Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (08/27/2020)

Historical Context and Key Features of Digital Money Tokens

Barclays is pushing a new taxonomy for describing and distinguishing between cryptocurrencies and other digital assets which it hopes can serve as the basis for a global standard. In a recently published paper, they present a new “money tree” which places the concept of digital money tokens into a historical context by illustrating their evolution from more traditional forms of money. It identifies key features of digital money tokens with options and examples. The paper has already sparked some debate, some of which have been summarized in this article.  

Regulating fintech financing: digital banks and fintech platforms

This BIS paper explores how fintech financing is regulated based on an extensive desktop review of regulations and related documents, and an early-2019 Financial Stability Institute survey. It found that for digital banking, most jurisdictions apply existing banking laws and regulations to banks within their remit. In the few jurisdictions that had set specific digital bank regulatory frameworks, the main licencing and ongoing requirements were similar to those for traditional banks. However, digital banks typically faced restrictions on their physical presence and, in some cases, the market segments they were allowed to serve, and their fit and proper requirements tended to be more prescriptive. 

Libra replaces general counsel Robert Werner after 3 months

Former U.S. Homeland Security Department general counsel, Stevan Bunnel, has been appointed as Libra’s general counsel. Since leaving the Homeland Security Department in 2017, Bunnell co-chaired the data privacy-focused legal practice O’Melveny & Myers until joining the Libra Association this month. The association’s former general counsel, Robert Werner is departing from the position after it became clear it meant he would have to relinquish an existing position on the boards of directors for Deutsche Bank Trust Co. 

‘Gasless’ Technical Update Brings USDC One Step Closer to Venmo

Dubbed USDC 2.0, USD Coin (USDC) has integrated what are called “meta transactions” natively to the dollar stablecoin platform. Now, users do not have to pre-fund their USDC-bearing wallets with ether (ETH) in order to send a transaction. Meta transactions allow USDC wallets and compatible applications to act as virtual “gas stations” by paying the associated mining fee that accompanies every Ethereum blockchain transaction. This [update] enables people to fund their non-custodial wallets with USDC and start using DeFi/dapps without also having to own ETH.  

Posted from Diigo: https://www.diigo.com/user/kiffmeister/Fintech