Libra: The known unknowns and unknown unknowns | Eichengreen
"Libra remains a work in progress. Its designers continue to dribble out information about its structure and governance. But their documentation raises as many questions as it answers."
Telegram to release its cryptocurrency by October 31
Gram digital wallets will be made available to Telegram’s 200-300 million global users, and Grams will make it possible to buy and sell other goods on Telegram.
Binance: Venus Project Will Court Regulators, Avoid Facebook’s Mistakes
Binance co-founder He Yi claimed that the company will engage with regulators from day one regarding its Venus stablecoin project. He also confirmed previous rumors that Venus will be primarily geared towards non-Western countries.
Binance's Venus will Face the Same Challenges as Facebook's Libra, says Crypto Researcher
Binance announced that it is looking for partners to create the stablecoin that will be pegged against a basket of government-issued currencies.
How Facebook can win the global currency battle
"If Libra comes to be treated as a tokenized security representing ownership of a money market fund, that could set the project back."
Tether Plans to Mint Digital Yuan and Commodity Coins, Says Bitfinex Shareholder
Bitfinex shareholder and over-the-counter (OTC) trader Zhao Dong has revealed that Tether is planning to launch a cryptocurrency backed by the Chinese renminbi.
In search for stability in crypto-assets: are stablecoins the solution?
Stablecoins Vulnerable to Regulatory Uncertainty: European Central Bank "Less innovative stablecoins could provide a solution to users Seeking a stable store of value, especially if legitimised by the adherence to standards that are typical of payment services, the jury is still out on the potential future role of more innovative stablecoins outside their core user base."
Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency is part of a disturbing financial trend
"Louis Brandeis said of the early-20th-century trusts that “both the financial concentration and the combinations which they have served were, in the main, against the public interest.” Big banks and big tech may rely on fancy algorithms and apps instead of railroads, but his words are just as true today."
Crypto Lobby Fights to Contain Backlash From Facebook’s Libra
Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, may offer legislation that would have the effect of making currencies such as Libra illegal, according to a draft of the bill reviewed by Bloomberg. The legislation would amend a U.S. statute originally meant to prevent Americans from minting their own physical currencies. The amendment would also make it illegal for someone to create a digital currency, intended to be used as money, whose value is based on assets held in reserve.
Yves Mersch: Money and private currencies - reflections on Libra
"Libra does not appear to qualify as e-money, as it does not embody a claim of its holders against the Libra Association."
Tether Treasury Moves 7 Million USDT, Could Spark a Bitcoin Price Surge
The Tether Treasury moved 7m USDT from its vaults recently and minted 10m USDT just an hour after the money was moved out. Could this be a sign that the next bull run is on the corner? People often use USDT in order to trade BTC, so there is a correlation between USDT volumes and Bitcoin prices.
Oxfam Trials Delivery of Disaster Relief Using Ethereum Stablecoin DAI
Oxfam International, a U.K.-based non-profit with a global reach, just spent a month testing MakerDAO’s stablecoin DAI as a vehicle for helping disaster victims.
Binance Launches Dollar-Backed Crypto Stablecoin With NYDFS Blessing
Binance, in partnership with the Paxos Trust Company, is launching a dollar-backed stablecoin in the U.S. with the blessing of the New York Department of Financial Services.
Paxos Launches PAX Gold: Physical Gold on the Blockchain
Paxos Trust Company launched PAX Gold a crypto-asset redeemable for physical gold approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Each token is backed by one fine troy ounce of London Good Delivery Gold.
Libra-Like Tokens Pose Risks to Swiss National Bank’s Monetary Policy
SNB’s governing board chair Thomas Jordan: "if stablecoins pegged to foreign currencies were to establish themselves in Switzerland, the effectiveness of our monetary policy could be impaired.”
JPMorgan Fears New Breed of Crypto Like Libra Face ‘Gridlock’
JP Morgan: Libra and other stablecoins "do not take into account the microstructure of operating such a payment system. The risk of payment system gridlock, particularly during periods of stress, could have serious macroeconomic consequences.”
Tether Now Supports Offshore Chinese Yuan (CNH), Launches CNH₮ Stablecoin
Tether has launched its Chinese yuan-backed stablecoin, which will run on top of the ethereum blockchain. The new CNH₮ token, is collateralized with yuan stored offshore.
Facebook to Back Libra with Major Fiats, Might Exclude Chinese Yuan
Facebook and it’s Libra Association partners are planning to initially back Libra with fiats including US dollars, euro, yen, British pound, and Singapore dollar, on concerns raised by Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) for China’s attempts to push the Libra Association to include yuan in the basket of the currencies backing Libra.
What is Stablecoin?: A Survey on Price Stabilization Mechanisms for Decentralized Payment Systems
This paper gathers various stablecoin price stabilization mechanisms, dividing the methods into four collateral types (fiat, crypto, commodity, and non-collateralized) and two layers (protocol and application) to show that non-collateralized stablecoin on the application layer is the simplest approach for implementation.
100% E-Money and its Implications for Central Bank Digital Currency
100% e-money and the corresponding regulation are compared to two models where the CBDC providing third-party is either an intermediary or a custodian.
Swiss regulator FINMA issues guidelines for stablecoins, including Facebook’s Libra "The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has issued new guidelines for stablecoins, including Facebook’s planned cryptocurrency Libra
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has issued new guidelines for stablecoins, including Facebook’s planned cryptocurrency Libra.
Facebook Libra Is Seeking to Register as a Payment System in Switzerland
Swiss financial regulator FINMA confirmed in a guidance note on stablecoins Wednesday that it had received a request for an assessment of how it would classify the Libra project as currently planned. The agency added that range of services projected by the Libra Association would need extra oversight.
Switzerland’s guidance on stablecoins — what it means for Facebook’s Libra
Switzerland’s guidance on stablecoins — what it means for Facebook’s Libra.
France to block development of Facebook’s Libra crypto, says minister
France will halt the development of Facebook’s planned Libra cryptocurrency in Europe because it threatens the “monetary sovereignty” of governments.
France shuns Facebook’s Libra. How was Libra stupid enough to end up here?
“Did Libra hire an economist who’d worked at a central bank, or for a government, on serious macroeconomics — someone who could talk to regulators in their own language — at any point since Facebook started looking into cryptocurrencies in 2017? ...You might think “someone who knows how economies tend to work” would have been a useful sort of person to have on the team before the big announcement.”
Libra is imperialism by stealth
"If Libra follows the route of many stablecoins -- including the dominant market player, Tether -- and backs itself with dollar assets (and, it is difficult to see what else it can do but go down that route), then it is nothing but dollarisation by proxy. "
Central banks to grill Facebook over Libra
The ECB's Benoît Coeuré will chair a meeting on September 16 at the BIS headquarters in Basel between Libra and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure. The CPMI side will be represented by officials from 26 central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.
Tethers Cause Traffic Jam on Ethereum
The Ethereum network has become congested with users complaining transactions are taking hours or in some rare instances, even days, and the culprit appears to be Tether.
Senior CPMI officials meet on stablecoins
"As a new technology, stablecoins are largely untested, especially on the scale required to run a global payment system," said Mr Cœuré. "They give rise to a number of serious risks related to public policy priorities. The bar for regulatory approval will be high."
Overseeing China’s payments revolution
A series of PBoC rulings in 2017 and 2018 have stopped bigtech payment operators profiting from interest income earned by depositing customers’ surplus payment funds. Instead, surplus payment funds now need to be placed with the PBoC and secure no interest in return – it had previously mandated that only certain percentages needed to be held with the central bank. The PBoC asked payment companies to deposit 100% of customer funds with the central bank by January 2019.