DFC

5288 bookmarks
Custom sorting
CBDC Use Case: The e-Cedi Hackathon Pilot
CBDC Use Case: The e-Cedi Hackathon Pilot
In December 2023, EMTECH successfully delivered a CBDC Hackathon as a strategic pilot for the Bank of Ghana’s e-Cedi project. After receiving 88 applications, the Bank of Ghana ultimately selected 10 participants who onboarded a dedicated hackathon platform, and received Institutional Wallets and 1,000 BYDC-eCedi tokens from the central bank to prototype various solutions. They were then granted access to pre-built BYDC-eCedi APIs which eased the technical integration, as well as standardized how and who can create wallets for end users or how to transact with the tokens. All transactions were performed using Hedera’s token and public ledger services using an ERC-20 token standard. This delivered transparency in transactions, plus the benefit of protecting user information.
#Fintech#CBDC#Ghana#Emtech#DFC
·emtech.com·
CBDC Use Case: The e-Cedi Hackathon Pilot
IDEMIA demonstrates quantum-resistant offline CBDC payment
IDEMIA demonstrates quantum-resistant offline CBDC payment
IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) demonstrated the first ever offline central bank digital currency (CBDC) payments incorporating enhanced security against quantum threats. Offline CBDC allows digital currency transactions without internet, ensuring cash-like secure and seamless payments in areas with limited connectivity. This offline CBDC payment transaction uses quantum-resistant public key cryptography endorsed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The offline transactions demonstrated as part of this quantum-safe solution are performed using two smartphones thanks to NFC. Money is stored inside a secure element fortified with quantum-safe cryptography to guarantee security and prevent the risks of double spending or unauthorized money creation.
#Fintech#CBDC#IDEMIA#Quantum#CyberRisk#Offline#DFC
·idemia.com·
IDEMIA demonstrates quantum-resistant offline CBDC payment
'Privacy-minded' CBDCs are a wolf in sheep's clothing
'Privacy-minded' CBDCs are a wolf in sheep's clothing
Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin has warned much the same, saying that he once had "somewhat more hope, probably naively" that CBDCs could incorporate the transparency, verifiability, and privacy of cryptocurrencies. However, he noted that after CBDC systems are developed, the protections "all sort of fall away." "We get systems that are not actually much better than existing payment systems, because they just basically end up being different front ends for the existing banking system," Buterin said. "They end up being even less private and basically break down all of the existing barriers against both corporations and the government at the same time."
#Fintech#CBDC#Privacy#Dystopia#UnitedStates#DFC
·cointelegraph.com·
'Privacy-minded' CBDCs are a wolf in sheep's clothing
Iran Officially Unveils Central Bank Digital Currency Project
Iran Officially Unveils Central Bank Digital Currency Project
Iran reportedly officially unveiled its CBDC on June 23, 2024 during a ceremony attended by Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin and chief executives of several major banks. A pilot project will commence in July on the island of Kish, involving two major Iranian banks, Mellat and Tejarat, and will focus on retail transactions. The digital rial’s introduction is part of Iran’s strategy to enhance its digital economy and payment infrastructure.
#Fintech#CBDC#Iran#DFC
·news.bitcoin.com·
Iran Officially Unveils Central Bank Digital Currency Project
ECB announces 48 participants in wholesale DLT trials
ECB announces 48 participants in wholesale DLT trials
The European Central Bank (ECB) gave its approval for an additional group of participants to test distributed ledger technology (DLT) for the settlement of wholesale transactions in central bank money. In total, 48 private firms from the financial sector and three central banks will take part in the second wave of the Eurosystem’s exploratory work. From July to November 2024, the group will explore specific use cases, joining a first group of participants who have already been testing since May 13. This second wave will broaden the scope of the exploratory work and will cover (i) domestic payments within the euro area with mock settlement, (ii) a wide set of securities-related use cases with both real and mock settlement, and (iii) foreign exchange payment-versus-payment (PvP) transactions with other central banks with mock settlement. Meanwhile, nine participants from the first group will add further use cases and interoperability-type solutions. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/intro/news/html/ecb.mipnews240621.en.html
#Fintech#CBDC#wCBDC#ECB#Eurozone#Tokenization#Settlement#DFC
·ledgerinsights.com·
ECB announces 48 participants in wholesale DLT trials
Central banks of France and Luxembourg publish results of Project Venus
Central banks of France and Luxembourg publish results of Project Venus
The Banque de France (BdF) and Banque centrale du Luxembourg have published the results of Project Venus, a successful 2022 experiment demonstrating the use of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) in digital bond issuance and settlement. On 29 November 2022, the European Investment Bank (EIB) successfully issued a euro‑denominated digital bond on a private blockchain using wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) for settlement. Goldman Sachs Bank Europe, Santander and Société Générale facilitated the subscription and distribution processes. While project Venus was considered a success, further experimentation and policy work will be required before the decision is made to issue issue a wholesale CBDC. Meanwhile, the Eurosystem is conducting additional experiments and trials, with conclusions expected by mid-2025.
#Fintech#CBDC#wCBDC#Eurozone#Tokenization#Settlement#France#Luxembourg#DFC
·banque-france.fr·
Central banks of France and Luxembourg publish results of Project Venus
Boerse Stuttgart, German banks to test settle tokenized securities
Boerse Stuttgart, German banks to test settle tokenized securities
The Boerse Stuttgart Group (BSG) will be part of the second wave of the European Central Bank (ECB) European Union-wide wholesale DLT trials for central bank money settlement. Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, LBBW, Bankhaus Metzler and V-Bank, who are directly connected to the Bourse’s new blockchain-based settlement solution, will act as trading and settlement participants to test the settlement of exchange transactions with tokenized securities against central bank money. The Deutsche Bundesbank is providing its trigger solution, which connects blockchain transactions with the traditional euro payment system, for the test.
#Fintech#CBDC#wCBDC#Eurozone#Tokenization#Settlement#Germany#DFC
·group.boerse-stuttgart.com·
Boerse Stuttgart, German banks to test settle tokenized securities
India’s retail CBDC transaction volumes continue to slump
India’s retail CBDC transaction volumes continue to slump
Usage of India’s e-rupee, has slumped to just a tenth of the 1 million retail transactions per day peak hit in December 2023, according to a Reuters report. The transactions that are continuing are in part due to banks disbursing benefits to their employees via the e-rupee. This has helped to push up transactions to about 250,000 to 300,000 per day towards the end of each month. Apparently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not planning to rapidly expand the pilot and the current focus is on testing the technology and developing use cases for the digital currency.
#Fintech#CBDC#India#DFC
·reuters.com·
India’s retail CBDC transaction volumes continue to slump
ECB publishes first progress report on digital euro preparation phase
ECB publishes first progress report on digital euro preparation phase
On June 24, 2024 the European Central Bank (ECB) published its first progress report on the digital euro preparation phase, which was launched on November 1, 2023 with the aim of laying the foundations for the potential issuance of a digital euro. The report outlines the progress made on key digital euro design aspects and the envisaged next steps for the project.
#Fintech#CBDC#Eurozone#ECB#DFC
·ecb.europa.eu·
ECB publishes first progress report on digital euro preparation phase
BdF and HKMA to unlock new WCBDC cross-border opportunities
BdF and HKMA to unlock new WCBDC cross-border opportunities
The Banque de France (BdF) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have launched a collaboration relating to wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC). They will delve into the study of interoperability between their wholesale CBDC infrastructure, i.e. the BDF's DL3S and the HKMA's Project Ensemble Sandbox, with the main focus on real-time cross-border and cross-currency payments. The cross-border experiment aims to explore how to optimize settlement efficiency of cross-border transactions, and facilitate interoperability between financial market infrastructures in different jurisdictions.
#Fintech#CBDC#WCBDC#CrossBorder#HongKong#France#Eurozone#DFC
·hkma.gov.hk·
BdF and HKMA to unlock new WCBDC cross-border opportunities
Ousmène Jacques Mandeng on why CBDC?
Ousmène Jacques Mandeng on why CBDC?
"CBDC has brought a new thinking about the utility and functionality of money. It should be seen as an extension of existing payment systems but may be most effective for specific use cases only. CBDC is to equip financial systems with new functionality to address actual and future payment demands. It is to ensure central bank money can remain competitive... When being asked whether CBDC is a solution in search of a problem, I normally answer, that the question is referring only to problems we know. If we are looking to address the problems we know today, we are unlikely to be ready for the future."
#Fintech#CBDC#DFC
·linkedin.com·
Ousmène Jacques Mandeng on why CBDC?
Bank of Japan’s 7th Liaison Meeting on CBDC
Bank of Japan’s 7th Liaison Meeting on CBDC
The Bank of Japan published the minutes of the seventh “Liaison Meeting on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)” held on May 29, but it’s in Japanese only. However, Norbert Gehrke has kindly provided a translation. Here are some of the points (all via the Ministry of Finance) that I found particularly interesting...It is not essential to allow non-residents to use CBDC from the initial issuance stage, because of the challenges associated with KYC and AML/CFT for non-residents and the possibility that their need for CBDC might not be particularly high. No concrete decisions have yet been made regarding CBDC cost sharing between the public and private sectors, in response to a suggestion from the Japan Securities Dealers Association that the public sector should bear all the cost because CBDC is the foundation of economic activities. CBDC is viewed as complementary to cash, and it is not essential for CBDC to replicate all cash functionalities. For instance, offline functionality, which carries risks of double-spending and counterfeiting, might not be necessary during the initial stages if cash remains usable. Regarding anonymity, the extent to which it can be ensured, given AML/CFT concerns, is still under consideration. https://www.boj.or.jp/paym/digital/dig240626a.pdf
#Fintech#CBDC#Japan#DFC
·medium.com·
Bank of Japan’s 7th Liaison Meeting on CBDC
First trials with the Bundesbank Trigger Solution settled
First trials with the Bundesbank Trigger Solution settled
As part of the Eurosystem exploratory work, the first two trials with the Deutsche Bundesbank's Trigger Solution were successfully settled. The use case comprised the issuance and primary distribution of a commercial paper with the use case team Clearstream as a market distributed ledger technology (DLT) operator, and two market participants (DekaBank and DZ Bank). The exploration was conducted as a trial in the participants' production systems and ultimately resulted in real and final bookings in TARGET, the Eurosystem's payment system, by using the Trigger Solution. The Trigger Solution links DLT platforms operated by the market with the traditional Eurosystem payment system (TARGET), thus enabling the direct settlement of DLT-based wholesale transactions in central bank money on participants' existing RTGS accounts.
#Fintech#Settlement#Tokenization#Eurozone#ECB#CBDC#wCBDC#DFC
·bundesbank.de·
First trials with the Bundesbank Trigger Solution settled
True offline payments are impossible. Or are they?
True offline payments are impossible. Or are they?
True offline payments are possible. They rely on, among other measures, strong hardware security, which is well-established in the industry. What is new is that CBDC will enable additional use cases, for example when both payer and payee are offline. But the technology for that is already there.
#Fintech#CBDC#Offline#DFC
·linkedin.com·
True offline payments are impossible. Or are they?
Bahamas to force banks to offer Sand Dollars
Bahamas to force banks to offer Sand Dollars
The Bahamas is reportedly preparing regulations that will require commercial banks to provide access to Sand Dollars in a bid to stimulate adoption. Governor John Rolle said with take-up of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) still limited, so commercial banks are being told of forthcoming regulations that will effectively force them to distribute it. Rolle said requiring commercial banks to embed the Sand Dollar in their systems should help usage but acknowledged the bigger problem was to get more merchants to accept it as a form of payment.
#Fintech#CBDC#Bahamas#DFC
·reuters.com·
Bahamas to force banks to offer Sand Dollars
Monetary Devolution and the Political Economy of CBDCs
Monetary Devolution and the Political Economy of CBDCs
According to a paper by Leonidas Zelmanovitz and Bruno Meyerhof Salama, retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) can be considered a form of "monetary devolution," that shifts the power, at least in part, from commercial banks to central banks. They discuss the institutional incentives of digital currencies in general and monetary devolution in the United States in particular. Next they outline an alternative that incorporates the technological edge provided by CBDCs. This alternative would be the creation of wholesale CBDCs to serve as the monetary base for settling retail payments with stablecoins. Designed as such, CBDCs could preserve the current balance between private and public money.
#Fintech#CBDC#DFC
·papers.ssrn.com·
Monetary Devolution and the Political Economy of CBDCs
Taiwan central bank says no rush for CBDC launch
Taiwan central bank says no rush for CBDC launch
The President of the Central Bank of the Republic of China (CBRC), Yang Chin-long, said that developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is not a competition and that the central bank is focused on steady progress over speed. Yang said the central bank is conducting experiments in three scenarios to enhance domestic payment efficiency and innovation, retail and wholesale CBDC and the application of tokenization technology to digitally transform wholesale CBDC and commercial bank currency, supporting various asset tokens. The CBRC is also conducting proofs-of-concept and collaborating with participating banks to build a common platform for tokenization. https://www.cbc.gov.tw/tw/cp-302-170834-8653d-1.html
#Fintech#CBDC#wCBDC#Tokenization#Taiwan#DFC
·cointelegraph.com·
Taiwan central bank says no rush for CBDC launch
Potential climate impact of retail CBDC models
Potential climate impact of retail CBDC models
Sveriges Riksbank published a paper that analyses central bank digital currency (CBDC) electricity consumption compared to existing retail payment services. Findings indicate that the energy use per transaction of an e-krona is comparable to that of card payments. However, there are significant differences depending on whether the design of the infrastructure for the e-krona is centralized or decentralized, where a centralized solution tend to be less energy consuming than a decentralized solution. Algorand's proof-of-stake public-permissioned network was chosen to represent the decentralized platform, and Hedera's private-permissioned network the centralized platform, and the transactions volumes were assumed to be similar to that of cash-based transactions.
#Fintech#CBDC#Climate#Sweden#DFC
·riksbank.se·
Potential climate impact of retail CBDC models
Digital shekel launch unlikely ahead of other advanced economy countries
Digital shekel launch unlikely ahead of other advanced economy countries
The Bank of Israel (BOI) remains committed to plans for a digital shekel currency to improve Israel's payments system and foster innovation, but is unlikely to launch one ahead of other advanced economies, according to Deputy Governor Andrew Abir. He wants an eventual central bank digital currency (CBDC) to pay interest to create competition with bank deposits and provide an incentive for the public to hold it. It will operate in a two-tier model, with a wide range of participants providing services on the digital shekel platform, including banks, plus other payment companies, fintech or Bigtech companies, consumer clubs, and retail entities. Participants will support regular payment use cases, plus advanced and innovative use cases. https://www.boi.org.il/en/communication-and-publications/speeches-and-presentations/9-7-2024en/
#Fintech#CBDC#Israel#DFC
·reuters.com·
Digital shekel launch unlikely ahead of other advanced economy countries
Central bank money settlement of wholesale transactions
Central bank money settlement of wholesale transactions
"This article discusses the rationale for the Eurosystem exploring central bank money settlement of transactions registered on DLT platforms, the results of its analysis so far and the envisaged next steps. Section 2 provides background on the role of central bank money in the settlement of wholesale financial transactions. Section 3 discusses market developments regarding the use of new technologies, such as DLT, for wholesale financial transactions. Section 4 discusses the implications of a potential market uptake of DLT for the Eurosystem’s wholesale central bank money settlement infrastructures. Section 5 outlines the Eurosystem’s plans to further explore how wholesale financial transactions recorded on DLT platforms could be settled in central bank money."
#Fintech#wCBDC#CBDC#Settlement#ECB#DLT#DFC
·ecb.europa.eu·
Central bank money settlement of wholesale transactions
The Role of Public Money in the Digital Age
The Role of Public Money in the Digital Age
The Bank of Canada (BOC) published a paper that argues that there is now and will continue to be a fundamental need for a relevant retail public money (cash or central bank digital currency (CBDC)) as part of a well-functioning monetary system in which public and private money coexist and complement each other while trading at par, allowing money to move back and forth safely and efficiently. The paper posits that increasing demand for digital payments and the declining use of cash could lead to a loss of the uniformity of money, adoption of alternative units of account and exclusion of some segments of the population. This could lead to frictions and potential abuse of market power by private money providers that could reduce the efficiency of the economy. Also, to perform its interlinking function, retail public money needs to be a viable payment option and a practical mechanism to transfer between private forms of money. The paper argues that a properly designed CBDC would help fill the gap and maintain the relevance of a retail public money in the economy.
#Fintech#CBDC#Canada#DFC
·bankofcanada.ca·
The Role of Public Money in the Digital Age
Taiwan to test CBDC prototype via 'digital voucher' system
Taiwan to test CBDC prototype via 'digital voucher' system
Taiwan’s Central Bank of the Republic of China (CBRC) reportedly may start testing a CBDC prototype in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Affairs “digital voucher” system at the end of 2024 or early 2025. The Taiwanese government has previously issued stimulus vouchers to boost consumption. In the planned pilot, the Ministry would oversee voucher distribution, while the central bank would manage the subsequent payment and settlement operations after users spend the digital vouchers from their wallets. A local media source said that the digital voucher system could commence testing in August and go live in October. The CBDC prototype would not employ blockchain or smart contracts. https://ivod.ly.gov.tw/Play/Full/1M/16085
#Fintech#CBDC#Taiwan#DFC
·theblock.co·
Taiwan to test CBDC prototype via 'digital voucher' system
Relevance and risks of issuing CBDC in Colombia
Relevance and risks of issuing CBDC in Colombia
Banco de la República de Colombia (BRC) published a report outlining its cautious stance on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). It underscores the BRC's concerns over potential financial risks and policy challenges associated with CBDC adoption, and potential financial stability threats and monetary policy transmission channel disruptions. Hence, the BRC does not see reasons for CBDC issuance in the short term, but it will continue investigating the possible advantages, risks and costs of its issuance in the future. (In Spanish) English version: https://www.banrep.gov.co/en/node/63225/printable/print
#Fintech#CBDC#Colombia#DFC
·banrep.gov.co·
Relevance and risks of issuing CBDC in Colombia
Kazakhstan pays for rail line to China using programmable CBDC
Kazakhstan pays for rail line to China using programmable CBDC
The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) launched a pilot project to use its digital tenge CBDC to pay for the construction of a rail line to China. The project uses programmable digital tenge to see that allocated funds reach the intended recipients at the right time. The money allocated to finance the project was "marked" so it is paid only to organizations that have fully fulfilled the required obligations. The marked CBDC was used to enlarge the rail line between Moyynty in central Kazakhstan and Dostyk on the Chinese border across from Xinjiang. https://nationalbank.kz/ru/news/informacionnye-soobshcheniya/16879
#Fintech#CBDC#Kazakhstan#Programmability#DFC
·cointelegraph.com·
Kazakhstan pays for rail line to China using programmable CBDC
Putin wants to speed up deployment of Russia’s CBDC
Putin wants to speed up deployment of Russia’s CBDC
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed an interest in accelerating the Bank of Russia's digital ruble CBDC pilots. At a meeting on economic issues on July 17, 2024, he called for a "broader, full-scale implementation of the digital ruble in the economy, in economic activity and in the field of finance". The pilot, which launched in August 2023, involved 12 banks, 600 individuals and 22 trade and service enterprises from 11 cities. As of July 1, 2024, 27,000 transfers and over 7,000 payments for goods and services have been done, which "the digital ruble platform showed its performance and functionality" and justifying taking the next step to "full implementation". http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/74566
#Fintech#CBDC#Russia#DFC
·ledgerinsights.com·
Putin wants to speed up deployment of Russia’s CBDC
Interoperability Between CBDC and Fast Payment Systems : A Technical Perspective
Interoperability Between CBDC and Fast Payment Systems : A Technical Perspective
The World Bank published a technical paper on on its practical experiments on fast payments system (FPS) interoperability with central bank digital currency (CBDC) systems. The first experiment investigated the option of settling FPS obligations in a wholesale CBDC system, including the option to reserve funds to guarantee the settlement of FPS net obligations. The second experiment investigated the interoperability between users within the FPS and retail CBDC users, including the transfer of funds among both types of users, using common services such as address resolution services. This experiment illustrated how CBDC systems could interoperate with retail payment systems through an interlinking bridge that was used to route messages and application programming interface (API) calls among different systems. The programmability features of distributed ledger technology (DLT) were used to link the settlement in CBDC to the transfer of funds in the FPS.
#Fintech#CBDC#wCBDC#FastPayments#Interoperability#WorldBank#DFC
·documents.worldbank.org·
Interoperability Between CBDC and Fast Payment Systems : A Technical Perspective
Peru awards contract for first retail CBDC pilot
Peru awards contract for first retail CBDC pilot
Banco Central de Reserva del Perú (BCRP) has awarded its first contract for the development of its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot. The winner is telecom firm Viettel Perú. The contract will run for one year, which may be extended for up to one additional year at the justified request of Viettel Peru. No further details have been made available. https://www.bcrp.gob.pe/docs/Transparencia/Notas-Informativas/2024/nota-informativa-2024-07-17.pdf
#Fintech#CBDC#Peru#DFC
·ledgerinsights.com·
Peru awards contract for first retail CBDC pilot
Bank of Israel selects 14 teams to present use cases for digital shekel
Bank of Israel selects 14 teams to present use cases for digital shekel
The Bank of Israel (BOI) has chosen 14 teams from the private and public sectors, and academia to study potential use cases for a digital shekel. The use cases that were selected by the BOI deal with a variety of functions: connectivity between the digital shekel, other payment systems, and cash; use of the advanced functionalities offered by the digital shekel, such as subwallets, conditional payments, and split payments; and the implementation of various technologies while using the digital shekel as a means of payment. Participant proposals will be tested in a digital sandbox in August 2024, with products developed to be showcased at a concluding conference at the end of October 2024.
#Fintech#CBDC#Israel#Sandboxes#DFC
·boi.org.il·
Bank of Israel selects 14 teams to present use cases for digital shekel
Central Bank of Papua New Guinea launches CBDC proof-of-concept
Central Bank of Papua New Guinea launches CBDC proof-of-concept
The Central Bank of Papua New Guinea (CBPNG) is working with Soramitsu on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof-of-concept (POC) aimed at building a common payment platform across the Pacific Island region. Also, some areas of Papua New Guinea are plagued by instability, violence, and frequent occurrences of robberies and muggings, so the POC will explore digital technologies that will allow recovery of funds after such incidents. The project is being funded by the Government of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s 2023 supplementary budget “Subsidy for Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation Projects (Indirect Subsidy Project Related to the Survey on the Overseas Deployment of Infrastructure by Japanese Companies).”
#Fintech#CBDC#Soramitsu#PapuaNewGuinea#DFC
·soramitsu.co.jp·
Central Bank of Papua New Guinea launches CBDC proof-of-concept