The cryptocurrency market has turned bullish with Bitcoin (BTC) firmly breaking above $17,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $18,251, reflecting a gain of 4.80% in the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) gained 5.20% to trade at $1,404.25. XRP was trading at $0.3733, an increase of 6.70% in the same period.
Major cryptos, which have gained ground in the past 24 hours, are VeChain (VET, $0.01868, 4%), EOS (EOS – $0.9777, 3.50%), IOTA (IOTA – $0.1933, 2.30%), Dogecoin (DOGE – $0.0792, 3%), Internet Computer (ICP, $4.39, 2.60%), Stellar (XLM, $0.0817, 3.40%).
ChainLink (LINK – $6.34, 3.50%), Binance Coin (BNB – $6.34, 3.50%), Polkadot (DOT, $5.14, 4.90%), Polygon (MATIC – $0.8932, 4.20%), Avalanche (Avax- $15.91, 26.50%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $110.01, 2.10%), Cardano (ADA, $0.3244, 2.30%), Tezos (XTZ, $0.8676, 5%), Shiba Inu (SHIB, $0.00000945, 3.90%) and Solana (SOL, $16.42, 2%).
Government level initiatives
CBRT Successfully Completes Initial Trial of Central Bank Digital Currency
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has completed the initial trial of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) by successfully executing a payment transaction. The central bank has decided to carry on with the Digital Turkish Lira Network trial in the first quarter of this year. The CBRT’s intentions were first revealed during the budget session in October last year.
The next stage will involve the participation of some banks and fintechs. As per the info revealed in the budget, the banks will also undertake wholesale digital currency trials.
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is also being trialed in addition to integration with real-time payment platforms. Studies on economic and legal implications will also be conducted.
In 2021, the central bank signed up defense corporation Aselsan, software tech firm Havelsan and government Information Security Research Center, Tubitak Bilgem as tech partners to achieve the CBDC vision. The Turkish government has taken up digitization as a key priority as roughly 50% of its citizens are under the age of 35 and about 40% are unbanked.
ISA Proposes Changes for Digital Asset Regulation in Israel
Multiple legislative changes related to digital assets have been proposed by the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) and opinions will be accepted until February 12. A digital asset will be regarded as a security if it acts as a financial investment. The intention is to clearly segregate assets that need to be regulated by ISA and to avoid domains where unregulated investments exist because of descriptive issues. Regulatory efforts have been expedited following the sudden shutdown of crypto ventures such as FTX and Israel-related Celsius.
The suggestions follow a November 2022 publication by the Ministry of Finance related to its intention of governing the crypto asset industry.
Digital assets or cryptocurrency assets have several definitions across the globe. The ISF has proposed the following for digital assets. “A digital representation of a value or right, utilised for the objective of financial commitment, and may be exchanged and maintained digitally by employing distributed ledger technology (DLT) or some other technology.”
The suggested revisions would eliminate format constraints, including the necessity for a physical copy, although digital securities already exist. It would also extend the scope of securities to include digital assets employed for financial investment in addition to digital assets issued as securities.
This is a shift from the present law necessitating all securities to be “financial products.” Besides being able to provide further directives, the ISA oversees digital asset derivatives.
Sberbank Issues First Tokenized Gold Using Sber Blockchain
The Russian state-owned Sberbank has issued its first tokenized gold using the Sber blockchain. The bank, which launched its initial digital asset related to invoice factoring in July 2022, received its Digital Financial Assets (DFAs) license in March 2022.
Even though the aforesaid token represents the Sber bank’s first metal token, Norlisk’s Atomyze issued tokenized palladium in July 2022.
Currently, the Central Bank of Russia has granted a license for only three firms to issue DFAs, which encompasses tokenized stocks, commercial paper, commodities, and financial instruments, but not cryptos. Notably, startup Lighthouse is another firm other than Atomyze to issue tokens based on factored invoices.
Private sector initiatives
BMW Unveils Concept Car “i Vision Dee” for Metaverse
BMW Group has unveiled a new concept car, BMW i Vision Dee, motivated by the metaverse. The word “Dee” is an acronym for Digital Emotional Experience. The voice interface and digital windscreen displays featured in the model will be physically made available by 2025 in the company’s Neue Classe car models. The automaker also upwardly revised its interactive website, “Joytopia,” to include a digital world to check out and interact with Dee.
With a vision to take the model beyond the current voice control and driver support technology, Dee features a Head-Up-Display that stretches along the windscreen of the vehicle. Once set in motion, the windscreen transforms into a display panel showcasing a speedometer and other graphical illustrations of the vehicle’s data.
Furthermore, a Mixed Reality slider encompasses the display, which contains BMW’s “shy-tech” sensors where a car’s instrument panel normally exists.
A Mixed Reality slider controls the display – this contains BMW’s “shy-tech” sensors where a car’s instrument panel usually exists. In conjunction with dimmable window panes, the driver may engage the sensors to activate a range of functions, including analog, communications, augmented reality forecast, and virtual world entry.
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