While urging investors to treat bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with caution, Deutsche Bank’s CIO, Christian Nolting, said the industry is “here to stay.” However, the executive sees the impending launch of CBDCs as a major threat to bitcoin in terms of serving as a currency. Instead, he outlined the asset’s similarities to gold and its...Read More
Six of the biggest banks in China’s megapolis Shanghai are supporting the digital yuan ahead of a May 5th shopping festival. The move represents a direct threat to the country’s top two payment providers – Alipay and WeChat Pay. The Digital Yuan vs. Alipay and WeChat Pay According to a Reuters report, some of the...Read More
Despite the massive interest from central banks for CBDCs, nearly 70% of the projects are running only pilot programs and are far away from an actual launch. The Bahamas and Cambodia are the leading countries in a ranking listed by PwC while the biggest economy in Asia – China lines up third. CBDCs Are Not...Read More
The Bank of Japan has officially kicked off experiments on a proof of concept for its central bank digital currency. The first testing phase is already live and should be completed by March 2022. BOJ Takes a Swing at CBDC Development Japan’s Central Bank has put its mind into issuing its own digital currency. The...Read More
When it comes down to developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), perhaps no country is more advanced than China. Upon carrying out several tests in recent months, the People’s Bank of China said that the interest in the innovative initiative is surging, but bitcoin could also have a vital role in that. BTC Behind...Read More
Bitcoin does not have a plausible claim to be the money of the future, according to the Deputy Governor of Canada’s Central Bank. During a recent speech in Montreal, Deputy Governor Timothy Lane remained skeptical about cryptocurrencies even in an increasingly digital economy, calling them “deeply flawed as methods of payment.” On the contrary, Lane...Read More
The Indian cryptocurrency scene is currently waiting on an imminent Crypto Bill, which may define the future of digital assets in the country. The situation is vastly different from 2019 as the current bill also includes the possible development of a Central Bank Digital Currency supported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). With a...Read More
With the landscape for CBDCs heating up, many countries have accelerated their efforts to issue a central bank digital currency. China has had the most progress on this front, with the country conducting several test runs by distributing its digital yuan to its citizens through ‘red packets.’ According to a paper published by European policy...Read More
China will launch another major test for its digital currency, the digital yuan, in January. Local reports affirm that Sichuan’s capital Chengdu will be the next hotspot for the consequent tryout of the nation’s future virtual asset. The Local Government Giving Away $4.6M Worth of CBDC According to a recent media report by mobile payment network...Read More
For the third time, China’s southeastern city of Shenzhen will issue the nation’s digital currency as part of an ongoing pilot program to test China’s central bank project among its citizens. Authorities will giveaway digital currency in the “red envelopes” event, which will be worth 200 yuan (about $31) each, through a random draw. In...Read More
As cryptocurrencies cement their position in investor’s portfolios, nations around the world are also showing great interest in digital currencies that are backed by fiat currencies. The idea of a Central Bank Digital Currency [CBDC] has surfaced from the need for secure and faster payments in comparison to physical cash. Currently, China has maintained its...Read More
China is preparing a consequent major take on blockchain adoption. The country is developing a new project aimed at integrating international central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as a part of their recent blockchain endeavor, the BSN. Building a Universal Digital Payment Network as part of 2021 Outlook The country’s national blockchain project, Blockchain Service Network...Read More
Digital currency plans across nations seem to be drawing out concerns from a host of commercial banks. As a result, several questions have emerged with regard to a CBDC’s impact on private banking sectors. Recently, Russia’s Association of Banks became the latest network to join the discussion. According to the Association, local member banks weighed...Read More
The growth of stablecoins within the crypto industry has surged in the past year, with the total supply reaching $31.7 billion at the time of writing. Source: The Block Most of the growth has been driven by USDT and USDC, the two largest stablecoins by total supply, accounting for 75% and 14% of the stablecoin...Read More
The popular blockchain project Stellar has signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine to explore and develop virtual currencies and a CBDC. The native cryptocurrency has reacted with a massive surge by almost 40% a day after the announcement. Stellar And Ukraine To Work On Digital Assets...Read More
Today, the 11th of December, marked the first day of China’s latest DCEP trial in Suzhou after results of the lottery were announced earlier in the day. The day saw 200 million RMB ($30.6 million) of the digital yuan distributed to 100,000 people in digital red envelopes. These “winners” have been asked to spend the...Read More
Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, is the latest representative of a financial giant to address the phenomenon of digital currencies. Speaking at the Singapore Fintech Festival, Winters said that the creation and adoption of digital currencies is “absolutely inevitable,” an opinion that was quite a turnaround from the one held by these institutions...Read More
As some nations still dabble on the idea of launching its own central bank digital currencies, China has doubled-down on testing the digital yuan, and JD.com has agreed to begin testing. According to the Bloomberg report, the fintech affiliate of the e-commerce giant called JD Digits will launch a pilot program by the end of...Read More
“But, we have a question to discuss. Can it [Digital Renminbi] replace Alipay, WeChat Pay, and bank cards as the main electronic payment tool?” That was the question posed to Li Lihui, former President of the Bank of China, during the 2020 Caijing Annual Meeting about CBDCs. The exec responded that at least for the...Read More
Over the course of the past eleven months, cryptocurrencies have emerged to become a serious asset class, one being taken note of by countries and regulatory agencies all over the world. Russia is one of them, with the country’s PM recently directing the development of the local crypto-market. The country is in the news again...Read More
With China making significant strides in crypto and blockchain development, the US Intelligence apparatus is reportedly worried about the US falling far behind its current economic rival. From crypto mining to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), there is a popular narrative that Beijing controls vast swaths of the emerging digital economic landscape. A dismissal of...Read More
Over the past few months, the perception and the sentiment around the crypto-market have changed dramatically. Not only are institutions jumping in, but some regulators have had a change of heart too. However, while some of the previous frostiness has thawed lately, it should be noted that what is catching the eye of most are...Read More
The Bank of Japan [BoJ] had prioritized the development of a central bank digital currency [CBDC] in July, however, as per a former executive the issuance may take several years. Hiromi Yamaoka, who formerly headed BOJ’s division of overseeing payment and settlement systems, told Reuters that the main hurdle in from the of the bank...Read More
The Bank of England’s deputy governor Jon Cunliffe reportedly said that England’s central bank was not going to ensure that mainstream banking business would remain relevant or not when future digital currencies launch. Cunliffe said in a report: Our job is not to protect bank business models. Banks will have to adjust. Our job is...Read More
The Reserve Bank of Australia has partnered with two major local banks and ConsenSys to explore the potential use of Ethereum-based wholesale central bank digital currency. The announcement from Australia’s central bank named the other partners – Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, and the financial services company Perpetual. The research group will develop a “proof-of-concept...Read More
Central Bank Digital Currencies may take months to materialize in the US, the European Union, or Japan, however, the People’s Bank of China is eager to gain a first-mover advantage here. On Friday, as a part of the fast track digitization of the Yuan, the PBOC published draft legislation to turn the digital Yuan into...Read More
More than a week ago, Japan’s central bank announced that it would begin testing its digital currency next year. This is coming a few months after the bank formed a new research team to accelerate its research on the feasibility of a digital currency in the country. BOJ Needs Public Support More reports surfaced that...Read More
Ever since Facebook announced its plans to create a digital payment currency dubbed Libra, central bankers have tried to counter it with an invention of their own. While Libra is facing regulatory troubles, a BIS report indicated that over 80% of the world’s central banks are currently developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The...Read More
According to a statement by Changchun Mu, the director of the Chinese Institute of CBDC, China’s dual offline wallet for its CBDC has now been fully developed and is ready for testing. The introduction of this wallet is expected to be the follow up to the pilot, which took place on October 12. This phase...Read More
As governments across the world stipulate the launch of CBDCs, crypto Twitter is exploding with chatter about the bullish sentiment in Bitcoin. While the launch of a CBDCs is exciting, given that they are digital currencies, the fundamental difference is the centralization. In an interesting thread on Crypto Twitter, Global Macro Investor Raoul Pal commented...Read More
