CBDCTracker.org June 2023 global CBDC developments update

Atakan Kavuklu published a summary of key central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments reflected in the end-June CBDCTracker.org database update. [Read more at Medium]

NY Fed completes PoC for regulated digital asset settlement

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s New York Innovation Center (NYIC), in collaboration with members of the U.S. financial services sector, published the findings of a proof of concept (PoC) that explored the feasibility of an interoperable network for wholesale payments operating on a shared multi-entity distributed ledger. The research project, undertaken jointly with private sector organizations, experimented with the concept of a regulated liability network (RLN), a theoretical payment infrastructure designed to support the exchange and settlement of regulated digital assets. The experiment successfully simulated both the domestic and cross-border scenarios, identifying shared ledger technology as a potential solution to support payment innovation. [Read more at the NY Fed NYIC]

Project Polaris: closing the CBDC cyber threat modelling gaps

The BIS Innovation Hub (BISIH) published a report on Part II of its Project Polaris which focused on the risk and resilience aspects of CBDCs built on distributed ledger technology (DLT) based platforms. It analyses several notable DLT attacks in the decentralized finance (DeFi) domain, revealing that there are gaps in existing threat modelling techniques that may not adequately address the threats and associated security controls to properly protect CBDCs that make use of novel technology (e.g., DLT, smart contracts) from the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by threat actors in the DeFi space. Additionally, the “mean time to attack” (based on the DLT attacks studied in this analysis) is around 10 months from the launch of a DeFi implementation and the successful compromise. Hence, CBDC issuers must be positioned to monitor and repel both well understood and novel TTPs. [Read more at the BISIH]

MAS amendments to restrictions on e-money personal payment accounts

Following a public consultation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is going to raise the caps on e-wallets during the second half of 2023. The maximum amount of funds that can be held at any given time (“stock cap”) in each e-wallet, is being raised from $5,000 to $20,000, and the maximum total outflow over a rolling 12-month period (“flow cap”) from each e-wallet, is being raised from $30,000 to $100,000. [Read more at the MAS]

Namibia passed bill to regulate crypto and digital assets

On June 22, Namibia’s lower house of parliament passed legislation to regulate digital assets, cryptocurrencies and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in the country. It aims to establish a framework for licensing and regulating VASPs, and appoint a regulatory authority responsible for supervising these providers and their activities. The bill is now awaiting official publication before coming into effect. [Read More at CoinTelegraph]