Bank of England to consult on central bank digital currency

According to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, the Bank of England will publish a consultation paper by the end of December that explores the case for a digital pound central bank digital currency (CBDC) and on its potential design. The Bank will also release a working paper setting out technology considerations informing the potential build of a digital pound. The Bank has published a couple of CBDC consultation papers, the most recent in June 2021, the responses to which were published in March 2022. [Read the Jeremy Hunt speech here]

Grayscale says SEC filed first legal brief in ongoing bitcoin futures ETF lawsuit

Grayscale Investments said the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed its first legal brief in the lawsuit the crypto asset manager filed over the rejection of its application for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The SEC rejected Grayscale’s request to convert its flagship GBTC fund into an ETF in late June 2022. Grayscale is arguing that the SEC is applying law unevenly by  approving ETFs tied to bitcoin futures, but not those tied to spot market pricing like the GBTC fund. In its 73-page response brief the SEC argued that futures and spot-based bitcoin funds are fundamentally different products. The SEC previously approved ETFs that hold only futures contracts that trade on the [CFTC regulated] CME, where “the underlying assets are thus subject to robust surveillance… the bitcoin spot market, by contrast, is fragmented and unregulated.” [Read more at the Block]

Kiffmeister’s Global Central Bank Digital Currency Monthly Monitor

Just a reminder that I produce a monthly digest of central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments exclusively for the official sector. So for any of you out there who work for a central bank, ministry of finance or international financial institution who would like to receive it by email on the first business day of every month, please DM me on LinkedIn or email me at chronicles@kiffmeister.com.

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