Elon Musk Convinces Miners to Form ‘Bitcoin Mining Council’ to Promote Renewable Energy Usage

Elon Musk has spoken with North American bitcoin miners and they have committed to forming a Bitcoin Mining Council to “promote energy usage transparency & accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide.” They have also agreed to publish their current and planned renewable usage. The meeting was hosted by Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor. 

USDC Attestations Run Late, Raising Alarms in the Crypto Community

Centre is late in releasing USDC reserves attestations, with the March 31 report finally being posted on their website on May 24. Meanwhile, the stablecoin’s market cap has soared from $11 billion to almost $21 billion since March 31, raising concerns that they’re following Tether to the dark side (see graphic). Adding to those concerns is that the reports remain vague about how the reserves are invested: “held…at federally insured US depository institutions and in approved investments” whatever they are.  

China’s Inner Mongolia set to impose eight measures on crypto mining ban

“The Inner Mongolia Development and Reformation Commission issued a proposal that outlined eight areas that could be deemed as illegal that relate to crypto mining activities. Any corporation or individual found engaging in crypto mining activities could also put onto China’s Social Credit Dishonesty List, which would bar them from “social” activities such as getting banked, booking air or train tickets, among other activities.”

South Africa’s central bank begins preliminary study for retail CBDC

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has embarked on a study to investigate the feasibility, desirability and appropriateness of issuing retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) as electronic legal tender. The feasibility study will include practical experimentation across different emerging technology platforms, taking into account a variety of factors, including policy, regulatory, security and risk management implications. The CBDC feasibility study is expected to be concluded in 2022. 

Bank Indonesia joins global central bank push for digital currencies

The Governor of the Bank Indonesia (BI) reportedly said that the central bank is planning to launch a digital rupiah and is assessing which platform it will use. BI is also examining how a central bank digital currency (CBDC) will help it meet its monetary policy and payment systems objectives, including by assessing the readiness of the financial infrastructure. The Governor said the rupiah will remain the only legally accepted currency for payment, and BI will regulate the digital rupiah the same way it regulates banknotes and card-based transactions.

*For those interested in intra-day updates and news that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, please check out my Diigo fintech bookmarks: https://www.diigo.com/user/kiffmeister/Fintech