Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20250107)

FDIC releases redacted operation Choke Point 2.0 letters (Bitcoin.com)

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) published minimally redacted letters sent to banks requesting information about their crypto activities and in most cases asking them to pause activities pending feedback. The FDIC was forced by a June 2024 court order filed by Coinbase (through its contractor History Associates), to release the letters after initially turning down the exchange’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. According to Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, “they show a coordinated effort to stop a wide variety of crypto activity“. [Read more at Bitcoin.com, Ledger Insights and the FDIC]

CPMI takes further steps to promote ISO 20022 harmonization (BIS)

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) announced further steps to promote the adoption of its harmonized ISO 20022 data requirements for more efficient processing of cross-border payments. First, a panel of global ISO 20022 market practice groups will be established in early 2025 to support the regular maintenance of the data requirements. Second, the CPMI is encouraging industry to develop global ISO 20022 market practice guidelines for fast payments based on the harmonized data requirements. Third, the CPMI will continue to engage with payment system operators and payment service providers to encourage them to implement the harmonized data requirements by end-2027. [Read more at the BIS]

Ripple partners with Chainlink to boost RLUSD stablecoin in DeFi markets (CoinTelegraph)

Ripple has partnered with Chainlink, a decentralized oracle network, to improve the adoption and utility of its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The collaboration will provide price feeds for RLUSD on Ethereum and the XRP Ledger, which aim to support cost-effective transactions and DeFi use cases for the enterprise-grade stablecoin. [Read more on Ripple]

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Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

  • The Central Bank Payments Conference (Paris, February 17–19) will explore the latest issues and developments confronting central banks and their evolving role as operators, overseers, and catalysts within the payments landscape. The focus will be on cross-border payments, CBDC and tokenization, open finance, instant payments, and financial inclusion, among other topics. [register here]
  • The Global Payments Summit (Paris, February 19–21), the second half of Currency Research Payments Week, will explore emerging payments trends and innovations, positioning the ecosystem’s commercial players — banks, PSPs, solution providers — at the center of the discussions. [register here]
  • Digital Euro Conference 2025, Frankfurt, March 27, 2025. The DEC25 conference will explore the future of money with a focus on CBDCs, stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and the intersection of AI and digital ID. When you register, get 20% off the regular ticket price by using the Kiffmeister20 code! [Find out more and register here]

And 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 john@kiffmeister.com.