How solid are Circle’s USDC reserves?
This is not new news, but unless Circle sharpens up its disclosure standards, it will fall under the same suspicious clouds that hang over Tether’s USDT reserves. Circle has been publishing monthly attestations since October 2018, although they have recently been publishing on a one- or two-month delayed basis, which in itself raises concerns. However, there was a subtle change in the attestations starting with the March 31, 2020 one. Prior to that the key statement read:
US Dollars held in custody accounts are the total balances in accounts held by the Company at federally insured US depository institutions on behalf of the USDC holders at the Report Date.
But starting with the March 31, 2020 Circle added “and in approved investments” (see below). And furthermore, they don’t provide any detailed breakdowns of those other investments, and I can’t find anywhere any indication of what “approved investments” are.
US Dollars held in custody accounts are the total balances in accounts held by the Company at federally insured US depository institutions and in approved investments on behalf of the USDC holders at the Report Date.
Hmmm…
Brazil’s Central Bank Pushes Back Target Date on CBDC by Two Years
The Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) is reportedly pushing for more time on the rollout of its central bank digital currency (CBDC). BCB told CoinDesk that “according to the current BCB assessment, the conditions for the adoption of a Brazilian CBDC will be achieved in two to three years.”
Locked In: Bitcoin’s Taproot Upgrade Gets Its 90% Mandate
“Taproot, the most significant improvement to Bitcoin’s protocol in years, now has enough mining support to lock in activation… Whereas the main focus of SegWit was scaling the Bitcoin protocol, Taproot will outfit Bitcoin with Schnorr signatures, [which will] open up new possibilities for privacy, multisignature wallets and security, as well as scaling… These smaller and faster Schnorr signatures also have the added benefit of being linear, a combination that will boost Bitcoin’s transaction privacy and allow for more lightweight and complex smart contracts.”
