Kiffmeister’s Fintech Daily Digest (05/07/2020)

The Central Bank Digital Currency Survey 2020 – debunking some myths
According to the results of Central Banking’s inaugural CBDC survey very few central banks plan to issue CBDCs, in any form, within the next five years. Moreover, much-vaunted blockchain technology is viewed as having limited applications – despite the Libra Association sticking with a version using Byzantine algorithms. And the idea of a decentralised currency is a non-starter – centralised controls are essential from a public-sector perspective.

How digital payments can help countries cope with pandemics: lessons from China
Digital payments allow people to access goods and services while in quarantine or social distancing. SARS epidemic in 2003 expedited China’s path in launching digital payments and e-commerce in the country. A robust identification system, widespread, consistent internet access and trustworthy ways to get money into digital formats could be important for digital payments to thrive.

Bison Trails Announces Support for Celo Platform
Bison Trails has announced support for the Celo open network, which enables smartphone users to send crypto directly to a phone number instead of a blockchain address. The added support means that users will be able to transfer value using Celo’s stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar on the Bison Trails platform. The Celo tech system has three layers: Celo Blockchain, Celo Core Contracts, and Application, and uses Earned Value Management and the Go-Ethereum protocol for their underlying node system.

What Stellar’s Investment In Abra Means For The ‘Robinhood Of Cryptocurrency
The Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of the Stellar blockchain network announced a $5m investment in Abra, a leading cryptocurrency wallet and exchange application, as part of an overall strategic partnership between the two organizations.

Standard to Deal With FATF Travel Rule
The Joint Working Group for InterVASP Messaging Standards IVMS101 standard defines a uniform model for data that must be exchanged by virtual asset service providers alongside crypto-asset transactions. The standard will identify the pseudonymous senders and receivers of crypto payments, with such information “traveling” with each transaction.

Impossible Finance — The Cryptocurrency Bridging Currency
Many firms have tried to build international payments businesses based on the concept of transferring funds using crypto-assets as a bridging currency. The crypto-asset route is potentially cheaper for a payments provider because it cuts out the necessity of holding foreign currency balances. Progress by firms using the model has been limited, possibly because this logic does not factor in the costs of additional currency exchanges and liquidity provision.

New Report Explains Why XRP Takes Weekends Off
In its Flipside Crypto “4 Things To Know About XRP Money Flows”, Flipside Crypto analyzes the flows of XRP through the ecosystem and notes that activity for XRP drops significantly on the weekend. It theorizes that this is likely due to a lack of consumer or retail interest in the asset.

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