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☆ Federal Reserve officially launches new FedNow instant-payments service
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Federal Reserve launched its FedNow instant-payments service Thursday, following several years of developing a system officials say will allow the faster flow of cash for businesses and individuals. "The Federal Reserve built the FedNow Service to help make everyday payments over the coming years faster and more convenient," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said. The American Bankers Association said it welcomes the FedNow developments, noting that the central bank joins the Clearing House, which put its payments service online in 2017, as two major providers in the space. There are still some outstanding questions about FedNow, such as whether banks will charge for the service. As FedNow goes online, Fed officials are studying the implementation of a central bank digital currency, with some saying they think FedNow could mitigate the need for a CBDC.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Wells, Rob Nichols, FedNow Organizations: Federal Reserve, Service, JPMorgan Chase, American Bankers Association, ABA Locations: U.S, Wells Fargo

☆ BOJ launches forum with 60 firms on digital yen pilot programme
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, July 20 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan on Thursday kicked off a series of discussions with 60 companies on a pilot programme for developing a digital yen, joining peers around the globe ramping up efforts towards issuing digital versions of their currencies for retail use. The discussions will touch on various themes including the business and technological features of retail settlements using a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the central bank said in a statement. The BOJ has said no decision has been made yet on whether Japan will actually issue a digital yen, which must be made by the government and parliament. But many big Japanese companies were included in the list of 60 firms selected to join the discussions, a sign Japan is moving steadily toward such a launch. Central banks around the globe have been studying and working on digital versions of their currencies for retail use to avoid leaving digital payments to the private sector amid an accelerating decline in the use of cash.

Persons: Lawson, Leika, Kim Coghill Organizations: Bank of Japan, Sony, Toyota, East Japan Railway, Bank for International Settlements, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Japan, Central

☆ Fact Check-Biden did not announce the US Dollar will become cryptocurrency
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

President Joe Biden unveils Executive Order EO-14067, a groundbreaking move that transforms the US Dollar into a cryptocurrency. “There are no plans to convert the U.S. dollar into a digital asset,” White House Assistant Press Secretary Robyn Patterson told Reuters in an email. EO-14067 can be read on the Federal Register website (here) and a related “Fact Sheet” on the White House website can be seen (here). One of the reports ordered by EO-14067, a technical feasibility assessment from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, was released by the White House in September 2022 (here). President Joe Biden has not announced that the U.S. dollar will become cryptocurrency.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Robyn Patterson, Read Organizations: U.S, of Digital Assets, EO, Reuters, Federal Register, White, U.S . Federal, Science, Technology, White House, U.S . Government Locations: cryptocurrency, U.S

☆ India's HDFC Bank signs up over 100,000 customers in digital rupee pilots
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

India's largest private lender HDFC Bank on Thursday said it has signed up over 100,000 customers and 170,000 merchants in pilot programs using the central bank digital currency, or CBDC. The lender also linked the CBDC, termed e-rupee, and United Payments Interface, or UPI, for merchants and customers, which would enable payments through both CBDC and UPI using a single Quick Response code, HDFC Bank said in a statement. The Reserve Bank of India has devised the e-rupee as a digital alternative to physical cash, using blockchain distributed-ledger technology. The central bank aims to reach a target of one million CBDC transactions per day by the end of this year from 5000 to 10,000 currently, Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said on Tuesday.

Persons: T Rabi Sankar Organizations: HDFC Bank, United, UPI, Reserve Bank of India

☆ HDFC Bank signs up over 100,000 customers in digital rupee pilots
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, July 13 (Reuters) - India's largest private lender HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS) on Thursday said it has signed up over 100,000 customers and 170,000 merchants in pilot programmes using the central bank digital currency (CBDC). The lender also linked the CBDC, termed e-rupee, and United Payments Interface (UPI) for merchants and customers, which would enable payments through both CBDC and UPI using a single Quick Response (QR) code, HDFC Bank said in a statement. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has devised the e-rupee as a digital alternative to physical cash, using blockchain distributed-ledger technology. The central bank aims to reach a target of one million CBDC transactions per day by the end of this year from 5000-10,000 currently, Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said on Tuesday. Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Sonia CheemaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: T Rabi Sankar, Siddhi Nayak, Sonia Cheema Organizations: HDFC Bank, United, UPI, Reserve Bank of India, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI

☆ India cenbank calls on more lenders to offer digital rupee - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Siddhi Nayak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nearly two dozen central banks across emerging and advanced economies are expected to have digital currencies in circulation by the end of the decade, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) found in a survey, published on Monday. The RBI aims to reach a target of one million CBDC transactions per day by the end of this year, RBI deputy governor T Rabi Sankar said on Tuesday. There were 1.3 million customers and 0.3 million merchants, who used CBDC as of June 2023, he said. "We are in the advanced stage of submitting a CBDC pilot request to the RBI. The central bank has also asked smaller banks to seek feedback from those currently conducting the pilots, the bankers said.

Persons: T Rabi Sankar, Siddhi Nayak, Sohini Goswami Organizations: Reserve Bank of India, Reuters, Bank for International Settlements, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Bank, BOB.NS

☆ Twenty-four central banks will have digital currencies by 2030 - BIS survey
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Karin Strohecker | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Central banks around the globe have been studying and working on digital versions of their currencies for retail use to avoid leaving digital payments to the private sector amid an accelerating decline of cash. Most of the new Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) will emerge in the retail space, where eleven central banks could join peers in the Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean, Jamaica and Nigeria which already run live digital retail currencies, the BIS found in its survey of 86 central banks conducted late 2022. On the wholesale side, which in future could allow financial institutions to access new functionalities thanks to tokenisation, nine central banks could launch CBDCs, the BIS said. "Enhancing cross-border payments is among the key drivers of central banks' work on wholesale CBDCs," the authors of the report wrote. Pilot testing in China now reaches 260 million people and two other big emerging economies, India and Brazil, plan to launch digital currencies next year.

Persons: Francois Lenoir, CBDC, Karin Strohecker, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Francois Lenoir LONDON, Bank for International Settlements, Central Bank Digital, BIS, Swiss National Bank, European Central Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean, Jamaica, Nigeria, China, India, Brazil, Silicon, stablecoins

☆ Central bankers lay out digital currency cyber threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - The central bankers' central bank, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), has laid out a seven-point plan designed to help countries prevent cyber hacks on the new wave of digital national currencies under development. The BIS acts as an umbrella body for the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and other central banks around the world and has been co-ordinating a lot of work on CBDC development. Hackers have struck a number of central banks in recent years from Denmark to Bangladesh. Specifically, it calls on central banks to:• Recognise the complexity and new threat landscape brought by CBDC systems. It also called for central banks to use the global "MITRE ATT&CK" database of past cyber attacks, and for an "official extension" of the MITRE ATT&CK framework to help central banks beef up their security measures.

Persons: MITRE, Marc Jones, Susan Fenton Organizations: Bank for International Settlements, BIS, U.S . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Polaris, Thomson Locations: Denmark, Bangladesh

☆ UK financial services minister urges caution over central bank digital currency
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Britain should be cautious about whether to issue a digital version of the pound given privacy and other issues involved, financial services minister Andrew Griffith said on Tuesday. The finance ministry and Bank of England have launched a public consultation on whether to issue a so-called central bank digital currency or CBDC, mirroring moves by many central banks across the world. "My thinking about CBDC is that we should proceed cautiously, which is precisely what we are doing in the joint consultation with the Bank of England," Griffith told the House of Lords' Economic Affairs Committee. "It's right to engage and have the very widest - and, to a degree, the most thorough - public policy debate which we have started with the process of consultation," he added. Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by David MillikenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Andrew Griffith, Griffith, Huw Jones, David Milliken Organizations: Bank of England, Economic Affairs Committee, Thomson Locations: Britain

☆ Study shows 130 countries exploring central bank digital currencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - A total of 130 countries representing 98% of the global economy are now exploring digital versions of their currencies, with almost half in advanced development, pilot or launch stages, a closely-followed study shows. Eleven countries, including a number in the Caribbean, and Nigeria, have already launched central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as they are known, while pilot testing in China now reaches 260 million people and covers 200 scenarios from e-commerce to government stimulus payments. Two other big emerging economies, India and Brazil, also plan to launch digital currencies next year. U.S. President Joe Biden ordered government officials to assess the risks and benefits of creating a digital dollar in March 2022. A worker at the Lithuanian mint holds a silver coin, produced to be exchanged for sets of digital currency released by Lithuanian central bank in Vilnius, Lithuania June 1, 2020.

Persons: Joe Biden, Andrius, Marc Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: Council, European Central Bank, REUTERS, Federal Reserve, Big Tech, Visa, Mastercard, Atlantic Council, Bank of England, Thomson Locations: U.S, Argentina, Caribbean, Nigeria, China, India, Brazil, United States, Lithuanian, Vilnius, Lithuania, Russia, Venezuela, Europe, Ukraine, Sweden, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, CBDCs, Senegal, Ecuador

☆ SNB to launch digital currency pilot - chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, June 26 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is to issue a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) on Switzerland's SIX digital exchange as part of a pilot, the central bank's chairman said at a conference in Zurich on Monday. As opposed to wholesale CBDCs which use tokenised securities, the SNB has long been cautious about the use of public, or retail, CBDCs. Jordan said he was concerned about potential risks retail CBDCs could have for the financial system, while the use of them was more difficult to control. "We do not exclude that we will never introduce retail [CBDCs] but nevertheless we are a little bit prudent at the moment," he said. "It is the one way that retail households can hold central bank money," she said.

Persons: Thomas Jordan, Jordan, Andrea Maechler, Noele Illien, John Revill, Alison Williams, Mark Potter Organizations: Swiss National Bank, Switzerland's SIX, Zero, Thomson Locations: ZURICH, Zurich, Central, CBDCs, Switzerland

☆ Bernstein sees a $5 trillion opportunity in blockchains for financial markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

If financial incumbents want to be part of the modernization of financial markets, they need to adopt blockchains, according to Bernstein. Beyond tradeable assets like bitcoin, however, there's an opportunity over the next five years for financial firms in tokenizing real-world assets on blockchains, the firm said in a note this week. "Tokenization, we believe, will transform financial markets over the next decade," analyst Gautam Chhugani said in the Tuesday note. "We forecast ~$5 trillion of real-world financial assets will be tokenized on blockchains over the next 5 years." There is also a big opportunity for new business verticals in custody, trading, trade finance and enterprise consulting, Chhugani said.

Persons: Bernstein, Cryptocurrencies, there's, Gautam Chhugani, Chhugani, Hamilton Lane, Franklin Templeton, Michael Bloom Organizations: Investment, KKR, Securitize, JPMorgan Locations: tokenizing, stablecoins

☆ IMF working on global central bank digital currency platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Ahmed Eljechtimi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

RABAT, June 19 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is working on a platform for central bank digital currencies (CDBCs) to enable transactions between countries, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday. "For this reason at the IMF, we are working on the concept of a global CBDC platform," she said. The IMF wants central banks to agree on a common regulatory framework for digital currencies that will allow global interoperability. A CBDC is a digital currency controlled by the central bank, while cryptocurrencies are nearly always decentralised. Already 114 central banks are at some stage of CBDC exploration, "with about 10 already crossing the finish line", she said.

Persons: Kristalina Georgieva, Georgieva, CBDCs, Ahmed Eljechtimi, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Monetary Fund, IMF, Thomson Locations: RABAT, African, Rabat, Morocco

☆ Brazil's central bank chief opposes creation of common currency
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, June 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto expressed his opposition on Friday to the creation of a common currency, stating that in the era of digitalization it is unnecessary to have a shared currency for its purported benefits. Campos Neto emphasized the potential power of digital solutions in providing effective alternatives. Specifically addressing the proposal of a common currency between Brazil and Argentina, which has also been previously mentioned by the government, he reiterated his opposition. "We should have a 'digital' minister, someone should be thinking about digital solutions," he added. He defended that Brazil's CBDB is much easier to regulate than other forms of CBDCs since tokenized bank deposits will be subject to the same regulations that govern traditional deposits.

Persons: Roberto Campos Neto, Luiz Inacio Lula da, Campos Neto, Marcela Ayres, Chizu Organizations: Valor Capital, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Brazil, Argentina

☆ Kenya central bank says digital currency not a 'compelling priority'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NAIROBI, June 2 (Reuters) - Kenya's central bank does not consider the issuance of a digital currency a "compelling priority" but it will continue monitoring developments in the area to help future decisions on issuance, it said on Friday. The bank invited views from the public on the potential introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in February last year, in a shift from its original opposition to crypto assets, but it has decided not to issue any. "Implementation of a CBDC in Kenya may not be a compelling priority in the short to medium term." The East African nation is renowned for the wide usage of mobile money payments. Nigeria became the first African country to launch a digital currency in 2021.

Persons: Duncan Miriri, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Thomson Locations: NAIROBI, Kenya, Nigeria

☆ Nobel economist Paul Krugman slams crypto as mostly useless, after saying it's hugely overpriced and helps criminals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Paul Krugman says crypto is mostly useless, overvalued, and appeals to bank skeptics and criminals. The Nobel Prize-winning economist flagged a "crypto bubble" and the "dark side" of the crypto world. Krugman has dismissed crypto as inefficient, volatile, and propped up by hype and speculation. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. Krugman delivered a far harsher critique of crypto in a New York Times op-ed in April.

☆ Samsung is exploring an 'offline' digital currency that works with Galaxy phones
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man walks past an ad for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 smartphone at the company's Seocho building in Seoul on Jan. 31, 2023. Consumer tech giant Samsung is looking into launching a central bank digital currency in a collaboration with the Bank of Korea. The South Korean electronics firm said Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the country's central bank to conduct technical research on the digital currency. Samsung said such a CBDC, which refers to a digital currency issued by a central bank, would work "offline" and could be sent between owners of its Galaxy smartphone and smartwatches thanks to a secure chip in the devices. "We are very pleased to be the first central bank to develop offline CBDC technology in partnership with Samsung Electronics," Seungheon Lee, senior deputy governor at the Bank of Korea, said in a press release.

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBinance pulls out of Canada, and Florida Gov. DeSantis signs CBDC legislation: CNBC Crypto WorldCNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what's ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today's show, EMURGO's Vineeth Bhuvanagiri discusses how experimental new tokens on bitcoin's blockchain are affecting the network.

☆ Digital “Chicago Plan” fixes many financial woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Edward Chancellor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The economists’ solution – often called the Chicago Plan – was to remove commercial banks from the money-creating business. One of the main problems of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is that it would compete with old-fashioned bank deposits. With the digital money supply increasing in line with the economy’s potential growth, roughly as Friedman advised, inflation would soon come under control. Non-bank lenders like Apollo Global Management (APO.N) would have an enhanced role under the digital Chicago Plan. At present, there’s little chance of the digital Chicago Plan coming to pass.

☆ Chinese digital currency stocks surge amid new efforts to promote e-CNY
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) - Chinese digital currency-related stocks jumped on Monday in a weak broader market, amid the latest measures that China is taking to promote the use of its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan. "The development marks the latest trial China is doing to promote its e-CNY," said Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, referring to the digital yuan. Shares in Global Infotech Co (300465.SZ) soared 13% by midday, Chutian Dragon Co (003040.SZ) surged 8%, while Newland Digital Technology Co (000997.SZ) and Northking Information Technology Co (002987.SZ) also rose. However, the three people all said they don't find adequate scenarios to spend the digital yuan in their daily life. "I don't know how to use it, to be honest, no merchant around me receives digital yuan," Yang told Reuters, only giving her surname as she is not authorised to speak to the media.

☆ China makes major push in its ambitious digital yuan project
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Like cryptocurrency, the digital yuan incorporates some elements of blockchain technology: Every transaction is recorded and traceable in a digital ledger. Since last October, Changshu has been paying the transit subsidies for some government employees in digital yuan. It has also asked privately-owned apps to actively promote the digital yuan. Alipay began trialing digital yuan payments in 2021, and Tencent (TCEHY) announced last year that it would also start supporting the digital yuan in its WeChat Pay wallet. After all, industry leaders Alipay and WeChat Pay already have hundreds of millions of users who are familiar with their services.

☆ Fed Governor Bowman casts doubt on the need for a U.S. digital dollar
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman expressed skepticism over the possibility of a digital U.S. dollar, noting Tuesday the multiple risks such a system could impose. For the past few years, Fed officials have been studying whether to join a handful of other central banks to implement its own type of cryptocurrency. However, she said an interest-bearing Fed digital dollar could provide harmful competition for banks, limiting their ability to lend. Like other Fed officials, Bowman said the looming implementation of the FedNow payments system also will address many of the needs cited by central bank digital currency promoters. Perhaps the CBDC's biggest Fed advocate has since left the central bank: Former Governor Lael Brainard is now director of the National Economic Council.

☆ Crypto stablecoins might need limits to avoid disruptions to financial stability, warns Bank of England
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Regulators may need to introduce limits on the use of stablecoins in payments to prevent potential threats to financial stability, an official at the Bank of England warned Monday. Stablecoins are cryptocurrency tokens that aim to mirror the value of traditional assets such as fiat currencies. Such assets could include deposits at the Bank of England "or very highly liquid securities," he added. The Bank of England said in February that it was "likely" Britain would need a central bank digital currency if current trends around the decline in cash use continue. The Bank of England, Treasury and industry are still debating concerns over how such currencies would be implemented, such as the privacy of people transacting with them and implications for financial stability.

☆ Japan convening panel on digital yen as BOJ pilot scheme gets underway
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Central banks around the world have scrambled to develop digital currencies to modernize financial systems and facilitate domestic and cross-border payments. But Japan remains undecided on whether to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and the BOJ has said the pilot programme may last for several years. "We understand the BOJ's study is making a steady headway," a finance ministry official told reporters. "However, we have not at all decided on whether Japan will issue a CBDC." The BOJ and Financial Services Agency will attend the panel sessions as observers.

☆ Ether dips slightly ahead of Shanghai upgrade, and Montenegro taps Ripple for CBDC: CNBC Crypto World
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jordan Smith | Talia Kaplan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEther dips slightly ahead of Shanghai upgrade, and Montenegro taps Ripple for CBDC: CNBC Crypto WorldCNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what's ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today's show, Diogo Monica, co-founder and president of Anchorage Digital, explains what Ethereum's Shanghai hard fork means for institutions.

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