The cryptocurrency market remains largely unmoved, compared with the past few trading sessions, as Bitcoin (BTC) continues to hover around $20,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $20,090, down 1.20% in the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $1,093, a decrease of 4.90% in the same period. XRP had lost 3.20% to change hands at $0.3249.
Major altcoins, which have gained ground in the past 24 hours, include Uniswap (UNI – $5.06, 1%), Cosmos (ATOM, $7.42, 1.70%), Shiba Inu (SHIB -$0.000010117, 0.70%), and Dogecoin (DOGE- $0.06824, 2%).
Major altcoins, which have lost ground in the past 24 hours, include Tezos (XTZ- $1.44, -6.30%), VeChain (VET, $0.02262, -3.60%), IOTA (IOTA – $0.2668, -3.9%), Stellar (XLM – $0.1077, -6.20%), Polkadot (DOT, $6.93, -5.80), Cardano (ADA, $0.4626, -2.30%), Internet Computer (ICP, $5.30, -5%), Binance Coin (BNB- $218.70, -4.30%), Avalanche (Avax- $17.23, -6.10%), EOS (EOS – $0.9250, -2.70%), ChainLink (LINK – $6.15, -3.80%), Polygon (MATIC- $0.4866, -6.50%) and Solana (SOL, $32.90, -7.30%).
Government level initiatives
SIMBA Chain signs 7th SBIR agreement with USAF
Blockchain-focused firm SIMBA Chain has inked its seventh Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) agreement with the US Air Force (USAF). The recent one enables tokenization of the USAF logistics budget for better tracking of funds movements between various departments and suppliers, in addition to having a check on likely supply chain risks.
Interestingly, the Digital Blockchain Budgeting Accountability and Tracking (DiBaT) platform performs tokenization of the budget rather than payments. In general, budgeted plans are matched with actual expenses in accounting. However, it is a huge time-consuming task in the case of the USAF supply chain. Therefore, using blockchain in the spending procedures is expected to expedite tasks considerably.
Jeff Curtis, Director of Defense and Supply Chain at SIMBA Chain, said, “Because of the way the Department of Defense (DOD) allocates its funds, the various branches of the armed forces and their subordinate field forces may receive incentives that are incompatible with one another, resulting in less effective implementation of strategic objectives. DiBaT will offer more visibility into the actual spending of resources, allowing for the identification of discrepancies between execution and purpose. Even more, it won’t affect any of the existing financial leeway in any way.”
HKMA enters a joint venture with BOI and BISIH
To conduct a detailed study of cybersecurity in retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Israel (BOI) and Hong Kong office of the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH). The initiative, named Project Sela, concentrates on the capabilities and efficiency of a two-tier retail CBDC framework with third parties. The aforesaid parties will work towards establishing methods for transforming retail CBDC sturdier against intrusions. The project is aimed to be completed by the end of this year.
The study on retail CBDC follows Project Aurum, which involves studying the technical features of a two-level CBDC framework for distribution via payment processing companies and commercial banks. Two separate blockchains – one for the issuance of central bank CBDC and another for retail transactions – are used for scrutiny. The HKMA release a technical document last October as one of the steps in the public consultation process.
Private sector initiatives
KBC bank releases Kate Coin
Belgium-headquartered KBC bank has released its in-house blockchain technology-based digital currency, named the Kate Coin, which facilitates accessing various services of the bank through the KBC Mobile app. It is the initial large-scale trial with the involvement of 8,000 KBC employees.
To begin with, the coin can be utilized only to settle payments related to the bank’s banking and insurance services, but it intends to collaborate with certain enterprise clients in the future.
KBC has stated that it is getting ready for the future through its latest offering, pointing to the world of Web3 and NFTs. The coin is also programmable, implying that it is possible to add specific functionalities through coding. During the initial trial, the participants will be allowed to use the coin to pay for drinks and snacks. Notably, the transfer of coins between KBC customers will not be allowed in the initial stages. Likewise, the coin cannot be exchanged for euros in spite of the fact that it is pegged to the euro on a 1:1 ratio using a segregated account. The coins will be given to customers in the form of royalty rewards.
Standard Chartered Bank and SBI Holdings partner up
Standard Chartered Bank and Japan’s SBI Holdings have partnered to create a digital asset platform. Notably, a month before, there was an official announcement about a fintech partnership between the bank’s Singapore subsidiary SC Ventures and SBI to establish an ecosystem of startups. The sectors on focus include fintech, internet technology, big data, artificial intelligence, crypto assets, and blockchain.
SBI has affirmed that the partnership includes the UK group headquarters of Standard Chartered and would encompass “BaaS (blockchain as a service) focused businesses and cryptocurrency sectors (DeFi, Metaverse, Web3.0, etc.) in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.”
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