Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20260112)

January 12, 2026January 12, 2026 ~ kiffmeister

Interoperability Standards for Digital Assets (MIT/SODA)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Standards Organization for Digital Assets (SODA) published a white paper that addresses the need for global standards to enable tokenized real-world assets to move seamlessly across different blockchain networks and traditional financial systems. The White Paper describes the need to create neutral, open standards through three workstreams: a data model defining asset information, common digital functions for smart contracts, and legal/governance frameworks ensuring regulatory compliance. The paper draws parallels to historical standardization successes like the internet’s TCP/IP protocol and shipping containers, arguing that without interoperability standards, tokenization will only deliver isolated efficiencies rather than transforming global finance. Contributors from major institutions including Chainlink, Fireblocks, Wormhole, and others emphasize that true scalability requires standardized approaches to cross-chain transfers, identity verification, compliance, and connectivity with existing financial infrastructure, ultimately enabling the tokenized asset market by 2030 to reach its full potential. [Source: SODA]

Ethiopia Unveils 5-Year National Digital Payment Strategy (NBE)

[December 9, 2025] The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) published a draft National Digital Payment Strategy 2026–30. The five-year framework outlines a roadmap to build a trusted, innovative, and integrated digital payments ecosystem. Part of the study involves studying stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and central bank digital currency (CBDC), map their current use in Ethiopia, and identify concrete, locally viable use-cases for future policy and product development. Furthermore, white papers will be published and, if deemed necessary, required regulatory frameworks and pilot programs will be implemented. [Source: NBE]

Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

The Digital Euro Conference 2026 (Frankfurt, March 26) will explore the future of money with a focus on CBDCs, stablecoins, and commercial bank tokens. This hybrid event offers the perfect platform to understand the future of digital money! [Register here and get 20% off the regular ticket price by using the Kiffmeister20 code!]

I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20250821)

August 21, 2025August 21, 2025 ~ kiffmeister

Just a reminder that I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.

Circle Gateway: Redefining Crosschain UX with a Unified USDC Balance (Circle)

Circle has launched a unified cross-chain infrastructure that enables businesses to access USDC balances across multiple blockchains, without the need to pre-position funds on each chain. By combining smart contracts and an offchain attestation service, Gateway allows users to move USDC across supported chains (such as Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Base) in under 500 milliseconds, simplifying liquidity management, reducing costs, and eliminating slow multi-chain settlements. This solution is designed to streamline both user and business experience by offering chain-agnostic USDC balances, faster payments, and easier integration for wallets, custodians, payment providers, and exchanges. [Read more at Circle]

Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

The CB+DC Conference (Nassau, Bahamas, September 9-11) is a premier gathering centered on CBDCs, tokenized assets, and stablecoins. It provides a forum for central bankers, commercial bankers, technology innovators, policymakers, and academics to explore the latest advancements in digital currency, engage with experts and peers, and discuss the future of digital currency. [Register here but before you do, email me at john@kiffmeister.com for a 15% discount]

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20240724)

July 24, 2024July 24, 2024 ~ kiffmeister

Central Bank of Papua New Guinea launches CBDC proof-of-concept (Soramitsu)

The Central Bank of Papua New Guinea (CBPNG) is working with Soramitsu on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof-of-concept (POC) aimed at building a common payment platform across the Pacific Island region. Also, some areas of Papua New Guinea are plagued by instability, violence, and frequent occurrences of robberies and muggings, so the POC will explore digital technologies that will allow recovery of funds after such incidents. The project is being funded by the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s 2023 supplementary budget “Subsidy for Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation Projects (Indirect Subsidy Project Related to the Survey on the Overseas Deployment of Infrastructure by Japanese Companies).” [Read more at Soramitsu]

Bank of Israel selects 14 teams to present use cases for digital shekel (Finextra)

The Bank of Israel (BOI) has chosen 14 teams from the private and public sectors, and academia to study potential digital shekel use cases selected by the BOI. They deal with a variety of functions: connectivity between the digital shekel, other payment systems, and cash; use of the advanced functionalities offered by the digital shekel, such as subwallets, conditional payments, and split payments; and the implementation of various technologies while using the digital shekel as a means of payment. Participant proposals will be tested in a digital sandbox in August 2024, with products developed to be showcased at a concluding conference at the end of October 2024. [Read more at the BOI]

FCA finalizes access to cash rules (Finextra)

Under new rules from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), banks and building societies will need to weigh up if local communities lack access to cash services, like branches and ATMs, and plug significant gaps. Under the new rules banks will need to respond to local residents and community organizations when closing branches and ATMs and provide an assessment of whether there are gaps in local cash access. Where significant gaps are found, banks will be obliged to retain branches and ATMs until alternative solutions are found. [Read more at the FCA]

UAE central bank introduces new stablecoin regulations (Coin Journal)

The UAE Central Bank (CBUAE) approved a framework for stablecoin regulation on June 14, 2024, which allows only dirham-backed stablecoins to be used for payments. Other crypto-assets will be restricted to trading, investment, and corporate treasury purposes while foreign stablecoins will only be permitted for purchasing specific virtual assets like non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The new law mandates that no entity can issue a payment token without submitting a white paper to the central bank for approval. Banks are not directly permitted to issue payment tokens but can do so through subsidiaries or affiliates, provided they meet licensing and regulatory requirements. The new framework is set to commence in June 2025. [Read more at the CBUAE]

UEMOA launches interoperable instant payment system pilot (BCEAO)

The Central Bank of the States of West Africa (BCEAO) has launched the pilot phase of the interoperable instant payment system (IPS) of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). 25 financial institutions across four countries met the criteria required to participate. A second group will join on August 12, 2024.The new interoperable 24/7 IPS infrastructure is capable of processing transactions of any kind, regardless of the account type. [Read more at the BCEAO]

Philippines hits target of digitalizing 50 percent of retail payments (BSP)

The share of digital payment transactions to total monthly retail payments in the Philippines grew from 42.1% in 2022 to 52.8% in 2023, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This indicates that the central bank has surpassed its target of digitalizing 50% of digital payments volume in the country under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2018-2023. In terms of value, the latest e-payments measurement also showed that the share of monthly digital payments to total transactions increased to 55.3% in 2023 from 40.1% in 2022. The main contributors to the rise in e-payments were merchant payments which accounted for 64.9% of monthly digital payments volume, person-to-person transfers at 19.3%, and business-to-business supplier payments at 6.1%. [Read more at the BSP]

Reserve Bank of India joins Project Nexus (RBI)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) joined Project Nexus, a multilateral international initiative to enable instant cross-border retail payments by interlinking domestic fast payment systems (FPSs). Nexus, conceptualized by the BIS Innovation Hub aims to connect the FPSs of four ASEAN countries (Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand); and now India. Indonesia, which has been involved from the early stages, continues to be involved as a special observer. The platform is expected to go live by 2026. Once functional, Nexus will play an important role in making retail cross-border payments efficient, faster, and more cost effective. [Read more at the RBI]

Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

CBDC Conference, Istanbul, September 10-12. The conference will offer representatives of central banks, commercial banks, technology providers, policy makers and academics the perfect platform to learn about the latest CBDC developments, exchange ideas with experts and peers. [Find out more and register here][Central bank delegates may be eligible for free registration (email registration@cbdc-conference.com to find out more)]

Digital Currency Conference, London, September 23-24. The conference will bring together policymakers, regulators, and technology and innovation experts to network and discuss all aspects of digital currencies. And enter the KiffmeisterDCC code at registration to get a 20% discount! [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.

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20231202)*

December 2, 2023December 2, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

MPs warn that Bank of England retail digital pound work should “proceed with caution”

The U.K. Parliamentary Treasury Committee urged the Bank of England and HM Treasury to address data privacy and financial stability concerns before considering the implementation of a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) or ‘digital pound’. To mitigate financial stability risks, the Committee’s report suggested lowering the mooted £20,000 individual holding limit to £10,000. The report also urged the government to alleviate privacy concerns that organizations or the government could use a retail digital pound to monitor or control how users spend their money. These concerns could be mitigated through robust regulation and legislated protections related to the ability of any future government to access people’s data. [Read more at the U.K. Parliament]

First digital securities transactions commercially settled with real wholesale CBDC

December 1, 2023 saw the world’s first commercial settlements of digital securities transactions with real wholesale CBDC on a regulated distributed ledger technology (DLT) based financial market infrastructure (SDX). One was a CHF 105 million franc digital four-year bond issued by the Canton of Basel-Stadt, and the second was a CHF 100 million digital 11-year bond issued by the Canton of Zurich. The wholesale CBDC was issued by the Swiss National Bank as part of Helvetia III. In addition to the settlement on the SDX platform, part of the settlement took place on SIX SIS, the national central securities depository (CSD) of the Swiss financial market and an International Central Securities Depository (ICSD), which runs a node on SDX. [Read more from the SNB’s Thomas Moser on LinkedIn]

Interoperability aspects of CBDC across ecosystems and borders

The Journal of Payments Strategy & Systems published a paper by Gieseke+Devrient’s Lars Hupel that describes the state of the art for interoperability between different digital ecosystems, including bridges, exchanges and wrappers. The precise design of such solutions is highly context-dependent and requires careful analysis of use cases, stakeholders, and operational concerns. With regards to CBDC the challenges relate to the multiple connection points, and the absence of a single technological means to address all of them uniformly. The paper puts forward some suggestions around different CBDC design options and potential use cases, and discusses some case studies. [Download the paper on SSRN]

FYI here are some of my upcoming speaking engagements:

– Digital Euro Conference 2024 (Frankfurt on February 29)[Register here]

*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 for 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).

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 (20231031)*

October 31, 2023October 31, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

BIS mBridge cross border CBDC project has 23 central banks, IMF and World Bank as observers

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub published an update on its mBridge multiple central bank digital currency (multi-CBDC) common platform for wholesale cross-border payments. Project mBridge supports real-time, peer-to-peer, cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions using wholesale CBDCs, focusing on the use case of international trade. In 2022, a pilot involving real corporate transactions was conducted on the platform among participating central banks, selected commercial banks and their corporate customers in four jurisdictions. A minimum viable project (MVP) will be launched in the middle of next year. The project is a collaborative effort of the BIS Innovation Hub, four founding central banks and over 25 observing members. [Read more at the BIS]

Singapore tokenization trials: England, Japan, Swiss regulators join

The Financial Services Agency of Japan, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority are joining the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS’s) Project Guardian. The initiative explores digital assets and tokenization using public blockchain with financial institutions and the BIS Innovation Hub. The current focus is on fixed income, foreign exchange (FX) and asset management. [Read more at the MAS]

Singapore to test interoperable QR Code scheme

The MAS will conduct a proof of concept (POC) for an interoperable Singapore Quick Response Code Scheme (SGQR+) in November 2023. It will explore the feasibility of enabling merchants in Singapore to accept QR payments from a variety of payment schemes through a single financial institution. SGQR+ will be rolled out with 23 payment schemes , across more than 1,000 merchant acceptance points at the Singapore FinTech Festival and in the Changi district. [Read more at the MAS]

Most Spaniards don’t want digital euro, 65% would not use it

The Banco de España published the results of a survey that revealed the low preference that a potential digital euro would have compared to other payment alternatives. 65% of the Spanish population using cash daily. Credit and debit cards follow while payment apps and electronic payments are marginally used but growing in use. Only 20% of those surveyed had heard about a possible digital euro, and 65% said they would not use the digital euro as they feel comfortable with today’s available payment methods. [Read more at the Banco de España]

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

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230925)*

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

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]

FSB identifies frictions from data frameworks that pose challenges to enhancing cross-border payments

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]

Kiffmeister’s central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230924)*

September 24, 2023September 24, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

CBDC’s role in promoting financial inclusion

The IMF published a paper on a step-by-step framework to help assess central bank digital currency’s (CBDC’s) value proposition for improving financial inclusion. The impact of CBDC for improving financial inclusion is currently speculative, where further evidence and experience are needed to fully understand benefits and limitations. That said, it provides an opportunity that could be actively explored alongside other solutions for improving financial inclusion. Moreover, CBDC could be considered as one component of a broader set of measures to improve financial inclusion. [Read more at the IMF]

Unlocking interoperability: Overcoming regulatory frictions in cross-border payments

The World Economic Forum (WEF) published a paper that identifies the main regulatory frictions hindering efficient and inclusive cross-border payments, including diverging regulatory frameworks, anti-money laundering compliance complexities, restrictive data regulations and inadequate access for non-bank players. It proposes recommendations to advance regulatory interoperability through enhanced cross-border collaborations, modernized frameworks, strengthened cooperation and public-private partnerships. Achieving interoperability will require the public and private sectors to come together in shaping a transparent, efficient and inclusive cross-border payments ecosystem. [Read more at the WEF]

Kiffmeister’s central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230904)*

September 4, 2023September 4, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

Thai government to use blockchain utility tokens for mass giveaway

The Pheu Thai Party, the leader of Thailand’s new coalition party, plans to follow through on its policy for a 10,000 baht giveaway to every person aged 16 or older in early 2024. The economic stimulus will be in the form of a digital “utility token” based on blockchain and using a digital wallet. Usage will be restricted to within 4 kilometers of the holder’s home, and they can only be spent .on certain things such as food, water and medicine. They cannot use it online, nor can it be exchanged for cash, and will expire after six months. [Read more at Ledger Insights]

Customers of Indian banks can scan UPI QR code and pay via digital rupee

Growing numbers of Indian commercial banks have gone live with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) interoperability on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) digital rupee central bank digital currency (CBDC) rupee app. With this move, the bank’s customers will be able to scan any UPI QR code through the banks’ digital rupee apps and pay for transactions. The UPI is the national payment portal operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a division of the RBI. The NPCI provides the infrastructure for both the UPI and the digital rupee. [Read more at CNBCTV]

China insists digital yuan be usable everywhere

Mu Changchun, the head of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Digital Currency Research Institute, said that the digital yuan must be available for all retail scenarios, with standard QR codes being one of the first steps. He also wants to see wholesale payment systems becoming interoperable with the central bank digital currency (CBDC), and he envisions the digital yuan and smart contracts being used for securities transactions, enabling settlement on a delivery versus payment (DvP) or payment versus payment (PvP) basis. [Read the speech at EastMoney.com]

GSMA 2023 state of the industry report on mobile money

The GSMA published its 2023 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, showing the growth and the potential of mobile money networks in a post-pandemic world. Africa, and particularly Sub-Sahara Africa, continues to drive that growth. In 2022, registered mobile money accounts rose from 1.4 billion in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2022, and transaction values grew from $1 trillion to around $1.26 trillion. Bill payments (largely energy bills) via mobile money grew faster than all other use cases, making it the third most common transaction after P2P transfers and combined cash-in/cash-out transactions. [Read more at the GSMA]

BIS and Reserve Bank of India announce winners of G20 TechSprint 2023

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the winners of the G20 TechSprint 2023 challenge. From the short list of 21 teams three winners for three problem statements were chosen [Read more at the BIS] :

Team Secretarium Ltd. from the UK won the category for problem statement #1, on fighting money laundering, combating financing of terrorism, tax and sanctions evasion, with their solution on transaction monitoring and protecting anonymity and privacy using secure privacy technology.
Team Millicent Labs from the UK won the category for problem statement #2, on improving liquidity in cross-border payments between emerging and developing countries’ currencies, with their hybrid decentralised exchange for CBDCs, which features automated market makers and traditional order books, to optimise liquidity and reduce volatility risk.
Team Knox Networks from the US won the category for problem statement #3 on developing multilateral cross-border CBDC platforms, with their multilateral CBDC solution based on File-Based Digital Assets (FBDAs).

Kiffmeister’s central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230831)*

August 31, 2023August 31, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

SWIFT hails success of blockchain interoperability pilot

SWIFT published the results from a series of experiments that show its infrastructure can seamlessly facilitate the transfer of tokenized value across multiple public and private blockchains. Working with more than a dozen major financial institutions and market infrastructures, SWIFT demonstrated that it can provide a single point of access to multiple networks using existing, secure infrastructure. Chainlink was used as an enterprise abstraction layer to securely connect the SWIFT network to the Ethereum Sepolia network, while Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol enabled complete interoperability between the source and destination blockchains. [Read more at SWIFT]

Binance to ‘gradually’ end support for BUSD products

Binance will “gradually” end support for its BUSD stablecoin, removing it from spot and margin trading pairs. Users have been asked to convert their BUSD into other assets by February next year. Binance is also delisting BUSD as a loanable asset on September 6 and will cease withdrawals of Binance-peg BUSD tokens via BNB Chain, Avalanche, Polygon and Tron on September 7. A decision to end support for BUSD has been expected since BUSD issuer Paxos was ordered to stop minting the coin in February. [Read more at Binance]

The controversial business of cash-to-crypto Bitcoin ATMs

The Kansas City Federal Reserve published an article that surveys the data available on the multi-billion Bitcoin ATM (BTM) industry in the United States and reviews its overall shape and customer base. It finds that the industry continues to grow, with the number of BTMs increasing after the “crypto winter” retrenchment. Despite high fees, consumers seem likely to use them—perhaps for remittances, investment, or both. [Read more at the Kansas City Fed]

Kiffmeister’s central bank digital currency monthly monitor

Kiffmeister’s #Fintech Daily Digest (20230629)*

June 29, 2023June 29, 2023 ~ kiffmeister

Project Mariana: cross-border exchange of wholesale CBDCs using automated market-makers

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published an interim report on Project Mariana, which investigates combining FX trading and settlement in cross-border transactions into a single instantaneous step using automated market makers (AMMs) and wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to eliminate credit and settlement risk. The project also examined cross-border interoperability using wholesale CBDC based on a uniform technical standard, as a way to future-proof CBDC developments. In addition, Mariana investigated asset mobility between different blockchain-based networks using bridges. [Read more at the BIS]

Central bank digital currency global interoperability principles

The World Economic Forum (WEF) published a report that analyses CBDCs from a regional perspective, identifying unique aspects and areas of alignment among jurisdictions. It highlights key CBDC principles that will facilitate interoperability with various types of payment systems, technical standards, regulatory standards and legacy payment architecture and infrastructure, that will allow participants in different systems to conduct, clear and settle payments or financial transactions across systems without participating in multiple systems. The report calls for public-private cooperation, regulatory consistency, innovation and participation in standards development. [Read more at the WEF]

Making it through the (crypto) winter: facts, figures and policy issues

The Bank of Italy published a paper on the challenges crypto-asset regulation faces, as well as the drivers of the most recent regulatory developments, highlighting remaining open issues. It warns that conventional regulatory approaches that rely on entity-based rules will leave some gaps. For example, they may not fully address decentralized finance (DeFi) activities because of their non-traditional legal entity structures, decentralized governance, smart-contracts, and the anonymity of persons in charge. The report calls for an approach based on the combination of legislation and soft regulation, with the advantages of flexibility, dynamism, and pragmatism. [Read more at the Bank of Italy]

Oxbridge Re raises $2.4m for sidecar via DeltaCat Re tokenized reinsurance securities

Cayman Islands-based Oxbridge Re sold $2.4 million DeltaCat Re tokenized reinsurance securities, representing fractionalized interests in reinsurance contracts written by its Oxbridge Re NS reinsurance sidecar. They are tokenized on the Avalanche blockchain. Sidecars are a limited-life special purpose vehicle funded by capital market participants and sponsored by a reinsurer from which it derives its business or quota share. The sidecar assumes a percentage of the ceding reinsurer’s underwriting risk in exchange for a similar percentage of the associated premiums. [Read more at Artemis] and for more on sidecars and other insurance risk transfer vehicles see my 2020 Pension Research Council paper]

Upcoming conferences, webinars and speaking engagements:

I’ll be participating in Currency Research’s in-person Global Payments Summit in Cape Town from June 28 to 30. [Register here]
I’ll be lecturing at the Digital Euro Association (DEA) Digital Money Academy on July 27, 2023. [Register here]

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.