Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (09/30/2020)

US Lawmakers Just Passed a Crypto Bill. Here’s What’s in It

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the the Consumer Safety Technology Act, into which the Digital Taxonomy Act and Blockchain Innovation Act have been rolled rolled. The bill focuses on consumer protection, both in protecting the public against token scams and harnessing blockchain to stop fraud. The Act directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to train up staff and allocate resources to identify and guard against “deceptive acts or practices involving digital tokens.” It further mandates the FTC to produce a report detailing its efforts to fight such deception and outlining actions it has taken. 

Ethereum’s DeFi Evolution: How DeFi Is Fueling Ethereum’s Growth

A majority of decentralized finance (DeFi) apps have been built on Ethereum, and DeFi’s explosion has rippled across the network. DeFi has pushed Ethereum to its limits but is also accelerating the pace of innovation and experimentation. In this piece we look at how four DeFi token launches affected Ethereum and how the network is evolving as a result. We conclude that DeFi will undoubtedly continue to push Ethereum’s limits, as new dapps and tokens launch. But Ethereum is changing as well, and Layer 2 scalability could open up new doors for what is possible in DeFi and beyond. 

South African banks prepare to phase out paper cheques

Paper cheques may be on the verge of extinction in South Africa, as banks begin moves to phase them out in favour of cards and digital payment mechanisms. Major banks Nedbank, FNB and Absa have already announced plans to discontinue the use of cheque payments beginning in January. The Payments Association of South Africa says that it anticipates that even more banks will be issuing similar public announcements in the next few months. The decline in cheque usage is being exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak. 

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