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“We generally think that central banks should remain engaged in examining the full range of issues associated with CBDC, including the potential to offer synthetic CBDC, and deepen their familiarity with new technologies.”
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The Basel Committee published its discussion paper on a issues related to the prudential regulatory treatment of crypto-assets. The Committee is seeking views on a range of issues, including on the general principles and considerations to guide the design of a prudential treatment of banks’ exposures to crypto-assets. Stablecoins are mentioned only in passing, the paper saying that stablecoins warrant further assessment and elaboration before specifying a prudential treatment.
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This CPMI report discusses some potential design choices and includes a non-exhaustive list of questions that wholesale digital token developers may need to consider. Important considerations include availability; issuance and redemption; access; underlying assets/funds and claims; transfer mechanism; privacy and regulatory compliance; and interoperability. Depending on the design choices made, there could be a number of implications for safety and efficiency of the token arrangement.
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None of us who favor strong encryption is saying that child exploitation isn’t a serious crime, or a worldwide problem. We’re not saying that about kidnapping, international drug cartels, money laundering, or terrorism. We are saying three things. One, that strong encryption is necessary for personal and national security. Two, that weakening encryption does more harm than good. And three, law enforcement has other avenues for criminal investigation than eavesdropping on communications and stored devices.
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In sum, the case for bitcoin as a sanctions buster is not clear-cut. Genuine evil leaders probably should be sanctioned, the less ways to short-circuit the blockade the better. And given the way that U.S. sanctions are structured, bitcoin may not provide much help anyways.
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CoinShares said 65% of global bitcoin mining happens in China, and the country’s Sichuan province alone produces 54% of global hash rate. The remaining 35% of bitcoin miners are spread from the U.S. to Russia and Kazakhstan.
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Equilibrium’s EOSDT is now backed by smart contracts that pay out consumers if the dollar-pegged token crashes through its collateralized floor. Much like how America’s FDIC insures consumers’ traditional bank deposits against a run.
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Ripple has condensed its broad Xpring developer platform into a single site. The new platform aims to allow crypto and non-crypto developers to integrate payments into any mobile application. Now, Xpring.io offers those developers a wallet, new tools, technical documentation and Xrping customer service.
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“What people in London, New York and Silicon Valley don’t understand is that Asia is now setting the pace in financial services innovation,” says James Lloyd, a partner at EY Asia-Pacific focusing on fintech and payments.
Kiffmeister’s Fintech Daily Digest 12/12/2019
