Bahrain central bank plans to offer digital Dinar
The Central Bank of Bahrain plans to offer a digital Dinar through a digital payments platform which will be available 24/7. The central bank digital currency (CBDC) announcement came as part of the central bank’s 2022-26 Financial Sector Development Strategy. [Read more]
US House to hold hearing on digital assets and the future of finance
The U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing entitled, “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States” on December 8, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. ET. This hearing will have one panel with the following witnesses: Jeremy Allaire (Circle), Samuel Bankman-Fried (FTX), Brian Brooks (Bitfury), Charles Cascarilla (Paxos), Denelle Dixon (Stellar), and Alesia Jeanne Haas (Coinbase). [Read more]
Raiffeisen, Erste Bank in Austrian wholesale CBDC simulations
Oesterreichische Nationalbank is reportedly starting to work on the second phase of its wholesale CBDC Project Delphi. The first phase focused on simulating delivery versus payment for an Austrian Treasury Bond issued on a blockchain and settled by commercial banks on the same platform using CBDC. The second phase will explore more advanced functionality, business models as well as non-fungible tokens and DeFi. [Read more]
DeFi risks and the decentralization illusion
The Bank for International Settlements claims there is a “decentralization illusion” in decentralized finance (DeFi) since the need for governance makes centralization inevitable and structural aspects of the system lead to a concentration of power. If DeFi were to become widespread, its vulnerabilities might undermine financial stability. These can be severe because of high leverage, liquidity mismatches, built-in interconnectedness and the lack of shock absorbers such as banks. [Read more]
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Upcoming Virtual Conferences at Which I’m Speaking:
ITU DC³ Conference: From cryptocurrencies to CBDCs
The January 25-27 DC³ Conference: From cryptocurrencies to CBDC, will highlight the work of the Digital Currency Global Initiative with a spotlight on emerging trends, innovations and initiatives shaping the future of digital currencies. The conference is organized jointly by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Stanford University Future of Digital Currency Initiative (FDCI). [The program is available here, and click here to register (it’s free).]
