Bank of Russia forms first digital ruble testing group
The Bank of Russia announced the establishment of the first pilot group for testing the digital ruble, bringing together 12 Russian banks. The Bank also reaffirmed its plans to complete a prototype digital ruble platform by the end of 2021 and roll out testing in January 2022.
Fake News Alert: Spain Considers National Digital Currency Alternative to Euro – NOT!
According to an article in the Spanish press, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSE), the governing political body in Spain, has proposed creating a national digital currency. According to the PSOE, a national digital currency would allow for more active Spain-specific monetary policy, such as providing a more direct mechanism to injecting liquidity directly into the system. However, this is just a bad interpretation of the actual proposal, which is merely proposing to launch a study group to support the ECB’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) ruminations. (Thanks to David Tercero-Lucas for clarifying this!)
64 Cryptocurrency Firms Have Withdrawn Applications to Operate in UK, FCA Says
A growing number of crypto asset firms are abandoning attempts to register with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Crypto-related firms have since January had to register with the FCA before doing business, but just six have registered, with dozens more still being assessed but not yet deemed “fit and proper”. Around 64 have withdrawn their applications.
Only 5% of The World Challenger Banks Are Profitable, Most of Them Are From Asia
Out of the 50 digital challenger banks operating in Asia Pacific (APAC), just ten operators are profitable. These providers are primarily located in China and Japan, indicating that the two nations offer the most mature and developed digital banking landscapes in the region, according to a new analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
*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
