Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230418)

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

The CBDCTracker.org central bank digital currency (CBDC) database has been updated. Highlights include the the Banco Central do Brasil focusing on privacy and security in its first experiments, WeChat adding the digital yuan to some of its payment services with peer-to-peer CBDC transactions expected to follow, and the National Bank of Denmark (DNB) confirming that they see no need for a retail CBDC in Denmark currently. [See the database at CBDCTracker.org]

SEC charges Bittrex with unregistered operations, calls 6 tokens securities

The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged crypto-asset trading platform Bittrex with operating an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. The SEC argued in its complaint that the OMG, Dash (DASH), Algorand (ALGO), Monolith (TKN), Naga (NGC) and IHT Real Estate Protocol (IHT) tokens traded on Bittrex are securities. Bittrex was expecting the SEC action and reportedly received a Wells notice warning it of the impending action in March 2023, and had already intended to close down U.S. operations on April 30 due to the regulatory environment. Interestingly, as pointed out by Bloomberg’s Matt Levine, ALGO and DASH are also listed on Coinbase, which was issued a Wells notice in March and may be next in the SEC’s crosshairs. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said that the firm is now considering relocating from the U.S. [Read more at the SEC]

Buna launches its Instant Payment Service (IPS)

Buna, the cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization (ARPCSO) owned by The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), announced the launch of its Instant Payment Service (IPS). This service is now live and ready to onboard participants seeking payments that are instant and available 24/7/365, in a cost-effective way. It accommodates business to business, business to person, or person to person contexts, and is particularly tailored for low-mid value payments that are urgent or time-sensitive. Buna includes the Emirati dirham, Egyptian pound, Saudi riyal, and Jordanian dinar, plus the US dollar and the euro. [Read more at Buna]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

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.

The Sovereign Official Digital Association (SODA) is a technology-agnostic firm offering advisory services at the intersection of central banking, digital finance and the web3 industry, aiming to make public digital money a reality. SODA believes institutions in the existing financial ecosystem should have access to the tools and resources they need to move from discussion to action. SODA offers ‘real life’ use cases to help test digital money and drive adoption as central banks and other public institutions explore the future of a more financially inclusive world powered by interoperable blockchain-based networks. SODA would love you to join us on this journey – please get in touch (chris@sodapublicmoney.org).

Satoshi Capital Advisors is a New York-based, global advisory firm that works with central banks, governments, and the private sector to architect, implement, and operate varying initiatives. Satoshi Capital Advisors’ central bank work revolves around CBDC architecture and implementation, providing advisory services from research phase through to growth phase. Utilizing a product-market fit and technology agnostic approach to CBDC architecture and implementation enables Satoshi Capital Advisors to build tailored solutions, bespoke to local financial system nuances. Satoshi Capital Advisors welcomes requests from central bank officials for virtual and in-person CBDC workshops. [Click here for more information]

WhisperCash offers the first fully offline digital currency platform that has the same properties as physical cash. It can perform secure consecutive offline payments without compromising on security, privacy or accessibility. WhisperCash allows direct person to person offline payments without any server infrastructure or internet connectivity. It comes in various form factors including the self-contained credit card-sized “Pro” that sports an eInk screen and capacitive keyboard, and lasts for two weeks between recharges assuming a few transactions per day. [Click here for more information]

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230417)

April 17, 2023April 17, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

Potential scenarios for deciding to issue a digital shekel

The Bank of Israel outlined potential scenarios for deciding to issue a digital shekel central bank digital currency (CBDC), although a decision has not yet been made as to whether the Bank intends on doing so. One scenario would be if the United States or the European Union, or a significant number of other developed economies, were to decide to issue CBDC, Other scenarios include a decline in the legitimate use of cash and its acceptance in transactions in Israel, significant penetration of stablecoins or other private means of payment that would be broadly used, and continued and growing concentration in key segments of the domestic payments system. [Read more at the Bank of Israel]

Wash trading in centralized crypto exchanges

The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) published an article that documents the prominence of wash trading on unregulated centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. A wash trade is a form of market manipulation in which an entity simultaneously sells and buys the same or very similar financial instruments to mislead the market or regulators. Over 70% of reported volume on unregulated crypto exchanges consists of such trades versus minimal amounts on regulated exchanges such as Bitstamp and Coinbase (the paper doesn’t reveal the names of the unregulated exchanges it studied). [Read more at the CEPR]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230416)

April 16, 2023April 16, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

U.S. House Committee Publishes Draft Stablecoin Bill

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee (FSC) published a draft version of a stablecoin bill, with proposals including a two-year moratorium on stablecoins backed by other cryptocurrencies and a request to study a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The draft puts the Federal Reserve in charge of non-bank stablecoin issuers, whereas insured depository institution issuers would fall under the appropriate federal banking agency supervision. Among the factors for approval is the ability of the applicant to maintain reserves backing the stablecoins with U.S. dollars or Federal Reserve notes, Treasury bills with a maturity of 90 days or less, repurchase agreements with a maturity of seven days or less backed by Treasury bills with a maturity of 90 days or less, and central bank reserve deposits. A subcommittee will hold a hearing on stablecoins on Wednesday, featuring Dante Disparte from USDC issuer Circle; the Blockchain Association’s Jake Chervinsky; Columbia Professor Austin Campbell and New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne Harris. [Read more at the FSC]

Digital finance: Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA)

The European Parliament will vote on the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation on April 20, 2023. This is a formal adoption vote, as the text has already been approved more than six months ago. Under MiCA, the same binding EU requirements will apply to all 27 member countries. Once a company has been granted a MiCA license in one country, it will be able to “passport” it and offer the licensed service throughout the entire single EU crypto market. [Read more at the European Parliament]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230414)

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

Account-to-account payments set to revolutionize shopping

FIS published its 2023 Global Payments Report that examines how consumers pay today both in-store and online across 40 global markets. In 2022, there were almost 70 real-time payment (RTP) schemes providing high-speed payment rails that helped drive account-to-account (A2A) payments to account for $525 billion in global e-commerce transaction value, versus $463 billion in 2021. A2A payments flow directly – and often instantly – from a consumer’s bank account to a merchant’s account, helping to drive down the cost of acceptance for merchants. The growth of A2A in the U.S. mirrors the global trend, with A2A accounting for 9% of e-commerce transaction value in 2022. This is projected to keep growing, fueled in part by consumer use cases arising from the 2023 launch of the Federal Reserve’s FedNow payments network, and the existing RTP from The Clearing House and Zelle real-time payment networks. [Read more at FIS]

Share of e-payments in Saudi Arabia exceed SAMA’s 2022 target

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced that the share of retail sector electronic payments reached 62% of total payments, including cash, in 2022, surpassing the 60% target set out by the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) launched in 2017. The number of point-of-sale (PoS) transactions executed via the Saudi Payment Network (MADA) reached 7.2 billion transactions during 2022, an increase of 40% compared to 2021. MADA card online transactions grew by 76% in 2022, recording 610 million transactions. There were 1.4 million number of PoS terminals as at the end of 2022, an increase of 42% compared to 2021. [Read more at SAMA]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230413)

April 13, 2023April 13, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

IMF approach to central bank digital currency capacity development

The IMF reported that over 40 countries have made requests for central bank digital currency (CBDC) capacity development assistance. Countries’ questions range from objectives and design choices to pilots and analysis of macro-financial implications. In the past two years, the IMF has started to engage with almost 30 countries. The IMF will also publish a Handbook that will be the basis for CBDC capacity development and help countries make well-informed decisions when taking the major step to design and issue their own CBDC. The Handbook chapters will provide mostly a framework for structuring CBDC exploration and cover five priority areas: (1) policy objectives and operational framework of CBDC; (2) foundational requirements and readiness to issue CBDC, such as legal considerations, cyber resilience, central bank governance, and regulation and supervision; (3) CBDC design processes, considerations, and choices; (4) project approaches and technology; and (5) potential macrofinancial impacts of CBDC. The initial wave of chapters, slated for publication around the 2023 Annual Meetings, will (1) provide a methodological framework for conducting CBDC exploration; (2) address the most common requests that IMF staff encounter in capacity development engagement; and (3) be based on relatively well-established knowledge and experiences. [Read more at the IMF]

Update on the Bahamas Sand Dollar digital currency

The Central Bank of the Bahamas (CBOB) published an update on the uptake of its Sand Dollar CBDC. About 100,000 wallets have been downloaded, but usage remains low when compared to the overall size of the domestic payments system. Also, only a small fraction of merchants have downloaded wallets (1,512 versus about 22,000 potential downloads). In order to bump up usage, a new version of the wallet will be introduced that will allow digital payment providers to offer fee-based merchant services from within the core Sand Dollar platform. Financial institutions will be able to customize the appearance of the app to display their individual brand identities, including logos and branding color preferences. Also the CBOB will ramp up promotional activities at civic and cultural events, and it has has committed to a giveaway of $1 million in Sand Dollars to early adopters through 2024. [Read more at the CBOB]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230412)

April 12, 2023April 12, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

Jamaican government incentivizing JAM-DEX CBDC uptake and usage

The Jamaican government launched two new incentive programs to increase the adoption of its JAM-DEX central bank digital currency (CBDC). The first is the “Small/Micro Merchant Incentive Program”, which will reward the first 10,000 merchants who sign up for the official JAM-DEX platform as of April 1, 2023, with a J$25,000 (about $164) deposit. The second is the “Wallet-holder Individual Loyalty Program”, which provides regular JAM-DEX users with loyalty points that may be redeemed for things such as 2% cashbacks on qualified purchases. [Read more at the Jamaica Ministry of Finance]

The tokenization continuum

The BIS published a primer on tokenization and its key elements. Tokenization can reap gains through transaction automation and new types of asset transfer, but it raises economic, legal and technical issues. These challenges define a “tokenization continuum” that represents the trade-offs involved in the tokenization of different kinds of traditional assets. The tokenization continuum suggests that where tokenisation is easiest, per-unit gains are likely to be modest. Efforts that concentrate initially on identifying the assets that are most suitable for tokenization may yield the largest benefits, especially when the asset is traded in large volumes. [Read more at the BIS]

Central bank digital currency and financial inclusion

The IMF published a paper that models the financial inclusion impact of introducing a retail CBDC in a developing country context. It finds that CBDC issuance can increase bank deposits from the previously unbanked by incentivizing the opening of bank accounts for access to CBDC wallets (offsetting potential flows from deposits to CBDCs among those already banked). Second, data from CBDC usage allows for the building of credit to reduce credit-risk information asymmetry in lending. However, if non-bank payment system providers can distribute CBDC, fewer funds will flow into deposit accounts from the unbanked, but if CBDC data is shareable with banks, those without bank accounts can still build credit and access lower interest rate loans. This design is optimal for welfare if the gains from greater access to CBDC outweigh the contraction in lending. [Read more at the IMF]

De La Rue slashes forecasts as banknote demand tumbles

British banknote printer De La Rue has warned that its profits will miss full-year forecasts as demand for fresh cash fell to its weakest level in 20-years. It also said it was in discussions with its lenders to seek “an amendment to its banking covenants”. Last year, De La Rue found itself in a fight with its auditor after a “going concern warning” because of what EY said was a “severe but plausible downside scenario” where if the group lost key currency contracts, it would breach a debt covenant on the group’s credit facility. [Read more at the Financial Times]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230411)

April 11, 2023April 19, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

Misleading news alert: The Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) launches an international CBDC

The Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) announced their official launch of an international central bank digital currency (CBDC) at the 2023 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings. The press release implies that their Universal Monetary Unit (UMU) algorithmic stablecoin has the IMF’s blessing, including quoting IMF Financial Counselor Tobias Adrian from a November 2022 speech that implies nothing about DCMA engagement. Also, the following quote from the DCMA’s legal counsel appears designed to mislead: “although the IMF has not officially endorsed UMU, in reviewing the DCMA’s whitepaper and in weekly team discussions, the IMF has yet to state any objections to UMU’s FX premium rates and its monetary sovereignty approach.” [Read more at PR Newswire]

Update: I have double checked that the IMF made no official comments about the DCMA UMA stablecoin, and I checked with the IMF staff that would, and they hadn’t even heard of it. Maybe some lower-level staffers were given the white paper to read, and the DCMA used that to imply IMF blessing, when they didn’t get back with comments. @Krippenreiter did some detailed historical analysis on the DCNA and its staff, and it his/her conclusion was that “I’ve rarely come across something that is so dubious and appears to be a fraud while… [while making unsubstantiated claims] to have collaborated with the United Nations and World Economic Forum on a Project Yetta… [Read more on Twitter]

Central Bank of Montenegro developing a digital currency strategy and pilot

The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) is working with Ripple to develop a strategy and pilot program to launch a national stablecoin, in a follow-up to Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic’s related Tweet in January. The CBCG will work with Montenegro’s government and academia to create a practical digital currency or secure currency solution to test blockchain functionality and potential. Montenegro uses the EUR, despite not being a member of the Eurozone, although it is a candidate country for European Union (EU) membership. [Read more at the CBCG]

Stablecoins versus tokenized deposits: implications for the singleness of money

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a paper that compares the key characteristics of stablecoins (“private tokenized monies that circulate as bearer instruments”) and tokenized commercial bank deposits. It claims that stablecoins violate the “singleness of money” principle because their relative exchange values can and do depart from parity. The problem could be solved by the introduction of clearing houses to support par exchange for the stablecoins issued by its members. However, according to the paper, this is a step backwards because the problem has already been solved by the existing two-tier monetary system. Also, tokenized deposit functionality can be expanded to allow for programmable ledgers, contingent execution and composability of transactions. [Read more at the BIS]

DeFi could be forced to incorporate and certify, French central bank says

The Banque de France (BdF) published a consultative paper on potential regulatory responses to decentralized finance (DeFi). “The regulation of disintermediated finance cannot simply replicate the systems that currently govern traditional finance… [as one option] players exercising effective control over sensitive services could be required to incorporate, becoming subject to supervision.” The paper also floated the idea of strengthening the security of smart contracts using a certification mechanism covering code security and governance. In addition, it proposed rules should also stop intermediaries selling highly leveraged products to retail investors. [Read more at the BdF]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230410)

April 10, 2023April 10, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

Fintech and the Future of Finance: Market and Policy Implications

The World Bank published a report that explores the implications of fintech and the digital transformation of financial services for market outcomes, on the one hand, and regulation and supervision, on the other hand—and how these interact. The report, which provides a high-level perspective for senior policy makers, is accompanied by notes that focus on salient issues for a more technical audience. As the financial sector continues to transform itself, policy trade-offs will evolve, and regulators will need to ensure that market outcomes remain aligned with core policy objectives. Several policy implications emerge. 1. Manage risks, while fostering beneficial innovation and competition. 2. Broaden monitoring horizons and reassess regulatory perimeters. 3. Review regulatory, supervisory, and oversight frameworks. 4. Be mindful of evolving policy trade-offs as fintech adoption deepens. 5. Monitor market structure and conduct to maintain competition. 6. Modernize and open financial infrastructures. 7. Ensure public money remains fit for the digital world. 8. Pursue strong cross-border coordination and sharing of information and best practices. [Read more at the World Bank]

Decentralized Clearing? An Assessment of the Impact of DLTs on CCPs

The European Association of CCP Clearing Houses (EACH) published an investigation into the impact of distributed ledger technology (DLT) on central counterparties (CCPs). The paper resorts to the economic theory on financial service intermediation to substantiate the assessment. Using functional analysis and good type categorization, the main conclusion of the paper is that under the current offering it seems challenging to foresee a scenario where any of the main services provided by a CCP would disappear or become fully disintermediated. The supporting argumentation is that the core functions of a CCP orbit around risk management, provided either as private or club type of good. To this moment new technologies do not seem able to change the nature of these services and, therefore, render fundamental changes to CCPs less likely. [Read more at SSRN]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230408)

April 8, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

BIS research suggests optimal level of CBDC is 40% of GDP

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a paper on the potential impact of introducing retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). It argues for a fairly aggressive issuance policy with an optimal outstanding level equal to about 40% of annual gross domestic product (GDP). In the paper’s theoretical model, GDP increases by more than 6%, with only a 6% drop in commercial bank deposits, albeit based on restrictive assumptions, like limited on-demand convertibility of bank deposits into CBDC, and issuance only permitted against government securities (and not reserves). Many of the macroeconomic benefits come from the fiscal budgetary space created by replacing higher-interest government debt by CBDC remunerated at an interest rate below that on central bank reserves. [Read more at the BIS]

FedNow is not a central bank digital currency

The U.S. Fed posted a Fed Now explainer on Twitter to counter misinformation spread by Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claiming that FedNow is a form of CBDC. In fact, FedNow is an instant payments service provided by the Fed that will launch in July 2023. It will be available to U.S. depository institutions, such as banks and credit unions, and will enable individuals and businesses to send payments through their depository institution accounts 24/7, so that the receiver of a can use the funds almost instantly.  FedNow is like other Fed payments services, such as Fedwire and FedACH, and comes with no additional “surveillance” features. FedNow is neither a form of currency nor a step toward eliminating any form of payment, including cash. [Read more at the Fed and on Twitter]

Bigtechs and the credit channel of monetary policy

The BIS published a paper that documents some stylized facts on Bigtech credit and rationalize them through the lens of a model where Bigtechs facilitate matching on the e-commerce platform and extend loans. Bigtech reinforces credit repayment with the threat of exclusion from the platform, while bank credit is secured against collateral. The model suggests that: (i) a rise in Bigtechs’ matching efficiency increases the value for firms of trading on the platform and the availability of Bigtech credit; (ii) Bigtech credit mitigates the initial response of output to a monetary shock, while increasing its persistence; (iii) the efficiency gains generated by big techs are limited by the distortionary fees collected from users. [Read more at the BIS]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230407)

April 7, 2023April 7, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

How can the public access digital central bank money?

Sweden’s Riksbank published an update on its technical work aimed at examining how an e-krona could work if a decision is taken in the future to issue central bank digital currency (CBDC). The focus during Phase 3 has been to examine how the Riksbank could interact with other actors in the payment market to give the general public access to, and the possibility to pay with, an e-krona, how conditional payments can be made and whether a digital central bank currency can simplify cross-border payments. [Read more at the Riksbank]

The Digital Euro Conference 2023: A Recap

The Digital Euro Association (DEA) published a summary of the key takeaways from its Digital Euro Conference held on March 31, 2023, that brought together experts, policymakers, and industry leaders in a hybrid format. Both on-site and remote participants engaged in insightful discussions, presentations, and panel sessions on CBDC, stablecoins, and tokenized commercial bank deposits. [Read at the DEA]

Treasury says crooks prefer fiat to crypto in DeFi risk report

The U.S. Treasury’s “Illicit Finance Risk Assessment of Decentralized Finance” report said that ransomware crooks, thieves, scammers and other criminals are “using DeFi services in the process of transferring and laundering their illicit proceeds… [However,] money laundering, proliferation financing, and terrorist financing most commonly occur using fiat currency or other traditional assets as opposed to virtual assets.” [Read more at the U.S. Treasury]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be moderating a panel on “what happens when the lights go out…different schemes for offline functionality” at the in-person Digital Currency Conference (DCC) in Mexico City on May 18. [Register here]
I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Central Bank Payments Conference and Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 26 to 30. [Register here and here respectively]

Kiffmeister’s global central bank digital currency monthly monitor