FedNow Service Pilot Program Achieves Message Delivery Milestone, Welcomes New Participants
The U.S. Federal Reserve has officially started onboarding pilot participants onto the FedNow Service, signaling that the initial testing phase of the FedNow Pilot Program is underway. The Federal Reserve Banks are developing the FedNow Service to facilitate nationwide reach of 24/7/365 instant payment services by financial institutions — regardless of size or geographic location. A few organizations have now successfully connected and delivered test messages over a pilot version of the FedNow Service, which remains on course to launch in 2023. In total, the FedNow Pilot Program now numbers more than 120 organizations, including Square Financial Services. [Read more]
SEC Nearly Doubles Size of Enforcement’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is allocating 20 additional positions to the unit responsible for protecting investors in crypto markets and from cyber-related threats. The newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit (formerly known as the Cyber Unit) in the Division of Enforcement will grow to 50 dedicated positions. The 20 new positions will bolster the ranks of its supervisors, investigative staff attorneys, trial counsels, and fraud analysts in the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC, as well as several regional offices. [Read more]
Uzbekistan Publishes Crypto Regulation Framework, Assigns Supervising Agency
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev set a regulatory framework for the country’s crypto industry and assigned a newly renamed Perspective Projects Agency to oversee the industry.
Cryptocurrency exchanges, mining pools and crypto custodians operating in the country must be registered locally, and as of Jan. 1, 2023, Uzbekistan residents will be able to buy or sell crypto only on the local exchanges. Crypto service providers will not be allowed to facilitate trading with “anonymous crypto assets,” a term not explained in the document. [Read more]
Digital Assets: Ukraine, Russia Lead Countries Globally with Higher Crypto Adoption Rates
Ukraine and Russia lead the list of countries with higher crypto adoption rates, with 12.73% and nearly 12%, respectively, according to DappRadar. And even though Bitcoin and other crypto-assets remain highly volatile and strongly correlated with the capital markets, they pointed to a recent study by Gemini showing that countries with higher inflation rates are most likely to adopt cryptocurrencies. [Read more]
FIFA announces partnership with blockchain innovator Algorand
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has teamed up with blockchain technology company Algorand to agree a sponsorship and technical partnership deal. The agreement means Algorand will become the official blockchain platform of FIFA and provide the official blockchain-supported wallet solution. [Read more]
Upcoming events I’m affiliated with:
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]
The CBDC Think Tank is hosting a CBDC Papers Lecture Series on June 17 and 24, each session starting at 7am EST and running for 3 hours. [View list of papers and register here]
