For those receiving this via email, please excuse the glitches that are occurring this week. I’ve moved servers and I’m still trying to get MailChimp to play nicely with it.
Circle’s Detailed Reserve Report Shows Only Cash, Short-Term Treasurys Back USDC Stablecoin
Circle Internet Financial released a detailed – though unaudited – breakdown of its reserve assets for the firm’s USD coin (USDC) that showed $42.1 billion in short-term U.S. government bonds and $13.6 billion in cash. The breakdown also listed the bonds’ individual CUSIP number identifiers. The cash was comprised of deposits at Bank of New York Mellon, Citizens Trust Bank, Customers Bank, New York Community Bank, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate Bank and US Bancorp. [Read more at CoinDesk]
Saudi Arabia Has Massive Crypto Adoption, Says KuCoin Survey
According to a KuCoin survey in May, around 3 million Saudi Arabians, about 14% of the adult population aged 18 to 60, had become crypto investors. Another 17% of respondents said they are likely to invest in crypto over the next six months. [Read more at Inside Bitcoins]
Celo network back online after almost 24-hour outage
Proof-of-stake- based blockchain Celo suffered from an on-and-off network outage for 24 hours on July 14. It was the network’s first outage since the mainnet launch in April 2020. Celo is an open-source blockchain that enables users with phone numbers to make payments with crypto by using their phone numbers as a proxy for public keys. [Read more at CoinTelegraph]
Another excellent update from Amy Castor and David Gerard on the continuing CeFi/DeFi train wreck. [Read more at the Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain]
Upcoming events I’m affiliated with:
The CBDC Think Tank, in partnership with the International Monetary Fund and George Washington University, is hosting a full-day in-person CBDC Masterclass on October 12 in Washington DC. The sessions are designed as instructional deep dives with full presentations and Q&A components. [Register here]