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Senate Banking Committee Schedules July Hearing on Facebook’s Libra Crypto
The U.S. Senate Committee on on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing on July 16 regarding Facebook’s new cryptocurrency, Libra. The hearing, “Examining Facebook’s Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations,” comes in the wake of calls from members of Congress to more closely examine Libra and its potential risks. There have even been calls to halt work on the project until hearings are held.
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Regulators prepare response to Facebook’s Libra
The G7 is preparing a communique that will detail plans for a working group to investigate the financial stability implications of stablecoins. It will include central banks and the IMF, under the leadership of the ECB’s Benoît Cœuré.
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“Libras have a right to be peeved. Facebook is attempting to represent themselves as fair and just, akin to Libra’s most positive qualities,” said astrologist Mackenzie Greer. “Given their track record, I’m not so sure they’ll be able to live up to the Libra name.”
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ChainThat takes blockchain risk exchange to Bermuda Innovation Hub
ChainThat has been approved as the first company to join The Bermuda Monetary Authority’s (BMA) Innovation Hub and will house its Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) driven risk and capital exchange there for the duration of its trial period.
tags: Blockchain Fintech
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CME Bitcoin Institutional Interest Hits New Record – Up 80% YOY
CME Bitcoin futures reached a record all-time of 5,311 contracts or $250 Million this week, as new Institutional money flows into the Bitcoin derivative market.
tags: Fintech CryptoAssets Bitcoin Futures Institutionalization
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MetLife’s LumenLab Using Blockchain to Automate Life Insurance Claims
Known as “Lifechain,” the collaboration with Singapore Press Holdings and NTUC Income will enable bereaved families who place obituaries in a local newspaper to instantly trigger searches to see whether their loved one had a life insurance policy.
tags: Fintech Insurance Blockchain
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PwC launches solution supporting audit of cryptocurrency
PwC has added a new tool to its Halo auditing suite to provide assurance services for entities engaging in cryptocurrency transactions. It will permit the firm to provide independent evidence of private-public key pairing (to establish crypto asset ownership), and gather information about transactions and balances from blockchains.
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Libra: not a currency board and (maybe) not a stable currency
In the absence of a proper fixed exchange rate and a credible mechanism to maintain it, Libra looks more like a standard flexible exchange rate currency. Its stability will depend on its credibility. Referring to the fact that there are enough assets backing its supply is not a good argument (that argument applies to any central bank issuing fiat money).
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Is the Libra digital coin just Facebook’s version of Tencent’s QQ coin?
Chinese netizens are unimpressed with Facebook’s blockchain project as Tencent’s Pony Ma and Sogou’s Wang Xiaochuan weigh in.
tags: Fintech Facebook AltCoins CryptoAssets Stablecoins MobileMoney
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EIB, Euroclear, Banco Santander & EY developing blockchain solution
Euroclear, one of the world’s largest securities depositories, says it will push forward with building a pilot blockchain-based platform for the issuance and settlement of European commercial paper (ECP).
tags: Fintech Plumbing Blockchain
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Facebook’s Libra will not help the unbanked
When you dig in to the details of how Libra is supposed to work, there’s nothing at all about how it will actually help the unbanked.
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Thoughts on Libra “Blockchain”
Jameson Lopp digs into the 26 page technical document describing the protocol to be used as a platform for the Libra coin (and more.)
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Facebook’s Libra Currency Draws Instant Response from Regulators
Facebook’s plans to launch a new global digital currency drew an immediate response from regulators on Tuesday, with the Group of Seven nations saying it would set up a high-level forum to examine the risks of such currencies to the financial system. Central banks and the IMF will also participate.
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HSBC Launches Tokenization-Based Receivables System for India
Major global banking group HSBC has implemented tokenization technology into its receivables infrastructure for corporate clients in India.
tags: CryptoAssets Tokenization Fintech
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Italy’s Banks to Use Blockchain to Boost Settlements and Improve Transparency
The Italian Banking Association has announced that Italy’s banks will integrate distributed ledger technology into internal processes to boost settlements. The deployment of blockchain is also set to improve transparency in transactions between banks and efficiency of communication between counterparties.
tags: Blockchain Fintech
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Will Libra Displace National Currencies?
If you buy most things online, and if everything online is priced in Libras, then you’ll end up living your life denominated in Libras, and only converting your Libras into dollars on your occasional touristic visits to the physical world. The goal is for Libra to be more useful than any national currency, accepted in more places and with fewer complications; pegging it to a single national currency would only hold it back.