The cryptocurrency market remains range-bound with a slight bullish bias at Bitcoin (BTC) inches towards $47,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $46,593, up 1.40% in the past 24 hours. We anticipate Bitcoin to rally in the days ahead as the US SEC has approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs (scheduled for trading from today).
Ethereum (ETH) had gained 10.20% to trade at $2,583.72. XRP was trading at $0.6009, an increase of 5.80% in the same period.
Major cryptocurrencies, which have gained ground in the past 24 hours, are Binance Coin (BNB – $305.68, 1.60%), IOTA (IOTA – $0.259, 10.30%), VeChain (VET, $0.0323, 7.80%), EOS (EOS – $0.762, 7.70%), Avalanche (Avax- $38.63, 12.50%), Solana (SOL, $100.10, 1.0%), Cardano (ADA, $0.5738, 12.10%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $254.39, 3.80%), Shiba Inu (SHIB, $0.0000101, 4.70%), Polkadot (DOT, $8.15, 14.70%), and ChainLink (LINK – $14.90, 9.40%).
Government Level Initiatives
India’s CBDC Surpasses 1 Million Daily Transactions
India’s CBDC (Digital Rupee) hit a landmark of 1 million daily transactions on December 27. Notably, the goal of achieving 1 million daily transactions was set by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Deputy Governor Rabi Sankar last year, when the daily transaction volume was merely 10,000.
The revelation was based on an in-house communication made by the RBI Governor to the staff of the central bank on December 29. The central bank has yet to confirm the news officially.
Following the launch of the trial in December 2022, 1.30 million users downloaded the digital rupee wallet by July 2023.
Interestingly, the Union Bank of India has chosen to utilize the CBDC wallets to provide a range of employee benefits to its staff. The bank intends to start with a newspaper allowance.
European Central Bank Allocates €1.1 Billion for Digital Currency Infrastructure
The European Central Bank has invited applications from vendors for services linked to the building blocks of digital currency (risk and fraud management, apps and SDKs (software development kits), offline solutions, secure exchange of payment data, and Alias lookups). The central bank has set aside €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) for these five building blocks. The funds do not encompass the core central bank digital currency (CBDC) settlement mechanism, which will be arranged on an in-house basis.
Furthermore, the ECB gave an update on the digital euro rulebook. Earlier, banks were worried that the Eurosystem would enforce a wallet unrelated to their offerings. Nevertheless, the app and SDK component will aid third parties in the presentation of digital euro services via their native mobile apps and online platforms. The ECB also intends to decide on the digital euro only after the completion of the legislative process.
The ECB believes that all the agreements will be valid for four years, with January 2025 as the starting date.
Private Sector Initiatives
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Empowers Global Operations with ChainThat’s Blockchain Solution
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI), which offers insurance services in 178 countries, is strengthening its offerings through the implementation of a permissioned blockchain solution created by ChainThat.
Notably, BHSI adopted WorldLink to enhance the efficiencies of its multinational business operations. Worldlink, whose core runs on the insurtech Chain That’s Beyond Multinational Programs solution, is currently utilized by 95% of its worldwide insurance operations. ChainThat expects a likely 30% decrease in expenses via efficiencies from its SaaS solution.
The insurance sector gained prominence during the enterprise blockchain upsurge in 2018. One of the main advantages of a distributed ledger for corporations is that it facilitates a single point of truth without giving any kind of control. The distribution of data in a permissioned manner saves time that would otherwise be spent on reconciliation. Insurance draws multiple parties (insured, underwriter, broker, and reinsurer) together, and the process leads to numerous changes (coverage, claims) that necessitate an efficient data-sharing mechanism.
Libeara’s Tokenized Fund Receives Moody’s AA Rating
Last November, Standard Chartered’s associate firm, SC Ventures, established a Singapore-headquartered firm, named Libeara, focused on tokenization. A week before, Moody’s had given a rating to the first fund to employ the tokenization platform. Specifically, Singapore-based FundBridge Capital intends to use the Ethereum and Stellar blockchains (public) to issue the tokenized fund units. This seems to be the first-ever official rating for a tokenized fund issued on a public blockchain.
The SGD Delta fund is mainly focused on investing in Singapore government securities. The fund can be accessed only by accredited or institutional investors. The fund has received an AA rating from Moody’s instead of an AAA rating, even though the credit quality of the underlying assets has an AAA rating. The small size and the issuer’s lack of experience are believed to be the reasons for the AA rating. Furthermore, Libeara does not possess any track record of success. Also, the “technological” and “governance” risks linked with public blockchains also contributed to the AA rating.
Disclaimer: Any financial trading analysis offered here is our opinion and is not intended as advice or direction for investors. We cannot guarantee the success of any trades made as a consequence of this article, and we encourage traders to incorporate a strong money management strategy to limit losses when they enter the markets. Please use this article as part of your own research before formulating strategies prior to trading.
