The cryptocurrency market is presently undergoing a correction, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling below the $3,900 level to trade at about $3,830. Crypto enthusiasts hope that the correction is temporary and does not result in a big sell-off. Other altcoins started sliding following the decline of Bitcoin (BTC).
Most of the altcoins have lost between 0.1% and 0.5% today, which includes Ripple (XRP-$0.3232), EOS (EOS-$3.49), Litecoin (LTC-$45.36), Stellar (XLM-$0.085), Cardano (ADA-$0.04) and Dash (DASH-$80.14). Notably, Ethereum (ETH-$137.39) and IOTA (IOTA-$0.2859) remain unchanged from the prior close.
Government level initiatives
Bank of Bahrain to govern cryptocurrencies
The central bank of Bahrain has issued draft regulations governing cryptocurrencies. Notably, it is the first middle-east country to come up with draft regulations to potentially license, monitor, and oversee digital asset services.
The draft rules deal with licensing, risk management, governance, counter-terrorist financing measures, anti-money laundering, conflict of interest avoidance, business conduct, cybersecurity, and reporting. The rules also lay down new supervision and enforcement standards.
Notably, the cryptocurrency exchanges authorized by the central bank of Bahrain should adhere to regulations related to order matching, transparency in the pre and post-trade trade process, price manipulation, abuse of the market, and also conflicts of interest.
The regulation also suggests cryptocurrency exchanges perform due diligence while onboarding new clients and provide securely encrypted custody wallets that are retrievable.
Ukraine Central Bank completes cryptocurrency trial
Ukraine’s central bank has finished the testing of its national cryptocurrency, e-hryvnia, almost a year after the plan was revealed by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The pilot started in December 2018, according to Aleksandr Yablunivskiy, head of the bank’s payment networks and innovative growth department.
Regarding the project, Aleksandr Yablunivskiy said, “At the end of last year we began a practical pilot, when the instrument was released for NBU employees under the current methodology, in order to assess its practical use aspects and the ability of the central bank to realize future projects, as well as getting feedback from users.”
The country mainly uses fiat money as the mode of payment, and the government wants people to shift to other methods of payment, including e-currency.
Ukrainian legislators have begun efforts to establish legislation to encompass the broader cryptocurrency market, but have not been successful so far due to the presence of multiple regulators in the space.
Private sector initiatives
Mercedes and Icertis to build a blockchain for contracts in the supply chain
The luxury car manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz, has stated that it has inked a partnership deal with Icertis, an established player in contract management solutions for enterprises, to build and deploy a blockchain for storing records related to contracts in the supply chain.
The partnership is a portion of Daimler’s attempt to improve the supply chain mechanism. The initiative necessitates suppliers to “vigorously pass on and control standards and contractual obligations with regard to working conditions, human rights, environmental protection, safety, business ethics and compliance within the supply chain.”
The blockchain-based prototype was used to map the contractual obligations of suppliers and sub-suppliers’, covering the entire supply chain. The smart contract solution issues alerts in case any of the suppliers or sub-suppliers deviate from their obligations. Mercedes-Benz, along with Icertis, is presently testing the blockchain-based system.
Accenture partners with Mastercard in blockchain development
Accenture, a prominent player in the distributed ledger and blockchain technology arena, is partnering with Mastercard to develop a blockchain-powered circular supply chain. Accenture aims to employ the tech as a major component to improve the circular supply chain, which indicates all stages on a supply chain, from the beginning to the end, in order to remove waste and enhance environmental sustainability.
Under the initiative, Accenture is also partnering with several global firms including cloud computing service provider Amazon Web Services, Everledger – a blockchain supply chain firm, Mercy Crops-a global development organization and financial service provider Mastercard.
The press release indicates that the new blockchain-powered circular supply chain will enable clients to easily pick up small-scale suppliers who are part of the supply chain and offer them rewards directly.
The blockchain system is structured to enable better inventory management, eliminate waste, improve transparency across the supply chain and confirm product authenticity in a precise manner.
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