"OceanBase is a distributed, scalable, shared-nothing relational DBMS developed by Alibaba. The goal of OceanBase is to serve for financial scenarios which are demanding on performance, cost, scalability, and requires database with high availability and strong consistency. It is designed and optimized for OLTP applications on relational structured data, though its shared-nothing structure also supports OLAP applications."
"OceanBase Community Edition is an open source distributed HTAP (Hybrid Transactional/Analytical Processing) database management system with a native distributed architecture and supports enterprise-level features such as financial-level high availability, transparent horizontal expansion, distributed transactions, multi-tenancy, and syntax compatibility. . The OceanBase core has passed the test of large-scale commercial scenarios, has served many industry customers, and is now continuing to build core technology competitiveness in the future."
Samsung Electronics will reportedly participate in the Bank of Korea's central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof-of-concept (PoC) work reportedly co-managed by Ground X, a blockchain affiliate of messenger platform, Kakao. Ground X has partnered with ConsenSys to create the Klaytn Ethereum-based public-permissioned blockchain that the PoC will be run on. Ground X will start work in August, with the first phase to be completed by December.
Fed Governor Waller ‘Highly Skeptical’ of a Fed Digital Coin
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he is “highly skeptical” about the a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). He remains "skeptical that a [it] would solve any major problem confronting the U.S. payment system." Waller also said he saw no reason why the dollar wouldn’t continue to dominate the international payment system even if other nations started using digital currencies for cross-border contracts. He also found it "implausible... that developing a CBDC is the simplest, least costly way to reach the [unbanked]."
Venezuela to launch CBDC in October — and cut six zeros from its currency
Venezuela Will Launch Digital Bolivar in October
Banco Central de Venezuela is rolling out a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in October and will launch an SMS-based exchange system to facilitate its use. http://www.bcv.org.ve/comunicado-bolivar-digital
The international dimension of a central bank digital currency
"A CBDC not only has domestic macroeconomic and financial implications for the issuing economy; it has also implications for the rest of the world. Our simulations suggest that if a CBDC is available to non-residents, additional volatility in capital flows, exchange rates and interest rates resulting from its presence can be mitigated through holdings limits on transactions by foreigners or through flexibility in the CBDC’s remuneration rate. Of the two policy tools, our simulations show the latter is the most powerful – price flexibility dominates quantitative restrictions. That a CBDC increases asymmetries in the international monetary system by reducing monetary policy autonomy in foreign economies, but not domestically, suggests in addition that introducing a CBDC sooner, rather than later, could give rise to a significant first-mover advantage."
Cambodia aims to wean off US dollar dependence with digital currency
The National bank of Cambodia's (NBC's) Chea Serey, who leads the central bank's Project Bakong blockchain-based retail interbank payment system, said Bakong’s electronic wallet reached 200,000 users in June, doubling from three months earlier. Project Bakong, launched in October 2020, allows Cambodians to pay at stores or send money through a mobile app in riel or U.S. dollars. Serey said that the mission of Bakong is to "increase the usage of the local currency," with the long-term goal to "solely use our local currency." NBC is also exploring cross-border transactions through Bakong. Currently it is working on this with Malaysia's Maybank as well as Thailand's central bank.
Central Bank of Venezuela Announces 'Digital Bolivar' Redenomination Plan
"The Central Bank of Venezuela announced the new redenomination plan for its fiat currency called “Digital Bolivar.” This new proposal seeks to simplify transactions by slashing six zeroes from the current value of the currency. While it is called digital, it has nothing to do with the proposal of a new central bank digital currency (CBDC), but it claims to have the development of a digital economy in the country as its objective."
BoJ Mints First Batch of Jamaica's Central Bank Digital Currency
The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) minted Jamaica’s first batch of central bank digital currency (CBDC). A total of J$230 million in CBDC will be issued to deposit-taking institutions and authorized payment service providers during the CBDC pilot exercise which ends in December. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Nigel Clarke, said that legislative amendments to accompany CBDC will be in place before March 31, 2022, the end of the current fiscal year.
Nigeria's E-Nairu Central Bank Digital Currency Details Leaked
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will reportedly launch a pilot of its e-nairu that will be run on the "two-tier" model whereby the central bank designs and distributes the digital currency (CBDC) and regulated financial institutions provide it to individuals and businesses. The CBN hopes that this strategy will help it “address interoperability risks that might be associated with the implementation.” The CBN reckons the risk of financial disintermediation can be addressed via the imposition of limits on e-naira holdings.
Ghana to Pilot CBDC With German Banknote Printer Giesecke+Devrient
The Bank of Ghana plans to test a general purpose central bank digital currency (CBDC) in partnership with German banknote printer Giesecke+Devrient (G+D). G+D is providing the technology and will adapt their Filia CBDC solution adapted to Ghana’s requirements, which will be tested in a pilot with banks, payment service providers, merchants, consumers and other relevant stakeholders. Filia enables secure, consecutive offline payments in case no network connection is available.
Research about central bank digital currency (CBDC) has been silent about consumers’ willingness to use CBDC and what triggers usage. This De Nederlandsche Bank paper reports on the results of a survey among a representative group of Dutch citizens to fill this gap. It found that about half of the Dutch population would be willing to open a current account for digital euros at the central bank. The not-for-profit nature of central banks was the most often mentioned rationale. The second was improved resilience of the electronic retail payment system, and third was its relative safety versus cash.
Bank of Jamaica will need court order to track CBDC transactions
The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) reportedly said that, although wallet providers can monitor personal information and transactions of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) users, this information cannot shared with the BOJ and any other authority without a court order. The BoJ will only capture general data for economic analysis. A total of $230 million CBDC has been minted as part of a pilot exercise which ends in December 2021. If the pilot is successful, full roll-out is expected in 2022.
Ukraine’s Digital Ministry Plans to Pay Employees With Digital Hryvnia in Pilot Project
Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation is reportedly planning to pay its employees with Ukraine’s e-hryvnia central bank digital currency (CBDC) as part of future pilot testing. Another e-hryvnia pilot idea being considered is to use it in the payment of social benefits and government subsidies, and to employ smart contracts that can potentially limit the use and misuse of such government grants.
Thailand Publishes CBDC Study Results, Pilot Test To Start In 2022
The Bank of Thailand today published the results of its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) study and public survey, which the central bank says will guide the development of the country’s CBDC pilot test. The guidelines for a retail CBDC include: (1) the CBDC should be cash-like and non-interest bearing, and (2) intermediaries such as financial institutions would distribute the CBDC to the general public. A “Foundation Track” pilot will begin in Q2 2022 and will involve using the currency to conduct cash-like activities at a limited scale, e.g. as payment or receipt for goods and services, as well as for conversion. An "Innovation Track" will explore use cases for the CBDC with participation from the private sector and technology developers. https://www.bot.or.th/English/PressandSpeeches/Press/2021/Pages/n6064.aspx
"The key lesson from disasters past, present and future is not that we should keep cash but that what we should have in place is a means to person-to-person (or actually, device-to-device) payments in the absence of mobile networks, electricity and clearing systems. I don't want to labour the point about the unsuitability of blockchain-based payments for general purpose cash replacement, but this seems to me to reinforce a critical design characteristic for central bank digital currencies: they must be able to work offline."
Madagascar Central Bank Exploring CBDC Introduction
Banky Foiben’I Madagasikara (BFM) is exploring the introduction of a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) based on a two-tier "intermediated" distribution model. The design thought process will be focused on domestic use, but keeping open the option of cross-border use later. The BFM has published a request for information and quotation (RFI/RFQ) for potential technical solutions, The deadline for submissions is September 6, 2021, with a heads up notification requested by August 25.
This IMF paper reviews how central banks have been reacting to the challenges posed by fintech to the legal foundations of their governance. It finds that fintech calls for reconsidering the adequacy of the legal formulation of currency issuance and payment systems functions and powers. Fintech may impact the functional autonomy for some key central bank functions. For example, the role claimed by governments in designing CBDC will be an important issue to consider; the legal framework will need to carefully delineate the respective roles and responsibilities between the government and the central bank. The authors suggest that central bank law reform must be sufficiently broad to achieve appropriate levels of “agility” to provide a “future-proof ” legal framework. For instance, legislation (and by extension the legal framework to which the central bank is subject) should to the maximum extent possible be technology-neutral.
DCash: motivations, challenges, and lessons from the first monetary union CBDC pilot
"The inauguration of the DCash CBDC pilot, in March 2021, represented the first major step towards the practical achievement of a CSME. To truly understand the scale of this achievement, it is necessary to examine some of the fundamental problems that arise from inefficient payment systems. In doing so, light will be shed on the Herculean efforts required to get to this point and the pivotal justifications for why these efforts were well warranted."
Banco de Reserva del Perú on Central Bank Digital Currency
Banco de Reserva del Perú has apparently been studying central bank digital currency (CBDC) since 2019. "Central banks must continue with the analysis, both conceptual and technological, in order to be prepared for eventual changes in the conditions they face regarding the conduct of monetary policy in the future. It is essential to continue with the study and analysis of the potential effects of the issuance of a digital currency, as well as learning from the experiences of other countries on the subject."
This paper by the Bank of Canada's Scott Hendry and Yu Zhu confirms the validity of central bank concerns that wide adoption of a private digital currency and decline in the use of central bank money may undermine monetary sovereignty. The analysis is based on a theoretical model in which fiat money and the digital currency differ in the types of transactions that they can serve, with the latter dominating in online transactions. Although the central bank wants to maintain the value of the fiat money by keeping low inflation in case households want to use the fiat money for transactions, a welfare-maximizing central bank would also want to encourage households to use e-money for transactions where e-money has an advantage. This can be achieved by raising inflation of fiat money since it is a substitute for e-money, and the incentive to raise inflation would dominate if the usage of fiat money was sufficently low. However, if the use of the central bank money becomes sufficiently low, this leads to high inflation and low welfare. The paper concludes that, to defend monetary sovereignty, the central bank should maintain or expand the use of central bank money, for example, by offering a central bank digital currency (CBDC) designed to be a perfect substitute for the private e-money.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reportedly has sent a presentation to Nigerian banks about the e-Naira central bank digital currency (CBDC) project. The CBDC, which will not be renumerated, will run on a Hyperledger Fabric DLT platform, and users will access it with the CBN's three-tier Speed Wallet. The first tier, which does not require users to have a bank account, will require users to register their phone number validated as a National Identity Number (NIN) and has a daily send/receive limit of N50,000 (about $120) and a maximum balance of N300,000 ($730). Tier Two wallet users, who must have a bank account and Bank Verification Number (BVN), will be able to send and receive N200,000 ($485) and hold up to N500,000 ($1,200). The third Tier allows daily transactions up to N1,000,000 ($2,430) with holdings limited to N5,000,000 ($12,150).
MAS Announces 15 finalists for the Global CBDC Challenge
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the 15 finalists for the global competition to develop retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) solutions (Global CBDC Challenge). The finalists will progress to the Acceleration Phase before they pitch their solutions to a panel of judges and an international audience at this year’s Singapore FinTech Festival. The Challenge attracted over 300 submissions from more than 50 countries. Participants were invited to address 12 problem statements relating to (i) CBDC instrument; (ii) CBDC distribution; and (iii) CBDC infrastructure; covering topics such as inclusivity, interoperability and programmability. The proposals from the finalists sought to address multiple problem statements through a variety of technology approaches including hardware wallets, digital identity and asset tokenisation solutions.
Bitt Awarded CBDC Contract for Central Bank of Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is partnering with Bitt to roll out its eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) later this year. Project Giant, as the Nigerian CBDC pilot is known, has been a long and thorough process for the CBN, that started with the Bank’s decision to digitize the Naira in 2017. Bitt was previously key to the development and launch of the CBDC pilot of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in April 2021. https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2021/CCD/CBN%20Press%20Release%20(CBDC)%2030082021.pdf
Private Central Bank Digital$ to Earn, Spend, Send, Transact in $ - USD Mint
Beware, this is likely a scam! "USD Mint is a Public Benefit Central Bank that Directly Issues & Settles USD Globally. USD Mint offers Free Universal Access to USD Accounts and Income as a Public Good."
"Sand Dollar is the digital version of the Bahamian dollar (B$). Like cash, Sand Dollar is issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas through authorised financial institutions (AFIs)."
"Fluency Aureum is the world's first permissioned enterprise platform, made for the purpose of building and interconnecting national CBDC networks. With the smart use of advancements in DLT (Distrubuted Ledger Technology), our platform is designed to provide all tools necessary for easy deployment, configuration and management of custom CBDC networks. Using a lightweight consensus mechanism and sharding approach, our platform is designed to achieve commercialisation viability, by maximising scalability and flexibility of the underlying network, while providing regulatory compliance by creation of separated, yet interconnected, compliance zones for each CBDC."
Roxe hires ex-IMF economist to lead blockchain-based CBDC project
Global payment network Roxe has recruited Andreas Jobst, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Senior Economist. As Roxe’s chief currency economist, Jobst will be tasked with helping to scale Roxe’s Bitcoin blochchain-based central bank digital currency (CBDC) project. The CBDC Plus Program appears to be a wholesale CBDC designed for cross-border interoperability among financial institutions.
Roxe Announces A Global CBDC Payment Network Powered By Blockchain
"Roxe’s full stack solution knits together issuance, management, distribution, and interoperation of different CBDCs with banks, central banks, cross-border money transfer companies, and peer-to-peer payment providers in a single network. This is an audacious vision, to rework the global payments system. DeFi and CeFi are losing their distinction. The global payments system needs a rework, integrating CBDCs into it and providing payment rails come as the first step in true digital asset trading towards a global capital market."
Central banks of Honduras, Guatemala eye digital currencies
The central banks of Honduras and Guatemala are reportedly studying digital currencies with the aim of eventually introducing them into the economy, including via a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
