Russia makes digital ruble, home-grown credit card push
Russia reportedly plans to have a digital ruble capable of making international payments ready by next year and also wants to expand the number of countries that accept its Visa- and Mastercard-style banking cards that are administrated by the central bank. Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina also said Russia aims to extend the number of countries that accept the central bank’s MIR banking cards, an alternative to Visa and MasterCard which have joined other Western firms and suspended operations in Russia. [Read more]
Retail interest in bitcoin is dwindling, Google data suggests
Worldwide searches for bitcoin have reached mid-2020 levels as of April 22, 2022, with readings of 17 for the week of April 17-April 23 versus May 2021’s all-time high reading of 76. This does not mean the total number of searches for “bitcoin” is decreasing, but that its popularity is decreasing compared to other searches. Data suggests most searches for bitcoin originate from Nigeria, followed by El Salvador and Austria. [Read more]
State of Effectiveness and Compliance with the FATF Standards
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a report on the state of effectiveness of global efforts to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing. It reports that 76% of countries have “satisfactorily” implemented the FATF recommendations, compared to 36% in 2012. However, in distinguishing between “technical” compliance and “effectiveness,” it finds that while 76% of countries are technically compliant, effectiveness sits at just 21%, indicating there is much more work to be done. [Read more]
Upcoming events I’m affiliated with:
The CBDC Think Tank is hosting several webinars over the next month:
- On April 27 (at 08:00 EST) the BIS and the Swiss National Bank will present on their Project Helvetia wholesale CBDC work. [Register here]
- On May 3 (at 08:00 EST) the Bank of Ukraine will present on their E-Hryvnia retail CBDC project. [Register here]
Satoshi Capital Advisors is hosting a virtual workshop on wholesale CBDC, stablecoins and digital capital markets on May 24 (starting at 08:00 EST). [Register here with the passcode: CBDC]