The cryptocurrency market remains range bound with a slight bearish bias as Bitcoin (BTC) hovers around 21,000. While preparing this report, Bitcoin was trading at $21,316, down 0.80% in the last 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) had gained 1.10% to trade at $1,625. XRP was trading at $0.3420, a decrease of 0.30% in the past 24 hours.
VeChain (VET, $0.02617, -0.60%), Tezos (XTZ, $1.59, -2.20%), Uniswap (UNI, $7.01, -2.50%), IOTA (IOTA – $0.2915, -0.50%), Stellar (XLM, $0.1095, -0.90%), Binance Coin (BNB – $296.71, -1.20%), Cardano (ADA, $0.4603, -0.30%), Internet Computer (ICP, $6.36, -1.10%), Solana (SOL, $35.31, -2.70%), Shiba Inu ( SHIB, $0.00001318, -2%) and Dogecoin (DOGE – $0.0686, -0.40%).
Major altcoins, which have gained ground in the past 24 hours, include Polkadot (DOT, $7.40, 0.30%), Avalanche (Avax- $22.77, 0.10%), EOS (EOS – $1.85, 19.40%), ChainLink (LINK – $7.09, 1%), Bitcoin Cash (BCH, $123.62, 3.70%) and Polygon (MATIC – $0.8187, 0.70%).
Government level initiatives
RBA and DFCRC to trial CBDCs
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) have unveiled a one-year trial initiative for central bank digital currency (CBDC). The objective is to join hands with businesses and create unique use cases and business models showcasing the economic benefits of launching a CBDC.
As a portion of its initiative on assessing the feasibility of a CBDC, the Australian Treasury will partake in the venture’s guidance committee. In contrast to the mass trials for China’s digital yuan, the testing described above will be at a prohibited level in a closely guarded system.
The DFCRC has confirmed that the trial will involve both wholesale and retail CBDC. In the past, the central bank and DFCRC’s work have been tilted towards wholesale CBDC. Notably, at the end of 2021, the firm published an outcome related to a proof of concept (PoC) of a wholesale CBDC, named Project Atom, conducted in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank, Perpetual, Consensys, and the National Australia Bank. The RBA is also a participant in the multi-CBDC Project Dunbar, which focuses on cross-border payments and utilizes wholesale CBDC.
HKMA joins hands with InvestHK
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is collaborating with InvestHK, a government entity, to include the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in Hong Kong’s Global Fast Track 2022. The effort facilitates global financial technology companies with customers outside Hong Kong to market their offerings to enterprises and institutions in Hong Kong and mainland China. Applications are accepted until mid-September.
A wide range of CBDC solutions are appropriate, including retail CBDC, wholesale CBDC, interoperability, programmable money, liquid management, and Forex, among others.
Charles Ng, InvestHK Director-General of Investment Promotion, said, “By engaging private sector players straight with the regulator, the path allows Global Fast Track 2022 to offer extensive, one-stop assistance to innovators throughout the globe, while bolstering Hong Kong’s reputation as a major global fintech centre.”
Private sector initiatives
Theta Network signs contract with Samsung
Theta Network, a US-headquartered decentralized video platform, has inked a deal with Samsung and several South Korean retailers to offer additional facilities in retail stores to NFT holders.
Earlier in February, Theta Labs and Samsung Electronics unveiled a series of ceremonial NFTs to buyers who had pre-ordered Galaxy S22 and S8 tablets. Theta is interested in guaranteeing the 100,000 NFT holders of gaining access to the benefits in both digital and offline spaces. In this regard, Theta Network has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with several retailers in South Korea, including Galaxy Store, Show Golf, E-cruise, Shilla Duty-Free, and NFC solution company Allink.
Starting this month, any owner of New Galaxy NFTs can participate in the promotion by validating the NFTs in retail stores using a dedicated app. The benefits offered include gift vouchers for Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 purchases and also vouchers for E-cruise rides and the Shilla Duty-Free Shop. The ThetaPass technology facilitates the use of NFTs both offline and online.
Data Gumbo funded $4 million by Equinor and Saudi Aramco
The venture division of Equinor and Saudi Aramco has funded blockchain firm Data Gumbo with $4 million in the Series C round. Notably, both the venture capital divisions are existing investors in the project. Specifically, Gumbo got $6 million and $7.70 million funding in Series A and Series B rounds, respectively. Another prominent investor in the project is venture capital firm L37.
Data Gumbo offers enterprise-level blockchain solutions to the energy sector. In the future, the firm intends to step into sectors such as trucking, haulage, and shipping. The platform utilizes the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to initiate automatic payments.
In January, Equinor entered into a deal with Gumbo to utilize a smart contract for managing agreements and invoicing for oil drilling and web services. During the trial phase, the automation solution created invoices with an accuracy of 99.70% without any kind of manual input. Currently, Gumbo’s blockchain network, GumboNet, consists of180 firms with nodes.
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.
