Digital yuan app adds prepaid Mastercard Visa top-ups for tourists
Tourists visiting the People’s Republic of China can now pre-charge their digital yuan wallets using Visa and Mastercard payment options. Inbound tourists are reportedly able to make use of overseas mobile numbers to register and open e-CNY wallets and make use of the recharge wallet feature, which supports Visa and Mastercard payments. They must “top up” with at least 100 yuan (around $14) and if they have any funds left in their wallets when they depart China, they can request a refund, after which funds are automatically transferred back to their credit card accounts. This coincides with the start of the Asian Games. [Read more at Coin Telegraph and Cryptonews]
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a stocktake of national and regional data frameworks and identifies frictions that pose challenges to improving the cost, speed, transparency and access of cross-border payments. It highlights fragmentation in data frameworks as a main contributor to increased cost and inability to automate cross-border payments. By early 2024, the FSB will develop recommendations, for public consultation, for promoting alignment and interoperability across data frameworks applicable to cross-border payments. [Read more at the FSB]
Towards a reliable taxonomy and understanding of proof of stake and related services
The European Blockchain Association published a joint industry position paper on staking in a European Union (EU) regulatory context. To date, there is no uniform consensus on how this process and its various manifestations are to be defined in concrete terms, which has led to legal uncertainty, sometimes with considerable consequences. The paper aims to make a clear distinction between staking and lending depending on the actual underlying technical process, and to differentiate between the different types of staking. [Read more at the European Blockchain Association]
*For those interested in intra-day updates, check out my searchable Diigo Fintech developments database, which is also a good place to go to query for past developments: https://www.diigo.com/user/kiffmeister/ART.
Kiffmeister’s 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 (only) if you work at a central bank, ministry of finance or international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank) and 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).
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