The cryptocurrency market remains slightly bearish, with Bitcoin (BTC) trying to consolidate around $68,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $67,631, down 7.60% in the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) had gained 10.10% to trade at $3,546. XRP was trading at $0.6105, an increase of 3.50% in the same period.
Major cryptocurrencies that have gained ground in the past 24 hours are Binance Coin (BNB – $558.88, 8.50%), Polkadot (DOT, $9.53, 7.20%), Cardano (ADA, $0.6417, 6.90%), Polygon (MATIC – $1, 4.90%), Solana (SOL, $192.83, 10.70%), Avalanche (Avax- $56.58, 7.80%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $408, 11.30%), Shiba Inu (SHIB, $0.0000273, 8.60%), EOS (EOS – $1.01, 8.30%), ChainLink (LINK – $18.42, 7%), and VeChain (VET, $0.0422, 8.10%).
Government Level Initiatives
Royal Canadian Mint Partners with aXedras for Blockchain Gold Tracking
The Royal Canadian Mint has adopted a distributed ledger technology (DLT) solution in partnership with blockchain firm aXedras. The platform will monitor the origin of gold utilized in the Mint’s refinery and record gold bar trades.
Roughly two years ago, the World Gold Council (WGC) aided aXedras as a portion of its Series B funding round. This happened after a partnership between the WGC and the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) to roll out a blockchain project as one of the steps in the Gold Bar Integrity Program.
The new system affects both the companies that supply materials to Mint and Mint’s customers. To ensure transparency, a lot of data will be used, allowing gold bar owners to trace where the gold comes from—whether it’s from mining, recycling, or a mix of both. The technology used, called Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), makes it very difficult to alter or manipulate the data.
Moreover, customers will have the ability to observe alterations in both the safekeeping and possession of gold. This log encompasses actions like moving a gold bar using a secure vehicle service or placing it in the care of a financial institution or the London Vault. The system also records who owns the gold bars, allowing the current owner to view a record of past ownership.
Private Sector Initiatives
DZ Bank to Pilot Retail Cryptocurrency Service with Börse Stuttgart Partnership
DZ Bank offers services to 737 community and cooperative banks in Germany. Reports have surfaced indicating the bank’s intention to initiate a trial run of a retail cryptocurrency service for its community bank partners. Börse Stuttgart has affirmed its role as the crypto partner responsible for both cryptocurrency trading and custody, with DZ Bank acknowledging this partnership.
The German stock exchange took an early lead in the cryptocurrency domain by unveiling a cryptocurrency exchange tailored for retail customers in 2019. Axel Springer and SBI Digital Asset Holdings have acquired a stake in Börse Stuttgart Digital.
DZ Bank introduced its institutional digital asset custody solution towards the end of 2023. This initiative involves a partnership with Metaco, a technology firm owned by Ripple.
Miscellaneous
Russia Moves Forward with Digital Ruble Pilot
While convening a meeting of the Association of Banks of Russia, an update on the digital ruble (CBDC) was given by the central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina. The piloting of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) began in August 2023, after the legislation was passed.
The trial involved the participation of a dozen banks, 600 end users, and 30 merchants spanning 11 cities. The intention is to unveil the CBDC in 2025. Until now, there have been 25,000 transactions, with 19,000 representing peer-to-peer payments.
The rest was consumer-to-business payments. Roughly 3,500 payments involved smart contracts. The initial comments expressed concerns about the low number of transactions. Governor Elvira Nabiullina further stated that the trial is moving forward as per the plan. Initially, the trial involved 17 banks, including Russia’s largest bank, Sber.
Now, the participating banks have increased to 19. With respect to features, the central bank will introduce dynamic QR codes for payments. The QR codes will also support online payments and business-to-business settlements. The central bank also aims to create smart contract functionality.
Deutsche Börse Launches DBDX
Deutsche Börse has successfully rolled out its regulated, institution-focused spot cryptocurrency trading platform, named the Deutsche Börse Digital Exchange (DBDX). To begin with, the exchange has listed Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) for trading in euros. Furthermore, the custody and settlement process are taken care of by the German division of Crypto Finance, which holds licenses from BaFIN. Deutsche Börse took over Crypto Finance three years ago.
Currently, trading will be enabled on a request-for-quote basis, but multilateral trading will soon be enabled. Another unit of the Deutsche Börse, Forex-centered 360T, unveiled a trading solution that facilitates crypto non-deliverable forwards (NFDs) a few weeks ago.
Even though Deutsche Börse is the initial top stock exchange to aid direct trading of crypto assets, Boerse Stuttgart holds the credit of being the first firm to offer cryptocurrency trading for the last five years.
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.
