Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (11/05/2021)

Coinbase Exchange Users Can Borrow Up to $1M Loan with Bitcoin as Collateral

Coinbase has launched a loan service that will allow its users to take up to 40% of the total value of their Bitcoin holdings, subject to a maximum of $1 million per user, as a loan. No credit checks are required, and eligible users will pay a rate of 8% per annum on the loan. The move follows the discontinuation of its “Lend” program after a warning from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, noting the product is like a security offering. [Read more

EU central banks working on DLT-based asset settlement

Banca d’Italia and Deutsche Bundesbank have been ramping up their efforts to utilize distributed ledger technology (DLT) in central bank money settlements. The initiatives aim to complement current central bank money settlement practices with programmable trigger mechanisms that connect DLT-based assets, like tokenized securities, and cash to be settled via conventional payments systems. This could be seen as complementary to the Digital Euro, which is currently under consideration. [Read more]

NYC Coin: Municipal Finance’s Next Frontier

This paper by Satoshi Capital Advisor’s Josiah Hernandez explores the financial and technical feasibility of a New York City coin (NYC Coin) to be issued by the New York City government. New York City mayor elect Eric Adams introduced the NYC Coin concept during a radio interview on November 3. He said he wanted to turn New York into a crypto-friendly city and wagered a “friendly competition” with Miami and its Miami Coin cryptocurrency. [Read more]

Fake News: Is Ripple’s XRP lawsuit behind KaJ Labs’ CBDC trial in Brazil?

Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) is reportedly not partnering with Seattle-based KaJ Labs, to launch the trail of its central bank digital currency (CBDC). There’s no mention of it on the BCB website, and the Kaj Labs press release makes it sound more like the firm has merely initiated discussions with the BCB. Also, it’s unclear whether they’re discussing retail of wholesale CBDC. It sounds more like the latter, with a focus on using DLT to tokenize and settle bonds. [Read more]

To get these updates sent to your inbox, please sign up here. Also, 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.