The cryptocurrency market has turned slightly bullish with Bitcoin (BTC) inching toward $65,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $63,061, a decline of 1.40% in the past 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) had lost 2.30% to trade at $2,683. XRP was trading at $0.5911, a decrease of 0.90% in the same period.
Major cryptocurrencies have gained ground in the past 24 hours: Avalanche (AVAX, $26.24, 1%), and Solana (SOL, $158.90, 0.40%).
Major cryptocurrencies, which have lost ground in the past 24 hours, are Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $345.06, -2.20%), Polygon (MATIC, $0.5064,- 2.80%), BNB (BNB, $553.56, -3%), Polkadot (DOT, $4.60, -4%), Cardano (ADA, $0.3677, -3.60%), Chainlink (LINK, $11.89, -1.30%), NEAR Protocol (NEAR, $4.87, -0.40%), and Uniswap (UNI, $6.31, -3.80%), Tron (TRN, $0.1626, -0.90%), Toncoin (TON, $5.29, -6.60%)
Government Level Initiatives
Jamaica’s JAM-DEX CBDC: Progress, Challenges, and Adoption Insights
Jamaica launched its central bank digital currency (CBDC), JAM-DEX, in 2022, with only the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Jamaica currently offering a CBDC wallet. Despite successful transaction volumes through NCB’s Lynk wallet, CEO Bruce Bowen expressed skepticism about the JAM-DEX project. Notably, users can access JAM-DEX without a bank account by providing identification to set up a Lynk wallet and can exchange JAM-DEX for cash at ATMs.
Another bank, JN Bank, has a CBDC wallet being trialed in the central bank sandbox but has yet to go live, missing the target for all banks to adopt CBDC wallets by the end of 2023. The government offered incentives, including cash giveaways and merchant financial incentives, to boost adoption. At the end of last year, there were 260,000 consumer wallets in a population of 2.8 million, with J$257 million ($1.64 million) of JAM-DEX in circulation.
Private Sector Initiatives
DBS and Ant International Launch Treasury Token
DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, launched a Treasury Token trial with Ant International to enhance Treasury and liquidity administration using DBS’s given permission blockchain. This solution offers multi-currency tokenized deposits for settlements between bank branches, supporting 24/7 cross-border transactions. Ant International, a holding company of Alipay+, aims to improve its global treasury management and develop its Whale platform, which leverages blockchain and AI for worldwide treasury management.
The integration of DBS’s blockchain with Whale facilitates programmable payments via smart contracts, allowing Treasury departments to manage payments more precisely and optimize returns on unused cash. This initiative allows firms to transfer money instantly within DBS and supports inter-bank payments through Ant’s Whale platform.
German Firms Develop Offline M2M Settlement Prototype
Four German firms, namely DG Nexolution, DZ Bank, Festo, and Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), have built a prototype for supporting offline machine-to-machine settlements through the utilization of tokenized deposits. This solution is particularly relevant for Industry 4.0, where companies can rent industrial systems on a pay-per-use basis.
To facilitate immediate payment for goods produced without requiring human assistance, the system employs digital wallets linked to devices. Recognizing that some machines may lack internet connectivity due to secure facility restrictions or remote locations, the prototype allows for offline transactions.
The demonstrator includes two wallets connected with machine control modules, enabling money transfers via smart cards. DZ Bank is a portion of Germany’s Commercial Bank Money Token venture, while DG Nexolution, a service provider to German cooperative banks, launched and sponsors the project. Giesecke + Devrient (G+D) supplied the payment framework, including the necessary cards and connectors.
Mastercard, MetaMask, and Baanx Launch Trial Debit Card
Mastercard, MetaMask, and Baanx have launched a trial debit card that allows users to spend self-custodial cryptocurrency at retail shops, automatically converting to Euros or Pounds at the checkout. MetaMask, which has 30 million monthly active users, initially offers the card in a digital format, compatible with digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Despite being a significant advancement for crypto adoption, certain limitations could impact the card’s effectiveness. Notably, it only supports cryptocurrency stored on the Linea blockchain, requiring users to transfer their coins, which adds complexity. Additionally, the test run is limited to a few thousand participants in Europe and the UK, with no availability in the United States, potentially due to regulatory issues.
Securitize Launches Tokenized Feeder Fund
Back in June, Hamilton Lane shut down its Secondary Fund VI, securing $5.6 billion in investments. Securitize is now allowing accredited individuals to invest in a tokenized feeder fund for Secondary Fund VI on the Polygon blockchain. This initiative lowers the minimum investment to $20,000 from the usual $5 million, leveraging fractionalization benefits.
The Secondary Fund VI focuses on private equity but acquires stakes from initial investors, offering potentially quicker returns due to the maturity of the investments.
Securitize and Hamilton Lane have an established partnership, having previously tokenized the Equity Opportunities Fund V and the private credit fund SCOPE. Hamilton Lane and BlackRock and other investors participated in Securitize’s $47 million capital-raising round.
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