Bank of Japan’s Approach to Central Bank Digital Currency
Thanks to the Bank of Japan’s Masaki Bessho, here’s a very nice slide deck explaining the Bank of Japan’s approach to central bank digital currency (CBDC) and providing some detail on the proof of concept work started in April.
What’s Going on with Circle’s USDC Attestation Reports?
It has been previously reported that the publication of Circle’s USDC stablecoin attestation reports have become very tardy. However, JP Koning also notes that between February and March 2021, the reports have gotten a bit less transparent. Circle no longer discloses the precise amount of U.S. dollars it holds in custody. Whereas they used to say “US Dollars held in custody =…” in March they started saying “US Dollars held in custody accounts are at least equal or greater than the USDC tokens outstanding…” One possibility is that Circle is investing in assets that cannot be easily valued, and going down the same slippery slope as Tether.
US Convenience Store Chain Sheetz to Accept Cryptocurrencies for Payments
Sheetz will be accepting crypto payments via the digital payments network Flexa. The company, headquartered in Altoona, Pennsylvania, operates 622 convenience stores and coffee shops in Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland.
*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
