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Regulation and monetary policy
Japanese Official Calls for Urgent Development of Digital Yen to Counter China
Another Japanese lawmaker has publicly called for the swift development of the digital yen. The head of the banking and finance systems research commission at Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, Kozo Yamamoto, said today that the country should create a digital yen in two to three years.
BitGo Rolls Out New Custodial Entities in Germany and Switzerland
A digital asset trust company BitGo is expanding its services with two new custodial entities in Switzerland and Germany.
Italy’s Securities Regulator Shuts Down 8 Crypto Trading and Foreign Exchange Sites
Italy’s securities regulator has shut down six foreign exchange websites and two crypto investing and derivative trading sites.
Over 40 German Banks Want to Offer Crypto Custody Services
Over 40 banks in Germany are interested in the possibility of storing and working with cryptocurrencies.
Crypto Fraud Now Exposing Legacy Banks to Compliance Issues, Reports CipherTrace
The nature of cryptocurrency fraud is shifting away from exchange hacks, and toward Ponzi-style frauds, pyramid schemes and exit scams. A massive 533% rise in the value of such crimes means that as misappropriated funds are laundered, the traditional banking system is increasingly exposed to risk under upcoming Financial Action Task Force (FATF) rules. That’s the conclusion reached by CipherTrace, a cryptocurrency intelligence firm, in a report released today.
First Stablecoin Pegged to Canadian Dollar is Launched
Canadian investment fund manager 3iQ and blockchain company Mavennet have jointly launched a stablecoin pegged to the Canadian dollar.
Fed Nominee: Need for a Digital Dollar is an “Extremely Important Discussion”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wasn’t the only one to make waves at the U.S. Senate this week when it came to the future of currency. Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, spoke at length regarding digital currency while addressing the cameras and a nominee for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Judy Shelton:
“We need the digital currency a little bit less I would argue internally, but rather to help preserve the primacy of the dollar worldwide.”
Is 5AMLD Causing Crypto Companies to Shut Down & Relocate?
The debate over whether regulation is a positive or negative thing for the cryptocurrency industry has evolved over the past two years as regulation has shifted from theory into practice. All over the world, the regulatory tide is rising–though more quickly in some places than in others.
Belgian regulator calls for regulation of the growing crypto industry
The Belgian financial markets regulator wants the government to implement regulations for the rapidly-growing cryptocurrency industry. In a recent hearing, the regulator urged the country’s lawmakers to establish a legal framework for crypto, at a time when there are thousands of cryptos available to Belgian investors.
Switzerland Watchdog to Require ID for Crypto Operations Over $1K
Switzerland watchdog the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has tightened regulation of cryptocurrency-related operations by lowering the threshold value for exchange transactions in cryptocurrencies.
Analytics and opinions
Experts Consider the Security and Risks of Noncustodial Exchanges
Despite centralized cryptocurrency exchanges suffering nearly $300 million worth of hacks during 2019, many digital currency traders continue to hold significant sums of capital on centralized exchange platforms.
Should They Stay or Should They Go? Crypto Firms in the EU Must Decide
The European Union lately has been a hotbed for political and regulatory developments that could have a considerable impact on the day-to-day operations of the continent’s financial service providers. While the United Kingdom finally following through on its pledge to leave the bloc introduced political uncertainty for businesses with U.K. operations, implementation of new EU-wide Anti-Money Laundering legislation brought about regulatory certainty — along with the compliance burden that invariably comes with it.
Solving Information Leakage in Off-Exchange Crypto Trading
Off-exchange liquidity venues have been widely used by institutional investors to keep large trades confidential. Although they are not perfect and can be gamed by high-frequency traders, off-exchange alternative trading systems remain popular inequities. They are starting to gain traction in the cryptocurrency sector, prompting industry participants to seek out more advanced, institutional-grade tools to most effectively trade “in the dark.” For investors concerned with order information leakage, there are platforms that are engineered to prevent this critical pain point.
Central Bank Digital Currencies Are Good for Bitcoin, Barry Silbert Says
Bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) would benefit from global central banks issuing their own cryptocurrencies, the founder at the world's largest digital asset manager believes.
Australia’s Blockchain Roadmap Isn't Music to Everyone’s Ears, Draws Criticism
So far, 2020 has been a year of cryptocurrency regulation: The European Union, the United Kingdom and Singapore have officially introduced their approaches to the burgeoning industry. Now, Australia has published its national roadmap, hoping to become a global blockchain leader.
Conservative U.S. Think Tank Denies Need for Federal Digital Currency
Conservative United States think tank the Heritage Foundation argues that instead of launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the government should ensure that the public can use the currencies they prefer, including private ones.
The Four Phases of Decentralized Finance
Newcomers to decentralized finance, or DeFi, would be hard-pressed to believe how much the industry has grown, changed and matured in just over a year. At the end of 2018, Maker returned to the scene with relaunched tooling and a buzzy investment from the experts at Andreessen Horowitz. Compound Finance launched around the same time, offering money markets for Ethereum-based assets and has also received funds from Andreessen Horowitz, which invested more in Compound at the end of 2019.
New projects, partnerships, and investments
Tether Unveils New Stablecoin on Algorand Blockchain
Well-known stablecoin issuer Tether Inc. has announced it deployed stablecoins on Algorand blockchain, which is the world’s first permissionless blockchain platform.
Tether Adds Support for Chainalysis KYT Tech
Analytical blockchain company Chainalysis has announced that the largest stablecoin issuer Tether has integrated Chainalysis' Know Your Transaction technology to track transactions in a real-time manner.
China Takes Additional Steps to Digitize the Renminbi
China has been leading the way when it comes to digital payments by average consumers in the country. While such payments in the United States like Apple Pay are becoming more widely accepted, in nearby Japan such methods are still relatively rare. Alipay has been offering residents of China the chance to use fiat currency for everyday transactions, seemingly acclimating them for the day both payment and currency become 100% digital.
Millions of Online Retailers Can Now Accept DAI on Coinbase Commerce
Coinbase Commerce, a platform that supports cryptocurrency payments for internet retailers, has added MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin as a supported payment method this week.
South Korea Commits $16M to Training Future Digital Finance Experts
The Korean financial services commission and the Seoul metropolitan government have announced plans to invest $16 million in training digital finance experts for four years on Feb. 12. The application period to win the grant is March 4-6.
Report: Middle East and Africa’s Blockchain Spending to Surge 400% by 2023
As global blockchain adoption is accelerating, countries in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are forecasted to massively increase their spending on the tech in the next few years.
BlockFi DLT Lending Giant Gets $30 Million in Its Series B Funding Round
BlockFi has raised $30 million from a group of investors, including Morgan Creek Digital, Winklevoss Capital, Arrington XRP Capital and others.
German bank to issue euro-pegged stablecoin, tokenize securities using Stellar blockchain
German blockchain startup Bitbond has partnered with Bankhaus von der Heydt, one of the longest-running banks in Europe, to help the bank provide asset structuring and asset servicing using blockchain technology.