really about
The CBDC veil is lifted: what the digital euro is really about
Noelle Acheson published an article that discusses the European Central Bank's (ECB) digital euro initiative and its underlying motivations. It highlights how the ECB initially presented the digital euro as a response to consumer demand for a pan-European digital payment platform, but later, the focus shifted to concerns about the dominance of US and Chinese payment platforms in Europe. The article points out that the ECB's push for a digital euro is driven by a fear of losing demand for the euro to dollar-backed stablecoins and a lack of confidence in European banks' ability to compete. It concludes that the ECB's actions reveal a deeper issue: a recognition of the entrenched divisions within the European banking system and a move towards increased public control of commercial marketplaces.
#CBDC#Eurozone#ECB#Fintech#DFC#Stablecoins
·medium.com·
The CBDC veil is lifted: what the digital euro is really about
On the Coexistence of Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies
On the Coexistence of Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies
Our exploration into the coexistence of stablecoins and CBDCs reveals a complex and evolving landscape of technological innovation in the payment and financial sectors. We underscore the need for a nuanced understanding of both private and public digital money, highlighting their distinct roles, potential benefits, and inherent risks within the global financial ecosystem. While stablecoins offer innovative solutions and contribute to diversification within the financial and payment sectors, their regulatory challenges and risk factors necessitate careful oversight. Conversely, the emergence of CBDCs represents a significant step by central banks in modernizing monetary systems and potentially enhancing financial inclusion, but these developments raise their own sets of challenges and risks.
#CBDC#Stablecoins#Fintech#DFC
·papers.ssrn.com·
On the Coexistence of Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies
Ripple Acquires Prime Broker Hidden Road
Ripple Acquires Prime Broker Hidden Road
Ripple is acquiring prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. With the acquisition, Ripple becomes the first crypto company to own and operate a global, multi-asset prime broker. Hidden Road offers institutions a one-stop-shop of advanced services including clearing, prime brokerage, and financing across foreign exchange (FX), digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income. The acquisition will make Ripple's RLUSD the first stablecoin to enable efficient cross-margining between the digital asset space and traditional markets, and increase XRP Ledger usage.
#CryptoAssets#Fintech#Ripple#RLUSD#DFC#Stablecoins
·ripple.com·
Ripple Acquires Prime Broker Hidden Road
Euroclear joins HKMA’s Project Ensemble
Euroclear joins HKMA’s Project Ensemble
Euroclear has joined the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) Project Ensemble, aimed at using wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) to settle interbank tokenized exposits and assets. As an Architecture Community member, Euroclear will contribute by developing a set of industry standards to support interoperability in Hong Kong's tokenization ecosystem.
#Fintech#Tokenization#Settlement#Euroclear#CBDC#wCBDC#HongKong#DFC
·euroclear.com·
Euroclear joins HKMA’s Project Ensemble
Certain stablecoins aren't securities, SEC says in new guidance
Certain stablecoins aren't securities, SEC says in new guidance
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published a notice that deems that "covered stablecoins" are considered "non-securities" and exempt from the agency's transaction reporting requirements. Covered stablecoins are those that don't offer holders the right to receive any interest, profit, or other returns, don't reflect any investment or other ownership interest in the stablecoin issuer or any other third party, don't afford holders any governance rights with respect to the issuer or stablecoin, and/or don't provide holders with any financial benefit or loss based on the issuer or any third party’s financial performance. The SEC's criteria for covered stablecoins are consistent with regulations stipulated in the Senate's GENIUS stablecoin bill, and the House of Representatives' Stable Act of 2025. https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/statement-stablecoins-040425
#Stablecoins#Regulation#UnitedStates#CryptoAssets#Fintech#DFC
·cointelegraph.com·
Certain stablecoins aren't securities, SEC says in new guidance
Binance-Backed FDUSD Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg Following Justin Sun Accusations
Binance-Backed FDUSD Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg Following Justin Sun Accusations
The First Digital USD (FDUSD) stablecoin lost its U.S. dollar peg after Tron founder Justin Sun claimed that its issuer, First Digital Trust, is effectively insolvent. First Digital Trust denied the allegation, saying that its stablecoin is backed one-to-one with U.S. Treasuries. FDUSD, which is prominently used by Binance after it dropped support for its own BUSD USD stablecoin in 2023, plunged as low as $0.95 in the wake of the allegations. Despite its small market capitalization (about $2.5 billion), it's trading volume is second only to Tether (market cap of about $144 billion) and ahead of USDC ($60 billion).
#CryptoAssets#Fintech#Stablecoins#Binance#DFC#FDUSD
·decrypt.co·
Binance-Backed FDUSD Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg Following Justin Sun Accusations
Ripple integrates RLUSD into Ripple Payments
Ripple integrates RLUSD into Ripple Payments
Ripple has integrated its enterprise-grade Ripple USD (RLUSD) USD-denominated stablecoin into its Ripple Payments cross-border payments solution. RLUSD allows enterprises to facilitate instant settlement of cross-border payments, access liquidity for remittance and treasury operations, integrate with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, bridge between traditional fiat currencies and the crypto ecosystem, and provide collateralization for trading tokenized real-world assets on-chain. Since launching in December 2024, RLUSD is nearing $250 million in market capitalization and $10 billion in trading.
#CryptoAssets#Fintech#RLUSD#Ripple#Stablecoins#DFC
·ripple.com·
Ripple integrates RLUSD into Ripple Payments
Can Stablecoins Reshape Global Finance?
Can Stablecoins Reshape Global Finance?
Stablecoin circulation has exceeded $215 billion globally as of Q1 2025, with on-chain transaction volume hitting $5.6 trillion in 2024—equivalent to 40% of Visa’s payments volume. Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) remain the giants – with ~$140B and ~$55B circulating respectively – but their combined ~90% share in 2024 is slowly diluting as new issuers emerge. Notably, PayPal USD (PYUSD) launched in late 2023, FDUSD (First Digital USD) out of Hong Kong, Agora’s AUSD,Ethena’s USDe, and others like TrueUSD (TUSD) and DAI collectively make up the remaining ~10%. By 2030, stablecoins are expected to be integral to global finance, especially in cross-border payments, B2B transactions, and digital asset settlement.
#CryptoAssets#Fintech#Stablecoins#DFC
·insights4vc.substack.com·
Can Stablecoins Reshape Global Finance?
Stablecoin Update Mar 2025
Stablecoin Update Mar 2025
Stablecoin supply continues to hit all time highs of $230 billion, up 68% Y/Y. Supply continues to increase despite the overall crypto market cap being down YTD. Q1 2025 was a record for stablecoin launches and was the first time 100 stablecoins have over $10mn in supply. Majority of stablecoins launched are crypto or fiat backed as DeFi shifts away from algorithmic backed stablecoins.
#Stablecoins#CryptoAssets#Fintech#DFC
·docs.google.com·
Stablecoin Update Mar 2025
Safeguarding consumers’ access to cash in the digital economy
Safeguarding consumers’ access to cash in the digital economy
The OECD published a paper that presents the impact of digitalization on access to cash and summarizes policies and measures enacted to ensure access to and acceptance of cash. Governments around the world are reacting to this decline by putting in place laws and regulations to protect access to cash for citizens. A few countries , such as New Zealand, have gone further to trial new mechanisms for operating in a 'less cash' environment, such as using multi-bank ATMs; reducing distances to shared ATMs ('smart placement');local cash recycling capabilities. Australia and UK are integrating Post Offices into their cash networks. But as cash is likely to be round for several decades, new approaches will be needed, such as rationalization of denominations and ATMs that recycle cash (which already exist but are not widely used), more use of stored value cards (SVCs), to provide 'change'.
#Cash#Fintech#OECD#DFC
·oecd.org·
Safeguarding consumers’ access to cash in the digital economy
Interoperability of Blockchain Systems and the Future of Payments
Interoperability of Blockchain Systems and the Future of Payments
The New York Fed published research that provides empirical evidence of limited interoperability in crypto-asset markets. It examined the price relation between native and bridged USDC and USDT stablecoins on multiple blockchains and bridges. Stablecoins are good candidates for studying interoperability because they are nonspeculative by design (each is intended to represent $1), and in principle, a bridged representation of an asset represents value that is identical to the original asset. A higher degree of interoperability in blockchain systems would allow traders to compress any divergence in prices between stablecoins and their bridged representations and push the correlation between the prices of two stablecoins closer to one. However, it found surprisingly high price variation across all of them, suggesting limited interoperability.
#Fintech#CryptoAssets#Stablecoins#Interoperability#DFC
·libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org·
Interoperability of Blockchain Systems and the Future of Payments
UAE Central Bank Reveals Digital Dirham Symbol, Targets Late 2025 Launch
UAE Central Bank Reveals Digital Dirham Symbol, Targets Late 2025 Launch
The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) unveiled the official symbol for its blockchain-based Digital Dirham central bank digital currency (CBDC). Issuance is expected to take place in the last quarter of 2025 for retail sector. The Digital Dirham, underpinned by Federal Decree-Law No. (54) of 2023, is set to become a legal tender, ensuring its acceptance across all payment outlets and channels alongside physical currency. https://www.centralbank.ae/media/ckkp3s3f/cbuae-unveils-new-dirham-symbol-en.pdfAccording to R3, Corda will serve as the underlying infrastructure for cross-border payments implementation. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/r3cev-llc_uae-to-launch-cbdc-in-q4-2025-ledger-insights-activity-7313831113041301504-jpU_/
#Fintech#CBDC#UAE#DFC#R3
·news.bitcoin.com·
UAE Central Bank Reveals Digital Dirham Symbol, Targets Late 2025 Launch
BCB releases report on Drex POC Phase 1
BCB releases report on Drex POC Phase 1
Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) published a report on the main developments in the first phase of its Drex wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof-of-concept (POC) work, which took place between July 2023 and October 2024. (None of the Drex tests involved real clients or assets, but rather fictitious ones.) The report highlighted the trilemma of finding a solution that balances decentralization, programmability, and privacy issues at the same time, while being compliant to the Brazilian legal framework. I'm still digesting a Google Translate version (it's only available in Portuguese) of the 73-page report, and may come back with more detail later.
#Fintech#Brazil#Tokenization#CBDC#wCBDC#DFC#DepositTokens
·bcb.gov.br·
BCB releases report on Drex POC Phase 1
And so we pay: more digital and faster, with cash still in play
And so we pay: more digital and faster, with cash still in play
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payment and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) published a brief that highlights key retail payment trends based on 2023 data collected from member jurisdictions. It demonstrates that the use, or volume, of cashless payment methods continued to grow in 2023 and that consumers increasingly choose to pay digitally for small value transactions. Although broad based, the growth in cashless payments was especially strong in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), driven by a sharp increase in the use of credit transfers (mostly fast payments) and e-money. It also finds that the uptake of fast payments is generally higher in jurisdictions with lower levels of cash in circulation and wider use of payment cards, especially for small payments. However, the demand for cash withdrawals generally remained stable compared with previous years.
And so we pay: more digital and faster, with cash still in play
#Cash#FastPayments#Payments#FinTech#BIS#CPMI#DFC
·bis.org·
And so we pay: more digital and faster, with cash still in play
Wyoming Governor Expects State to Issue Its Own Stablecoin by July
Wyoming Governor Expects State to Issue Its Own Stablecoin by July
Wyoming plans launch its own U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin as soon as July 2025. The WYST token will be fully backed by US Treasuries, cash and repurchase agreements, and maintain a statutory requirement of no less than 102% capitalization. The income generated through interest income on the reserve assets will be used to fund education and infrastructure. They have been tested on Avalanche, Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, and Base testnets. in collaboration with token issuance partner LayerZero. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WYGOV/bulletins/3d8d97a
#CryptoAssets#Fintech#Stablecoins#UnitedStates#Wyoming#DFC
·bloomberg.com·
Wyoming Governor Expects State to Issue Its Own Stablecoin by July
Senator Cruz introduces companion bill to prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC
Senator Cruz introduces companion bill to prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz introduced a bill on March 26, 2025 to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The “Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act,” would prohibit the Fed from offering certain products or services directly to American individuals, a key component of any retail CBDC. The Texas Republican’s bill is similarly worded to the bill introduced by Representative Tom Emmer to the House of Representatives on March 6. https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-introduces-bill-to-block-federal-reserve-from-issuing-central-bank-digital-currency

#CBDC#UnitedStates#Regulation#DFC#Fintech
·cointelegraph.com·
Senator Cruz introduces companion bill to prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC
Are CBDC projects moving forward without public buy-In?
Are CBDC projects moving forward without public buy-In?
The Warwick University Business School Gillmore Centre for Financial Technology published its response the Bank of England's central bank digital currency (CBDC) consultation. One of its main points was that, even with a strong policy case, a digital pound will only fulfill its purpose if people adopt it. In the United Kingdom, relatively strong retail payments landscape would present a challenge in this regard. However, two particular pain points suggest a pathway to adoption; merchant frustration over high card payment costs and lack of alternatives, and clunky person-to-person (P2P) payments. A digital pound is not the only solution here, but perhaps these concerns suggest a pathway to adoption. However, most consumers don’t directly bear payment costs (merchants) and prices typically remain the same regardless of the payment method, so there’s little direct incentive for users to switch, complicating adoption. And anxieties around CBDC privacy are ironic in the context of widespread reliance on payment systems that are not private, but maybe a CBDC with cash-like attributes could carve out a unique niche. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/subjects/finance/gillmore/research/environment/the_gillmore_centre/
#CBDC#UnitedKingdom#Fintech#DFC
·finextra.com·
Are CBDC projects moving forward without public buy-In?
Custodia Bank partners Vantage for first US bank 'stablecoin' issuance
Custodia Bank partners Vantage for first US bank 'stablecoin' issuance
Custodia Bank has partnered with Texas community bank Vantage to mint, transfer and redeem a deposit token on the Ethereum blockchain. The reason for using quotes around the term “stablecoin” is because deposit tokens on a permissionless blockchain appear similar to stablecoins, but if they are purely backed by deposits and issued by a bank, then legally they are different. They’re simply a bank deposit using a different technology. With stablecoin laws progressing through Congress, both the House and Senate versions of the legislation exclude bank-issued tokens backed by deposits, precisely for this reason. https://x.com/caitlinlong_/status/1904523878195507299?s=46
#Fintech#Stablecoins#UnitedStates#Custodia#DepositTokens#DFC
·ledgerinsights.com·
Custodia Bank partners Vantage for first US bank 'stablecoin' issuance
Costs of Cash and Card Payments from a Consumer Perspective
Costs of Cash and Card Payments from a Consumer Perspective
The costs of payment methods for consumers are difficult to determine, not recorded in a harmonised manner on an international level and consequently vary significantly from country to country. For this reason, a separate study is necessary for Germany. As part of a representative survey conducted in 2023, households were asked about the costs they incurred when using various means of payment. Financial costs were recorded, including fees for account management, ATM cash withdrawals or for payment cards, as well as the financial impact in the case of loss or fraud. Non-monetary costs in the form of the time required and the costs of data disclosure were also included.
#Cash#Germany#Fintech#DFC
·bundesbank.de·
Costs of Cash and Card Payments from a Consumer Perspective
Digital Fiat Currency (DFC) Defined (ITU)
Digital Fiat Currency (DFC) Defined (ITU)
Digital fiat currency (DFC) is a tokenized, digital representation of a sovereign currency issued by an authorized public or private entity. When issued and distributed by a central bank or other monetary authority, it is a central bank digital currency (CBDC). If it is issued by a private entity, it may be e-money or another form of digital commercial bank money/private digital tokens/stablecoins, even if backed by central bank money.
#Fintech#CBDC#Stablecoins#DepositTokens#eMoney#DFC#ITU
·itu.int·
Digital Fiat Currency (DFC) Defined (ITU)
Could Digital Currencies Lead to the Disappearance of Cash?
Could Digital Currencies Lead to the Disappearance of Cash?
The IMF published the results of a study that employs a two-sided market model to examine how payment systems might respond to new currencies. Numerical simulations indicate that the success of a new currency hinges on a large-scale launch. However, even unsuccessful attempts could disrupt existing systems, potentially resulting in the elimination of cash. If cash plays a critical role as a safeguard, regulatory and monetary authorities should give due consideration to ensure its continued availability when payment innovations are introduced.
#Fintech#Cash#DFC
·imf.org·
Could Digital Currencies Lead to the Disappearance of Cash?