ShapeShift to Shut Down, Airdrop FOX Tokens to Decentralize Itself Out of Existence
Crypto trading platform ShapeShift will begin winding down its operations as a formal company, and hand over its legacy to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) controlled by holders of its FOX token. Currently employing 65 people, ShapeShift will have no employees, no bank accounts and no CEO in somewhere between 4 and 12 months’ time.
Apple, Goldman Plan ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Service to Rival Affirm
Apple is working on a new “Apple Pay Later” service that will let consumers pay for any Apple Pay purchase in installments over time, rivaling the “buy now, pay later” offerings of Affirm and PayPal. The service will use Goldman Sachs as the lender, and will give users the option to pay for it across four interest-free payments made every two weeks, or across several months with interest.
This paper, jointly written by Bank for International Settlement and World Bank staff, discusses the policy issues regarding competition, regulatory perimeters and ensuring a level playing field, associated with the digital transformation of financial services. Potential outcomes regarding competition, concentration and market composition include a “barbell” outcome composed of a few large providers and many niche players. Authorities must coordinate across financial regulation, competition, and industry regulatory bodies to manage trade-offs between stability and integrity, competition and efficiency, and consumer protection and privacy.
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