Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (04/06/2021)

The PBOC has been testing Gesell money in it’s digital yuan trials

According to this WSJ article, although the yuan being piloted by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) isn’t itself programmable. the central bank has tested putting expiration dates on their central bank digital currency (CBDC) to encourage users to spend it quickly, for times when the economy needs a jump-start. This “Gesell” money idea goes back to the late 19th century, and over time has had some high profile advocates like Irving Fisher, and John Maynard Keynes, among others.  

Signal Adds a Payments Feature—With a Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrency

Signal is rolling out the ability for U.K. users to send money to one another from within their iOS and Android app. To do so, it has integrated support for the crypto-asset MobileCoin, a form of digital cash designed to work efficiently on mobile devices while protecting users’ privacy and anonymity. Unlike payment features integrated into other messaging apps like WhatsApp or iMessage, it doesn’t link to a user’s bank account.

Paxos Completes Same Day Stock Settlement with Credit Suisse and Instinet

Paxos Trust Company has completed a same-day settlement of US-listed equity trades in partnership with Instinet and Credit Suisse on its Paxos Settlement Service permissioned blockchain solution.  Paxos said the project demonstrated its ability to enable same-day settlement for trades conducted throughout the day. In the current system, settlement can only occur the same day if trades are completed before 11 AM ET and therefore is rarely utilized. The platform is said to be interoperable with the legacy clearing system and can facilitate settlement on any time cycle.