Japan’s three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen. The group consists of banks, various Japanese brokerages, utility and telecom firms and retailers, according to a Reuters report published on Nov. 19. For the purposes of the experiment, the private banks …
Japan’s megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen Read More »
The Treasury Department of the United Kingdom has revealed it is drafting proposals to regulate private stablecoins while also researching central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, as an alternative to cash. In an announcement published on Nov. 9, U.K. Treasury Chancellor Rishi Sunak noted the forthcoming regulatory proposals alongside other goals for the country’s financial services industry — including a …
UK drafting stablecoin regulations and researching a CBDC Read More »
Major financial services corporation China UnionPay, an analog to card providers like Visa and Mastercard, has partnered with the South Korean payment provider Danal to launch a cryptocurrency-supporting digital card. Danal’s crypto wallet Paycoin and its crypto token of the same name will be the interface for the new, prepaid mobile card. Paycoin has indicated …
China’s UnionPay and Korea’s Danal to launch crypto-supporting digital card Read More »
Colombia now has the largest number of Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs in Latin America. According to CoinATMRadar, Bogota, the nation’s capital, has 34 ATMs, followed by Medellin with 11, and Bucaramanga and Cali with 4 each. Other cities with one ATM at least include Armenia, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Cúcuta, La Hormiga, and Pereira. Until recently, countries such as Venezuela …
Bitcoin ATMs are booming in this Latin American country Read More »
The Central Bank of the Bahamas has announced the country’s “Sand Dollar” — a state-backed virtual currency — is now available nationwide. According to an Oct. 20 Facebook post from Project Sand Dollar, the central bank digital currency (CBDC) became available to all 393,000 residents of The Bahamas from roughly 10:00 PM UTC. This makes The Bahamas …
The Bahamas launches world’s first CBDC, the ‘Sand Dollar’ Read More »
The United States will not be issuing a digital dollar until the Federal Reserve resolves all questions around a potential central bank digital currency, or CBDC, according to the Fed’s chairman, Jerome Powell. Powell claimed that he is not worried about other countries having a first-mover advantage when it comes to issuing CBDCs. Speaking at …
Better to get it right than to be first with CBDC, says US Fed chair Read More »
The European Central Bank launched a public consultation on a potential digital euro on Oct. 12. Developments on the central bank digital currency front in the Eurozone have picked up pace amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the central bank has framed its introduction to the public consultation with the claim that the issuance of a CBDC could …
European Central Bank seeks public input on digital euro Read More »
As the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Egyptian economy into recession and deepening unemployment, more and more Egyptians see the benefits of trading and mining Bitcoin as an alternative source of income. According to Al-Monitor, many Egyptians, particularly young people, are interested in cryptocurrencies. Wael al-Nahhas, an economist and financial advisor to several investment institutions in Egypt, …
Bitcoin use rise in Egypt amid economic recession Read More »
The Bank of Thailand launched the world’s first blockchain-based government savings bond issuance platform using IBM’s blockchain technology. Within two weeks of the launch, the central bank sold more than $1.6 billion worth of savings bonds, as per IBM’s official announcement on Oct. 5, 2020. The use of blockchain technology is said to have reduced the bond …
Thai central bank issues $1.6B in government bonds on IBM blockchain Read More »
The updated Consumer Safety Technology Act, which now includes the Digital Taxonomy Act and the Blockchain Innovation Act, has passed in the House of Representatives and is now headed for the Senate as of Tuesday afternoon. The Digital Taxonomy Act provides definitions for the terms “digital asset” and “digital unit” and would task the Federal Trade Commission with …
Blockchain legislation passes the House, heads for Senate Read More »
