The main topic is Emtech's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Innovation kit and its $4 million seed investment led by Matrix Partners India. The key points are:
1. Emtech introduced its CBDC Innovation kit for fintechs and financial service providers interested in experimenting with digital currencies pioneered by central banks.
2. The $4 million seed investment, led by Matrix Partners India, will support the development of Emtech's CBDC stack and regtech solution.
3. Emtech is currently working with six central banks, including Ghana, Nigeria, and the Bahamas, to develop regtech and CBDC stack solutions.
4. The company aims to digitize cash infrastructure for central banks and promote fintech-friendly CBDCs.
5. Emtech's CBDC Innovation Kit includes a regulatory sandbox and a simulator wallet for fintechs to test transactions and new business models.
6. The company has about 200 fintech companies on its waitlist to work on the platform.
7. The deployment of CBDCs has the potential to turbocharge financial inclusion in Africa and other regions.
Ripple has launched a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) platform on the XRP Ledger, and already over 8 countries, including Russia, Japan, and the UAE, are building CBDCs on the platform, with more than 15% of global nations in talks with Ripple to adopt its technology.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has completed its CBDC pilot program and highlighted four key areas where a central bank digital currency could be beneficial, including enabling complex payments and promoting financial innovation.
Central banks are exploring the issuance of digital currencies to promote financial inclusion and provide easier access to money for unbanked populations, with the potential to reduce dependence on cash, increase local currency adoption, and impact the role of international currencies such as the US dollar.
The Digital Dollar Project collaborated with Western Union on a pilot project exploring the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for cross-border remittances, revealing several benefits such as reduced counterparty risk and increased accessibility for the unbanked.
Main topic: Soramitsu's involvement in building a cross-border payment system for Asian countries using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins.
Key points:
1. Soramitsu supports the issuance and usage of the Asian CBDC Bakong for cross-border digital payments between Cambodia and Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
2. The company aims to enable similar cross-border payments for India, China, and Laos, and is working to establish a Japanese exchange for stablecoins.
3. The cross-border payment network aims to connect Japanese small and midsize companies directly with individuals and businesses in Southeast Asia, leveraging CBDCs and stablecoins for faster and low-cost transactions.
Banco de España Deputy Gov. Margarita Delgado believes that the digital euro can coexist with private payment solutions, and it will enable the development of new pan-European payment and financial services by the private sector, making it easier to compete with non-European solutions. Additionally, the European Central Bank (ECB) has requested regulators to require payment service providers to make the digital euro available to the broad population and provide a physical payment card.
More than half of Russian citizens are open to using a central bank digital currency (CBDC), but only 17% trust the digital ruble for storing amounts over 20,000 rubles ($212) due to concerns such as insufficient information about the technology and fear of cybertheft and system failures.
Bitcoin, as the world's first decentralized digital currency, is challenging traditional notions of money by empowering individuals, offering a store of value, and demonstrating a growing network effect. With its scarcity, transparency, and potential for financial inclusion, bitcoin is positioning itself as a transformative force in the digital age.
Brazil's central bank aims to address privacy concerns and increase understanding of blockchain technology before launching its central bank digital currency (CBDC), named DREX, in May 2024.
China's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, is undergoing upgrades and wallet providers should enable payment options in all retail scenarios through the integration of CBDC QR codes.
The Reserve Bank of India is set to introduce its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the call money market as tokens for call money settlement.
Thailand's newly appointed government plans to distribute a cash handout to citizens using blockchain and crypto wallets, aiming to promote digital finance and reduce income disparities. The move is seen as a warm-up for the deployment of Thailand's central bank digital currency (CBDC) and is expected to add at least 2 trillion baht ($56 billion) to the economy. However, critics have raised concerns about the source of the funds and the potential erosion of privacy and financial freedom.
The United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion will hold a hearing on September 14 to discuss central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and potential private sector alternatives, marking the first time in months lawmakers will address the issue.
The USA is unlikely to launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) anytime soon, according to Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve's Vice Chair for Supervision, as it could pose risks to financial stability and the US payments system.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has successfully used novel intermediaries to reduce liquidity risk and enhance security for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in its Project Sela, which feeds into CBDC projects for the Israeli shekel and Hong Kong dollar. The project has demonstrated the feasibility of implementing secure and private CBDC systems on a central bank's ledger, protecting against hacks and ensuring privacy for users.
SWIFT's bank messaging network has increased its processing speed and is now exploring technology to connect central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), with three central banks joining the beta phase of its CBDC interoperability project.
A key Democrat has introduced a bill for a digital dollar pilot, while Republican lawmakers are pushing for bills to ban central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the US, showing a divide on the issue.
The National Bank of Kazakhstan has established the National Payment Corporation to oversee the development and implementation of the country's central bank digital currency, the digital tenge.
Cryptocurrency faces regulatory challenges that could shape its future, but despite these challenges, the industry holds promise with developments such as increased institutional adoption, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), DeFi innovation, interoperability, and expected regulatory clarity.
The Bank for International Settlements, along with the central banks of France, Singapore, and Switzerland, successfully tested cross-border trading of wholesale central bank digital currencies (wCBDC) as part of Project Mariana, using a common token standard on a public blockchain to facilitate interoperability and seamless exchange of wCBDC.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), along with the central banks of France, Singapore, and Switzerland, successfully tested the cross-border trading and settlement of wholesale CBDCs using decentralized finance (DeFi) technology concepts on a public blockchain under a project called Mariana.
Despite the prevalence of private blockchains in the banking sector, the co-founder of Chainlink predicts that public blockchain protocols will ultimately become the biggest market for banks' tokenized real-world assets, as they offer diversified collateral and attractive yields. However, financial institutions in the US may proceed with caution due to regulatory uncertainty. On the other hand, European and Asian banks are progressing in this area, with companies such as Citi and JPMorgan exploring tokenization on public blockchains like Ethereum. Franklin Templeton has also embraced public blockchains, recognizing their cost efficiency and rate of innovation. Interoperability and cross-border liquidity are key considerations for banks as they adopt tokenization and explore ways to move assets across chains.
Stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial has released Perimeter Protocol, an open-source smart contract codebase that allows for the development of tokenized credit markets, enabling various credit use cases such as invoice factoring, payroll advances, instant settlement, and credit trading for institutional investors. This move comes as the tokenization of real-world assets gains momentum, with tokenized assets predicted to grow to a $5 trillion market in the next five years. Circle aims to leverage the protocol to enhance the utility of its stablecoin USDC and Euro-pegged token EURC in decentralized finance (DeFi) credit platforms.
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has announced a limited-access live pilot environment for its digital lari central bank digital currency (CBDC), with nine companies, including Ripple Labs, participating in the project.
Author Robert Kiyosaki believes that Bitcoin and other assets will become "priceless" as the Federal Reserve introduces a central bank digital currency (CBDC), leading to a loss of privacy and increased government control.
The French central bank views central bank digital currency as the catalyst for improving cross-border payments and the foundation of a new international monetary system.
South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea (BOK), will launch a pilot project to explore the technical infrastructure for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), in collaboration with private banks, public institutions, and expert support from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
Juan Agustín D’Attellis Noguera, a director of the Banco Central de la República Argentina, publicly supported the promotion of central bank digital currency (CBDC) as a remedy for the national economy, stating that the "digital peso" could stabilize the economy by 2024 through its traceability and ability to broaden the tax base, as well as helping to solve the nation's monetary problem by replacing the unstable Argentine peso.
The chief content officer of CoinDesk, Michael Casey, discusses the future of cryptocurrency and the challenges facing the industry, including regulation and the need for decentralized systems to protect against fraud and manipulation by centralized entities. Despite recent setbacks, Casey remains optimistic about the potential of blockchain technology and the importance of creating a safer, more decentralized financial system.
Mastercard has completed a trial with the Reserve Bank of Australia and other partners, demonstrating the ability to wrap central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on different blockchains, allowing CBDC owners to purchase NFTs on Ethereum.
Australia's central bank is exploring the potential of tokenised money and the launch of a central bank digital currency, which could save billions of dollars in costs in domestic financial markets and bring increased liquidity and transaction savings to issuers in capital markets.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has entered the preparation phase for the digital euro project, which aims to create a widely accessible and privacy-focused digital form of cash for all digital payments throughout the euro area, with the phase lasting two years and involving the finalization of the rulebook and selection of providers for the digital euro platform and infrastructure.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is entering the preparation phase for the potential issuance of a digital euro, following a two-year investigation, with a decision on whether to move forward expected in 2023.
The European Central Bank is moving forward with plans to launch a digital version of the euro, entering a two-year preparation phase starting on November 1, aiming to provide secure and free electronic payments for users in the eurozone.
Spain's central bank, Banco de España, has published a text explaining the potential benefits of a digital euro, stating that it would make electronic payments a vital part of the financial system and offer privacy equivalent to cash.
Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered are testing a system that will enable blockchain-based transactions, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to interoperate, similar to the SWIFT messaging layer in traditional banking infrastructure.
Strategists at Wells Fargo Advisors predict that the US could develop and release a central bank digital currency (CBDC) within the next three to five years, as the country studies the potential of a CBDC following an executive order from President Joe Biden. The analysts note that while there is no formal CBDC design yet, the debate over a potential US CBDC will continue to grow, particularly in relation to privacy concerns.
